Dance Alive

Movement Forms

Drop In

Settle Deeply Inside
​“Sense all that is occurring right now, you have all the time and space in the world.”
- Mariane Karou

Drop IN to who you ARE.

Drop In is the foundation for staying connected to yourself, your truth, and knowing what to do in any situation.Drop in is the movement form that takes you into connecting to the source of all creation.  Deep within us all lies the magnificent being that we actually are.  In order to access this space inside, we need our precise attention, our dedicated fortitude to bypass the myriad of thoughts, so we can listen to the calling of our own soul.  This happens as you allow all of what is occurring within you to occur, without trying to change what is happening in any way.  To uphold this level of presence with pure acceptance sets a foundation for you to connect with your truth and live according to your values.

By allowing sensation to exist, without adjusting, fixing or reacting, the body can neutralize all feeling and a deeper level of knowing is discovered.  Through the allowing of breath and the unwinding of your history held in your cellular tissues, you are able to continue to delve deeper into the unknown vast intelligence that lies within you. In relationship, Drop In is the foundation for staying connected to yourself, your truth and knowing what to do in any given situation.Your internal barometer is always turned on, so as you listen,  you can find the direction that is most needed for any relationship you are in.  

By allowing sensation to exist, without adjusting, fixing or reacting, the body can neutralize all feeling and a deeper level of knowing is discovered.  Through the allowing of breath and the unwinding of your history held in your cellular tissues, you are able to continue to delve deeper into the unknown vast intelligence that lies within you.

In relationship, Drop In is the foundation for staying connected to yourself, your truth and knowing what to do in any given situation.Your internal barometer is always turned on, so as you listen,  you can find the direction that is most needed for any relationship you are in.

Benefits

Physical

  • Calms, stimulates, and balances all the body systems.
  • Paces the cerebral-spinal fluid and stimulates whole brain function.
  • Builds the immune system.

Emotional

  • Unwinds and heals trauma stored in the whole system.
  • Expands your capacity to feel and a deep acceptance of all feelings states.
  • Heightens your  ability to be empathetic and compassionate.

Mental

  • Increases mental calm, relaxation, and clarity.
  • Develops the ability to alter brain wave frequency from beta, alpha, and theta, to delta.
  • Increases creative thought processes and intuition.

Relationship

  • Increases your ability to orient to a whole team.
  • Increases your ability to create warmth and inclusiveness.
  • Heightens your ability to be sensitive and creative while working with others.

Flow Easy

Move Softly & Steadily
​“Move Softly, Smoothly & Steadily! Easy! Easy! and even Easier!
Allow each movement to unfold into the next."
- Mariane Karou

FLOW EASY is about learning how to move on a foundation level, so you can move into action, while staying connected to your whole system.​

The body is approximately 80% water. Every message that travels through the body (via nerves, blood vessels, lymph, etc) travels through fluids. When practicing Flow Easy, you can learn to access the fluid system, and tap into the vast intelligence you contain within.

In Flow Easy, you move according to the natural design of your body, without mental interference. As one movement flows into the next, your fluid motion activates your entire being to heal and balance itself organically, and function as a unified whole. There is no push or pull in fluid movement. Like water, which moves around all obstacles and adapts itself with complete ease, you can learn to move around all tension, pain and density through the pathways of least resistance. Sourcing and moving with this continuous flow is deeply healing and regenerating. It is the foundation of all the subsequent movement forms and the formation of life itself.

In relationship, Flow Easy allows your defenses to soften and your sense of separation to dissolve as you learn to harmonize with another. It cultivates your ability to adapt to another personʼs rhythm and to navigate with ease around conflict, creating harmonious rapport. You learn to respect and honor your own pace, timing and rhythm while in relationship with others.

Benefits

Physical

  • Develops your ability to soften connective tissue which creates more elasticity and pliability.
  • Massages internal organs, increases the ability to feel vital.
  • Heightens vital, sensual energy.

Emotional

  • Releases held emotion stored in the cells.
  • Release body armor and protective defense patterns.
  • Stabilizes the flow of emotions, and increases your ability to allow emotion.

Mental

  • Opens new neural pathways via the nervous system to the brain.
  • Activates synapses that bridge right and left brain communication.
  • Increases your ability to problem solve creatively.

Relationship

  • Develops the ability to listen and be receptive.
  • Develops the ability to be in flow with self while with others.
  • Develops the ability to relaxed, responsive, and maintain intimate connection with another.

Reach Out

Let Go & Expand
​“Reach out only as far out as you can reach deep inside. Create balance as you move deeper in and further out."
- Mariane Karou

Reach out is the movement that opens, lengthens and expands the entire physical body incrementally in all different directions and shapes. It keeps our bodies open, fluid, and cohesive by balancing the tension throughout our body as we move.

Where there is too much tension in one area, there is too little tension in another. The body then creates compensation patterns in order to stay in balance. Balanced tension is what keeps us connected throughout our entire body.

Movement is constant change and within each moment a new balance is needed. Since we live in constant motion, we always need to continually re-adjust our level of tension inside our bodies.

By learning Reach Out, you are learning how to align with gravity; Drop in to the Earth and then gradually initiate movement. Reach Out is the bridge needed to take action while staying connected throughout your whole system. Reach Out is the bridge between Drop In, Flow Easy and Power Up, which requires letting go while generating effort and increasing resistance. Reach out will gradually train you to inhabit your entire body one movement at a time, building a relationship between letting go and strengthening at a gradual pace.

Reach Out trains you how to combine ease with effort and to gradually and incrementally add more effort as you are moving with ease. This way as you move into your maximum output you have built a strong foundation in which to operate from.​​

Reach Out is the movement form which creates links and bridges polarities. In nature, opposites always exist to maintain balance. As movement continues to occur, the balance is constantly shifting, generating a new balance point every second. Reach Out is practical training for creating and maintaining balance in a world of shifting change. In Reach Out, you create bridges inside your body and into the world – connecting the inner to the outer, fluid to tissues, tissues to bone, the me to you –unfolding and unwinding internally as you reach out externally. By moving incrementally in opposing directions simultaneously, you expand on balanced pathways. This creates tremendous fluid stretching throughout the entire body.

In relationship, Reach Out guides you into reaching simultaneously into yourself and out to another, creating connection. This connection, when established and maintained, cultivates the ability to meet another and reach into their world while remaining centered and present in your self.

Benefits

Physical

  • Increases flexibility through loosening joints and muscles.
  • Neurological re-patterning your entire system.
  • Creates balance of tension between the fluid and muscular systems.

Emotional

  • Increase our ability to move with feeling, as opposed to away from feeling.
  • Opens new pathways in which emotions can flow.
  • Increases your capacity to sustain feeling.

Mental

  • Helps link internal with external awareness.
  • Increases focus throughout the body’s geometric structure and new possibilities of thinking.
  • Promotes mental balance through Increasing your ability to hold opposites.

Relationship

  • Develops your ability to stay connected to your own feeling and organic flow while reaching out into another person’s world.
  • Develops your ability to extend and adapt to others.
  • Expands your ability to balance resistance and flow together.

Power Up

Commit Deeper & Build Strength
"Strength is built by meeting challenge.
Commit deeper so you can generate as much energy as is needed right now to meet the challenge that is in front of you."
- Mariane Karou

Power Up is pure love of life in action. In doing Power Up, you exert yourself in every action you are doing. You feel the life force inside of you... awakened. You give your all, into the movement. You can fully connect with your enthusiasm for whatever you are doing, whether you like it or on’t like it, whether you feel comfortable or uncomfortable.

POWER UP is a choice in every moment.

POWER UP is a commitment to engaging fully and exert yourself into the action you are doing right now. You find more life force by breathing deeper, letting go of holding back, engaging more fully, pressing more firmly, and pulling, reaching and stretching to your very edge of where your body can go, expressing yourself clearly, directly with the target you are going for.

Power Up primarily accesses the muscular system. It enables you to move with strength as you utilize resistance internally and externally. The use of resistance increases your ability to define structure and maintain contact. Through the incremental movement of contraction and release, you learn how to gracefully utilize your structure as a natural support system for generating action. This trains you to be self-reliant as you increase the effort you are exerting.

In relationship, Power Up guides you to create harmonious resistance appropriate to the power levels between you so that no one is dominating or being dominated. It increases your ability to meet confrontation and to create and maintain separation from another personʼs experience. In addition, it teaches you how to be respectful of and work within structure so that you can fit into systems and team play.

Benefits

Physical

  • Develops muscular system, and trains muscle chains vs. isolated muscles.
  • Develops stability, balance, and coordination.
  • Increases strength and stamina and core conditioning.

Emotional

  • Develops your ability to be in charge, harness and direct of your emotions.
  • Increases your ability to contain and manage your emotions.
  • Opens you to a deeper capacity to feel.

Mental

  • Develops your ability to use the mind, sharpen your focus and increase your concentration  to shape and cooperate with  the body.
  • Develops your ability to manage and direct thoughts.
  • Develops your ability to be precise and attentive to detail.

Relationship

  • Develops your ability to stand your ground,define and inhabit your space.
  • Develops your self confidence and body image.
  • Develops your ability to be assertive, interact fully  and handle confrontation well.

Gotta Move

Initiate Change & Respond Quickly
​“ Do what is needed now, without pushing, forcing or hesitating.  Pay attention to your timing and the timing of  your whole team."
- Mariane Karou

Gotta Move is change.

You feel an impulse in your body. You let this sensation exist, pause and feel and move from this impulse. I put my attention on where I’m not moving, not feeling. I open to feeling here and moving here NOW. I constantly shift my attention and respond. I am responsive, in the moment, non-linear coherency.Gotta Move is what I do after I feel the full cycle of the wave, from the beginning to the very crest.

Gotta Move is the splash, spraying in all different directions, the breaking of the form and structure as a result of the completion of a cycle. Once the wave has fully formed, a movement occurs and the splash is created where it disperses in all different directions. This movement form requires letting go and moving with the chaos, where reorganization happens.

In this disbursement of energy, we can either fight it or flow with it.In my body, I am done and ready to move on whether I feel like it or not, a new movement is needed now for the movement cycle to keep going.

We have our bodies timing and we have others timing. Our timing requires we listen to the timing within our own bodies. Natures cycle is not on everyone’s individual timing, it is the timing of the whole system, whole planet, whole solar system, galaxy, whole universe. This is the macro-system. Where the macro-system intersects with the micro-system, which is our individual timing is where Gotta Move exists. Time to move within...and time to move as is required to be on the larger wave of motion.​

Gotta Move expands your capacity to change. It accesses the skeletal and nervous systems as you are guided to move with the stream of impulses that are constantly flowing through you. In Gotta Move, you are either allowing or initiating change. Change always creates varying degrees of chaos because the structure you once held as stable is being reorganized. This disruptive process trains you to become more flexible and adaptable to change with a continually moving center as your base. Thus your system becomes increasingly capable of being responsive, alert and interactive.Gotta Move inspires the body to fully reorganize and re-balance by breaking up rigid, impeding patterns and creating more fluid, spontaneous connections. This creates new neural pathways, thus opening more opportunities for increased intelligence and freedom of movement on all levels.In relationship, Gotta Move increases your natural expression, vitality and passion for life. It expands your ability to allow and initiate change and enter into new domains. It activates your ability to be spontaneously responsive and interactive with another, and to give a relationship room to move and grow. This is needed for health, freshness and vitality in any relationship.

Benefits

Physical

  • Increases your energy and vitality through accessing, activating and stimulating deeper channels of your nervous system, fluid systems, skeletal, muscular, lymph and most systems of the body.
  • Builds stamina and endurance.
  • Increases agility and flexibility.
  • Emotional

    • Releases withheld emotions as you unlock old trauma and withheld pain.
    • Increases emotional freedom of expression and activates joy.
    • Increases more open and honest communication.

    Mental

    • Activates creative and non-linear thinking.
    • Frees the mind to free associate and brainstorm.
    • Quickens, relaxes and calms the mind.

    Relationship

    • Increases the ability to be spontaneous, playful and have fun.
    • Increases the ability to be adaptable and flexible.
    • Increases the ability to be responsive, exploratory  and interactive.

    From Our Students

    When I started I had a lot of resistance and I didn’t want to cooperate.  Through Mariane’s hard work and persistence, I was able to break down my walls and really come into myself at a whole new level.  

    Things I learned here really helped me with being a teenager and being a young adult who is coming into the world and has to take things on and has to really fight for what he wants.  I have really learned to look at hard truths, how to look into myself and be a realist about what I am.  I have learned skills that most people think come for granted, but really people have to work for.  I have accumulated a storage of knowledge, skills and experiences that most eighteen year olds I do not think have.  If you were to meet me in the real world, you would see that I am not just an average 18 year old kid, and such a large portion of that comes from the time, work and energy I have put into myself at Dance Alive.

    Eden S.

    I have been astounded by the depth of what I have learned in Take Charge Now regarding group dynamics, positive interaction and human relating.

    As a psychiatrist I have had much exposure to studying group dynamics, and it is my whole hearted opinion that the Dance Alive program experientially teaches the art of human relating better than any other system I have ever studied. If you are wishing to increase your effectiveness, efficiency and become a leader in groups and in life in general, then this program is for you.

    Meredith S

    Dance Alive is a whole educational system, and there are a few things that it does that are really unique, that you probably won’t find anywhere else.

    All the information that it shares is already out there- you can read it in books, watch it on videos, its stated and used in different language, stated by different people. Ok….. so I read a book on how to have an awesome marriage,  that doesn’t mean I can DO what is needed to have an awesome marriage- there is a lot more needed than just reading some words on a piece of paper. At Dance Alive you are exposed to what is really needed- the DOING, practicing over and over again with feedback by someone who is an expert in the field. You want to do that with a dynamic group of people, both one on one, in small groups, large groups, that’s how we learn! This type of learning integrates into your whole body, not just reading, copying, memorizing.  It is about actually integrating something into your being, and then finding how you express that concept and take ownership over your learning. That is how the whole Dance Alive system is designed.  It’s designed based on that principle.  All the classes are based on learning by DOING.

    Ki K.

    This is really a class where you get to explore how your body moves and how you move with others, this is not rank and file ballet training or something like that.  I love it; it is like being a little kid on a play ground….

    Michael S.

    After 5 years of coming to Dance Alive, I am finally beginning to realize that Inner Rhythms really is the foundation of all movement, the place where I connect with my body and spirit, so that I am able to bring myself authentically into my whole life and into all my relationships.

    This is the FOUNDATION, the place where I can deeply nourish, revitalize, source inspiration and knowing, and problem solve WAY more effectively and efficiently than I could just thinking about the problem. It is a rigorous practice to keep my attention in my body without interfering or drifting off, but the more I practice, the more I FEEL connected and nourished in every area of my life.

    Tierra K.

    Mariane’s programs have completely revolutionized the way I live my life.

    Her programs have helped me to work, play, and rest with greater stamina, intensity, and relaxation in my body. I am now much healthier and feel way more alive.

    Michael S.

    Results tell the truth.  The results over the 6 years that I have been in Dance Alive are that I have amazing relationships now that I didn’t have when I started Dance Alive…

    I was really hiding out inside myself and not letting anybody in.  I had a lot of suffering doing that.  I just saw everywhere where my life was not working.  Now, after all this Dance Alive experience, I can actually see where my life is working and where I am stronger and where my relationships are stronger.  Everyone in my family is learning from me as I am guiding and leading the way into more functional relationships and everybody else in my life is more functional in what they can do too.  It’s made a huge difference in how I relate with my husband and how my husband relates with me, how I relate with my kids and how my kids relate with me.  it’s priceless.

    Michell B.

    What I have taken away from doing Dance Alive work on the relationship level is really how to read the underlying communication that somebody is giving.

    Ki K.

    Mariane has a unique and extraordinary ability to understand the mechanics of vitality and break them down into very tangible movement skills that anyone, regardless of their physical or mental circumstance, can learn.

    She adds to this a deep commitment to each individual she works with to discover their highest personal potential. Mariane has created the framework by which I'm able to have a career that I love, and more vitality than I thought possible.

    Sam M.

    Dance Alive is waking up my body’s own magic.

    In Dance Alive classes, I practice accepting, being with and moving parts of myself I’ve never moved before in an easy way with great music and Mariane’s incredible knowledge and spirit.
    Her example and teaching make it easy to acknowledge myself and begin to learn the deep physical, mental and emotional expression and expansion that is useful to my well being on every level…and fun!

    Mew S.

    Through my work in Dance Alive I have been able to get way more jobs than I did before I was training rigorously in Dance Alive.

    As a substitute teacher, I am always waiting for somebody to call me to get hired for a job that day.  And with my precise, sort of, understanding of how finances and giving your full attention and energy to a job has become more refined, I have gotten so many more calls and I feel that I have to turn away jobs because people want me to work for them and sub for them.

    Amber H.

    I learned the foundational skills of how to have a healthy relationship, from Dance Alive, in my marriage, and how to do that as a mother.

    Maude C.

    Mariane Karou is the most gifted, effective teacher of life skills on this planet.

    I can recommend her unequivocally to anyone who wants to live life at the highest levels of functionality and who is willing to do the self-study, work and practice necessary to get the maximum benefit from her teaching and leadership.

    I think Mariane Karou has figured out how to be a healthy human being (in the highest sense of mental, emotional, behavioral, and spiritual health) and that she has developed a system and style of teaching and role modeling that is AMAZINGLY effective in helping other people to be healthy functioning human beings.

    Tom H

    I love Mariane with all my heart….no difficulty there, and love her willingness to keep showing up and evolving and sharing from a place of complete authenticity.  You can trust that when she says something, she is telling you from a place of neutrality and authenticity. I’m so grateful that Mariane has been here, holding a space for us, to come and go, to be absolutely who we are, and to feel like we are home, in our souls, our hearts and our bodies.

    Myrna Rae B.

    Dance Alive is an integrated body/mind system that is practically applicable to “real life” outside of the classroom.

    I have learned how to be a better husband, father, employer and friend.  I get more energy, focus, ability to start something quickly, maintain it, and then also stop as needed.  I have also been able to access ”whole body strength” and I have FUN doing it!

    Terry C.

    One of the ways I apply Dance Alive is in my work, and in Team Playing with other people.  This is one of the big things that is taught and promoted at Dance Alive, is how to play well with others.  

    I have a number of employees, clients, venders and contractors that I deal with on a daily basis, and how it has really helped me is to real see other people as being “on my team”.  So taking me out of being harmfully competitive with somebody and bringing them on my team, seeing them as on my team, experiencing them on my team and then going into cooperation vs. competition.

    Terry C.

    Mariane has a steady, smooth, firm, caring, sharing, and vivacious dedication to being herself.  

    She more than talks the talk, or walks the walk, she dances the dance!

    Mike N.

    After being in Dance Alive, I’ve started my own business and built an amazing business that I love.

    I work with golfers, athletes, and business people, in connecting to themselves and helping them to increase their capacity to be more calm, focused and steadier in their lives.  I used to work on them and fix them.  Now I teach them to be the authorities in their own bodies.  They don’t have to give their power away to somebody else to say “fix me, fix me, fix me” I’ve learned through Dance Alive to help them build their and be super functional and super happy and really enjoy their lives, and their jobs and their relationships and their bodies. It is super powerful!"

    Michell B.

    Dance Alive has been enormously effective for me in my life in Learning How to Learn…. I am learning how to approach life like it is a discovery, as opposed to this is how life is supposed to be… fit into these pre-set categories that are predetermined.  

    The brilliant thing that I have discovered through Dance Alive is living from being in relationship with this organic, alive system that I am, and when I run into a challenge in my life, I have actually have access to the intelligence inside my body.  This is profoundly useful in my life.  And that is something that I have found really unique to Dance Alive… is being able to get that very organic, internal connection and then translating that into how I handle an area in business or an area with my child.  Having that connection to my own knowing is such a profoundly useful resource that Dance Alive provides.

    Maude C.

    Dance Alive brought me out of my head and into my body and being, and it’s been a fascinating and joyful journey ever since.

    The classes provide a perfect bridge between my profession as a statistician and my passion as a yogini. Mariane is continuously evolving and synchronizing the Dance Alive system, so each class is newly inspiring. My experience in class naturally flows out into all areas of my life. I can relate to myself and others with much greater clarity and compassion. I have made participating in the Dance Alive top priority in my life, now that I’ve experienced the life-changing effects.

    Linda D.

    One of the main things I’ve learned through Dance Alive my ability to be in relationship with another person.

    I notice how I hold my energy, whether it’s too far in, too far out or just right when I’m with someone else.  I’ve learned to bring myself out, bring my energy out, when it feels too far in, or bring it in when it feels too far out.  I think that practice of modulating my experience in myself, when I’m with someone else, and really looking to harmonize and team play with the other person…. is one of the key things I’ve learned about myself and have seen other people learn in Dance Alive.

    Terry C.

    What I have been learning and practicing is how to work really well with my husband and our team together. There are a whole lot of things to do and not to do, to say and not to say. I’m learning when to speak up, when to internally process, and also just make mistakes, learn by doing and getting feed back in the relationship.

    Tierra K.

    Take Charge Now is the best investment I have ever made in my personal life, my relationships, and in my career!

    It has taught me how to set goals that I am connected to, reach them without sacrificing the balance of my whole life, and to thoroughly celebrate my successes. By utilizing the moment–to-moment dynamics within the group as a teaching tool, Mariane, has found a way to bridge knowledge with experience. I walk away from every session with skills that I can immediately apply in all areas of my life. Participating in this leadership program has dramatically changed my attitude towards life, challenge, and fulfillment. I highly recommend this work to anyone willing to grow and change and enjoy life more fully!

    Syndee S.

    I have transformed my physical health.  

    I have had headaches since I was 6years old… taking tons of pain killers.  I was successful in unwinding my headaches and getting off painkillers and learning how to learn these tools to manage my health and as a result I am so much healthier and happier in all that I do.

    Maude C.

    I am impressed by Mariane’s supportive yet non-invasive approach which allows me to work at my own pace and reconnect with my true self.

    Over time I have learned not only how to access my vital energy but how to use it in my daily life to support and give power to the actions I choose to take. I know of no other system that offers the potent combination of freedom of expression and spaciousness with systematic challenge and vigor for the purpose of being fully in charge of one’s self than Dance Alive.

    Laura L.

    Mariane listens deeply to my heart's desire and my next step for growth, and guides accordingly.

    She guides me to access my own wisdom, truth, clarity, tenacity and resilience, and to relate to myself and others in and with love.
    She is a living embodiment of what she teaches and truly an inspiration.

    Lee M.

    In my work, using the Take Charge Now system has dramatically increased the productivity and morale among my employees and managerial team.

    I would highly recommend the study of Dance Alive to anyone who wants to be maximally effective in their life.

    Terry C.

    Mariane is incredibly gifted at seeing your strengths and gifts, and helping you to bring them forth into the world!

    She has an intuitive, down-to-earth, compassionate, and go-for-it approach to moving her students through layers of doubt, fear, and whatever is in the way of realizing our dreams. I have never felt so connected to my inner strength, vitality, courage, and pure joy
    of living than I do now after studying with Mariane.

    Meghan M.

    One of the things that I have been most impacted by in Dance Alive is the emphasis on TEAM PLAY.

    Teamplay is something that I have not had much exposure to. Even being on soccer teams, surf teams, group work classes etc… in almost all of these areas the is an emphasis on individual performance-  “you want to look good, and even if you are on the team, you want to be the star of the team”… and one thing I have really learned from Dance Alive, that I’ve been able to practicing and integrating into my work, is that WORK is really about a group of people working together to create something.  At the core, if you want to be most effective, you want to utilize all the tools that all the people on your team bring. This is such a different approach and way of thinking about work than “I want to produce something good, so I look good…” The truth is, you probably DO think: “I want whatever end product we create to be a freaking awesome end product.” And, the way it will be the most awesome end product is if you utilize your collective intelligence. So I’ve really got introduced to that way of thinking through Dance Alive, and have been slowly integrating that into my work. I feel like it has made a dramatic difference.

    Ki K.

    I’m so excited because I love problems now, because that’s how I learn.

    I learn by solving problems. It’s so much fun!

    Melissa F.

    Take Charge Now has taught me the skills I needed to start my own business, balance my work with recreation, and maintain the healthiest relationships I have ever known.

    Take Charge Now also has taught me how to manage my fear and anxiety, which formerly had prevented me from taking on new challenges. I can’t emphasize enough how utterly powerful Mariane’s teaching is: there is nothing out there like it.

    Michael S.

    Since participating in Dance Alive, my vital energy has significantly increased, as has my core strength and endurance.

    I am finding that I am far healthier and creative than I have ever been in my life, and that my energy and days run efficiently and consistently.

    Meredith S.

    As a result of being in Dance Alive my relationships are thriving.

    It’s given me the tools to approach any sort of unexpected situation with way more ease and way more confidence.

    Amber H.

    Through Dance Alive, I’ve become more connected to the inner experience of life - the life force that is moving through me.

    This connection has organically allowed me to take every area of my life - relationships, business, and personal well-being - to the next level, again and again. I practiced and studied yoga, movement meditation, and breathing for over 14 years, and nothing I’ve ever learned has come close to the effectiveness of the Dance Alive system. It just works. Period.

    Meghan M.

    Dance Alive has been and continues to be a profoundly amazing, radical and cutting edge education that has helped me transform my life by transforming myself from the inside out.

    It is impossible to convey in a short testimonial the abundance of learning cultivated and awakened in this space and the gifts acquired that keep on giving. One such precious and priceless gift is that I've learned how to open to the sheer joy and pleasure of being in my body and the absolute fun of moving and dancing. And that gift has also translated into learning how to meet life in all her totality and enjoy being alive through even the most challenging moments.

    Lee M.

    I think the most Important thing I have learned about relationship in Dance Alive, is how to Listen, really listen to someone.

    I have found that as my skill in the partner movement exercise has increased, my ability to follow where my partner in relationship is going has increased and my ability to back her up in the direction she is going has really improved.

    Michael S.

    Dance Alive has changed my life. It has taught me what natural movement is.

    Natural movement is like a child’s movement: fluid, balanced, and strong where it needs to be. As a yoga teacher, I understood how postures directly affect both the physical and mental health. But Dance Alive deepened and expanded my yoga practice. In practicing Dance Alive, I tapped into the natural, already healed and whole wisdom of my everyday movement. Each movement is either habitual and not aligned or is a step toward alignment. Dance Alive teaches me how to choose alignment and ease in each step.

    Sat Nam A.

    Dance Alive consistently provides me with an exhilarating physical workout, a psychological cleansing and a spiritual teaching.

    It has supported a journey from divorce to happy marriage; a self image of ‘Sufferer’ to ‘Celebrator.’ I am forever grateful to Mariane Karou and her work.

    Fred S

    The Dance Alive movement training has helped me increase my level of energy and vitality!

    I am participating in my life in such a bigger way, due to both the movement work and the Take Charge Now.  To really step up in your life in every way – this program is essential. Unlike other programs where it’s hard to apply the material after a week or two, Mariane teaches you in practical and useful ways to live life fully. Every class I attend is profound and useful and I notice amazing changes in my vitality, my relationships, and my career after each one.

    Michell B.

    FAQs

    Find answers to commonly asked questions about Dance Alive and our programs.

    What is Dance Alive?

    Dance Alive is an Embodied Life Training Program that encourages personal, relational, and business growth, through Dynamic Movement, Deep Body Meditations, & Embodied Leadership.

    Who is the founder?

    Mariane Karou is the Visionary founder of Dance Alive. She has been teaching for over 50 years and is a Pioneer in the field of Somatics, Movement, and Leadership! She is a dedicated guide who Empowers people of all ages, and at every stage of life!

    What are the core practices?

    The core practices of Dance Alive include:
    MOVEMENT - "Ride the Wave" Classes & Workshops
    MEDITATION - "Inner Rhythms" Classes & Workshops
    LEADERSHIP-"Take Charge Now" Workshops

    What are the benefits?

    Dance Alive offers Transformative Benefits, fostering a deep connection with yourself, greater alignment and clarity in your intentions, and greater movement skills to utilize to build your vitality, relationships, and wealth, with COMMITMENT & LOVE!

    How can I join?

    Click "See Our Programs" button above and sign up for one of our classes or programs! We look forward to MOVING with you!

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    Explore our latest Instagram posts for inspiration and updates

    You have the POWER, the choice in each moment, to keep living in the PAST, or to STEP INTO YOUR FUTURE!🌈 So many of us live TIED⛓️ to our limiting beliefs, values we grew up with, modeling we received, and we FORGET the immense POWER that lives in every cell and tissue of our BEING!🔥♥️🌊 We all have a past, traumas of varying degrees, ways we have been hurt, challenged, and this is some of our greatest fuel to actually CHANGE OUR LIVES! Or some just want a comfortable life with not as much change! However it is our NATURE🌊🌲⚡️🔥☀️ Our nature is NOT to stay the same! We are evolving beings with consciousness and desire and feelings, which… if you OPEN TO IT… has the power to CHANGE YOUR ENTIRE LIFE!!!! Ask yourself: ✨What stories am I holding onto for safety? ✨What beliefs do I have that are keeping me small? ✨What past circumstances am I letting become my prison guards? ✨What can I let go of in this moment? ✨What greatness can I STEP INTO & CLAIM for myself? ✨How can I open to my greater CHANGE AND EVOLUTION TODAY!!?? These are some of the essential questions to ask yourself daily, weekly, monthly!!!!🔥☄️🌈☀️⚡️ It is YOUR NATURE TO CHANGE!💥 Will you allow yourself to let go of the familiar safety patterns that hold you back, and will YOU EMBRACE CHANGE TODAY!?!?🌏🌟 #changequotes #change #changemaker #changeyourthoughts #letgo #letgoandgrow
    🔥KEY LIFE SKILL HERE Y’ALL!!!!♥️🙌🏽 Something we practiced ALL WEEKEND IN OUR INTENSIVE the last two days!!! How to receive support & receive from others! This is the key to FLOW OF ENERGY on a team! Being willing to give fully and receive fully. If you micromanage, there is no flow and receiving, and if you don’t expect others to contribute there is no flow of energy! This is the key to a HEALTHY TEAM🙌🏽🌟🐬 and to having sustainable energy all day long! Being able to GIVE AND RECEIVE SUPPORT! Are you feelin this!? Heart it, share it, let us know how this IMPACTS YOU!!🖐🏽♥️🌈🔥 #team #receive #receiveit #receivesupport #dreamteam #dailyinspiration
    🔥THIS WEEKEND🔥 GET READY! For your life to completely transform and evolve from the INSIDE, out🌊🌟🌊 This is your opportunity, to be LIVE with Mariane! And LIVE with our whole incredible community, to make DEEP RIPPLES OF CHANGE in every tissue, every cell, every fiber of your BEING! When we come together in community, we IMPACT each other, and we can all go so much further into ourselves, into the field of movement, and create impactful change that ripples into our own health, relationship, career, families, communities! This is your chance to 🌊DIVE IN🌊 to your next level of movement in your life, and to generate the energy you need to bring through whatever it is that you are most DESIRING right now in your life! THIS IS THE TIME🌟 THIS IS THE SPACE🌈 THIS IS THE OPPORTUNITY💥 SIEZE IT!!!!!⚡️🌊⚡️ This Saturday and Sunday LIVE IN LA!!! June 8&9, 9-6 PST☀️ 🗣️Comment “YES” below and we will send you more info!🌈 We can’t wait to MOVE WITH YOU!!🙌🏽 #movementculture #movementismedicine #movementcommunity #embodiment #embodiedleadership
    The KEY🔑 for SUCCESS IN LIFE🔥 If you want to keep growing and expanding in yourself and in your life, THERE WILL BE STRESS! And if you don’t expand, there will also be stress! So there really is no way to AVOID STRESS! It’s how you MOVE🔥 with it that either builds and tears you down! Listen to this video for HOW to MOVE with STRESS🙌🏽🌊🔥♥️🌈 What reached you/ inspired you from this video? Let us know in comments!🌟 #lifetraining #resilience #mindset #movementculture
    ⚡️Recap from our INCREDIBLE 🔥”Take Charge Now” Embodied Leadership Training this past weekend! There is nothing like having a safe space 🖐🏽and community to learn, grow, meet your edges, transform yourself, rewrite your history, and TAKE CHARGE in your LIFE🙌🏽🔥🌟 What we can do together is SO MUCH MORE than we can do alone!🙌🏽♥️🔥🌟 Check out link in bio to join one of our classes or workshops🐬 And TAKE ON your next LEVEL of your own EVOLUTION🌏🌊🌈🙌🏽🌟 #embodiment #embodiedleadership #embodiedliving #lifetraining #community #communicationskills
    🔥ARE YOU READY!?🔥 This is POWERFUL! YOU are powerful!🌟 You are MOVEMENT, the fabric of the universe, we are ALL made of MOVEMENT, a part of movement, in the movement of all that is occurring. 🌺OPEN TO THIS🌺 Feel this truth. And keep allowing your MOVEMENT to unfold🌊🌊🌊 #movementculture #movementismedicine #keepmoving
    🔥THIS IS A SKILL🔥 & YOU CAN BUILD!!!💪🏽🌟 What gets in the way of us taking ACTION in our lives? FEELINGS!!!!!! We have a feeling that is uncomfortable and we RUSH or HESITATE! The key is being able to EMBRACE the FEELING and welcome it. Not loop in your head. Or take immediate action. Embrace the feeling. And then open to what is actually NEEDED? What is the inspired action needed to build you and build the team in this situation? And then GO DO IT!🌟 It is simple but not easy! Being ABLE to MOVE through this cycle is ESSENTIAL to moving and producing in your life!🔥🙌🏽 The more you practice this, the faster and more effective you get at being ABLE to problem solve, teamplay with others, and CREATE!🌈 This upcoming weekend at Dance Alive workshops we will be 🔥TRAINING🔥 in this!! The mechanics, the mindset, the tools to build YOUR SKILL, of TRANSFORMING feelings into ACTION!⭐️ Join us and DIVE IN, for EMBODIED LEADERSHIP workshop! Deep Body Meditation! & Dynamic Movement!🙌🏽🌍🌊🐬🌟♥️ Link in bio @dancealivemovement to find out MORE🌟🌟🌟 #embodiedleadership #emotionalintelligence #losangeles #lifetraining #embodiment
    🔥WE ALL HAVE FEELINGS!🔥 To HARNESS, USE, and TRANSFORM feelings into ACTION, CHANGE, and GROWTH is a MASTER SKILL🌟🔥🙌🏽 To be OPEN to feeling without blocking or pushing down, or flooding and overflowing with feelings… requires greater AWARENESS & MOVEMENT SKILLS!🌊🐋🌊 Come DIVE IN to PRACTICE how to build these skills inside yourself, in relationship, and on a TEAM🙌🏽🔥🌟 So that you become a 🔥MASTER🔥 of TRANSFORMATION🌟 and are able to USE your intelligence to EFFECTIVELY CREATE, TEAMPLAY, PRODUCE, HEAL, NOURISH, RELATE!!! In every area of your LIFE!🌈🌈🌈 We’d love to have YOU!!!🙌🏽♥️🌊 May 18 & 19 in LA & Streamed ONLINE💫 🔗Link in BIO to find out more!🔥 #transformation #leadership #embodiedmovement #embodiedleadership #embodiedliving #movementculture #lifetransformation
    🗣️PEOPLE ALWAYS ASK!🔥 “WHAT IS MOVEMENT!?”🌊 “I’m not good at Dancing, what is Dance Alive!?”💃🏻 It’s not JUST moving your physical body, OR dance at all🌟 It’s how you MOVE THROUGH LIFE, moving with all of your internal intelligence and connection!🌈 The more you ALIGN and get all parts of you ON BOARD, ACTIVATED, INITIATING, MOVING, the more health, the more vitality, the more growth you see in yourself, your relationships, your work, your WHOLE LIFE!🙌🏽🔥💫 This is a highly disciplined practice that brings greater JOY, GRIT, and EXPANSION to your whole being❤️ Check out link in bio to DIVE IN🌊 and experience THIS MAGIC🙌🏽🔥🌟🌈🌎 #movementculture #movementismedicine #integrity #emotionalintelligence #alignment #movement
    🌏What a world to LIVE IN!!!!!🙌🏽♥️🔥 Can you imagine!?🌟 This is what we get to EXPERIECE at Dance Alive!!!🐋 A fertile environment to learn and grow and blossom into YOURSELF, more and more!!!🪷🌷🌺♥️ You are trained how to think and use your brain, how to access greater intelligence of your heart, gut instincts, and intuition, and to DEEPEN your anchor of presence inside your own body!🔥 The more you do the work/play/exploration, the greater COHERENCE you bring into your entire LIFE! Get started and JUMP IN🐬🌊💦 We have a free 14 day trial of our MEMBERSHIPS! In person and online classes! Link in bio!🌈 #movementismedicine #movementculture #coherence #heartcoherence #consciouscommunity #lifeskills
    Any guesses??☄️ 🌟🌟🌟YOUR VALUES🌟🌟🌟 These are your roots, the foundation from which all your thoughts, feelings, and actions COME FROM!🌲🌲🌏🌊♥️🙌🏽 We pick these up… to the plus and minus… from our families, friends, the culture, advertising etc. We may not consciously choose them‼️ This is where the movement is so VITAL! Movement takes you to connecting with YOURSELF! So you are aware and can feel what your values are currently. They show up in your actions, in your relationships, in your movement! And when you connect inside to YOURSELF, you are able to connect to what is ACTUALLY IMPORTANT TO YOU!🐬 You are able to re-write and consciously CHOOSE what your values are! The values are underneath all the movement, all the leadership, all the trainings we do in Dance Alive🙌🏽🌊🌲🔥 The Dance Alive Vaues are: 1. TEAMPLAY🐬 2. BE OPEN🌺 3. EXPLORE🌀 4. COMMIT🔥 5. BE RESILIENT🌊 Read more about them on our website ✨ link in comments! What are some of your core VALUES?♥️ #values #corevalues #teamwork #explore #commitment #resilience #beopen
    🌟“I DID IT!” This is a MASTER SKILL🔥 Mariane does this with HERSELF DAILY! Hourly! ALL THE TIME! She trains her grandkids in it, and all her students! This is KEY to MOVEMENT🙌🏽🌊 You need to give yourself this ACKNOWLEDGMENT! It fuels you to take your next step ORGANICALLY🌎👣❤️ And from inspiration and energy versus push and force!🔥❤️🌈 ACKNOWLEDGE YOURSELF FOR ONE THING YOU DID TODAY in the comments BELOW👇🏽❤️ No task is too small to ACKNOWLEDGE!💫 GO ACKNOWLEDGE WHERE “YOU DID IT!” 💫🔥❤️🔥💫 #selfacknowlegement #acknowledgment #ididit #leadership #movementtraining
    🎉FROM OUR AMAZING STUDENTS! 🌊Dance Alive has transformed to many people and KEEPS transforming us all DAILY!!!🌟 Mariane Karou (our visionary founder) always says “This is the educational system of the FUTURE!” And it IS!🔥🙌🏽 A place to come unlock yourself, unleash yourself, and TAP your TRUE ESSENCE and BEING!⚡️ Connect to yourself and MOVE in your entire life! The ripples can’t help but HAPPEN🌊🌊🌊🌟🌟🌟🌈🌈🌈 Come experience the ✨MAGIC✨ Wednesday Night Movement🌊 Monday Night Meditation🌏 And ALL THE TIME MEMBERSHIPS!⚡️ Links in BIO! Check it all out!🌟 DM us for two week free trial of membership with unlimited videos and in person/ online classes!🔥🙌🏽🌊🐬 See you on the MOVEMENT FLOOR🙌🏽👣 #movementismedicine #movement #movementculture #leadership #lifetraining #unleashyourpower
    ⚡️WE NEED TREMENDOUS SKILLS TO NAVIGATE THESE TIMES!🌟 As the world speeds up, we need to be able to speed up, slow down, and stay on the BEAT of what is needed, while staying connected to the BEAT of our own bodies and systems! This is why Dance Alive @dancealivemovement is SO IMPORTANT!🌊❤️🔥🌎 It trains you in HOW TO MOVE through life! Through the world! While staying connected and true to yourself, and also able to move with external rhythms and timings!🖐🏽🖐🏿🌎🔥🌟 Through meditation, movement, and leadership classes and workshops, You BUILD THESE SKILLS🙌🏽💯 So that you can THRIVE in your health, in your relationships, in your work, and in the WORLD!🌎 🌈COME JOIN US!🌈 We have 2 weeks free for both our memberships right now!❤️ Movement & Meditation memberships! TONS of classes, in person, online, and 24/7 library💫 DM us to find out more!❤️🖐🏽🔥 We can’t wait to MOVE WITH YOU!!! #movementtraining #movementculture #lifetraining #leadership #meditation #speedup #slowdown
    🌈OUR INCREDIBLE CELEBRATION of RICH’s Life TODAY, one year after Rich left his earth body🌈 We danced in the sun, in the rain, receiving his presence with us ALL🌈 His deep love, steady energy, and encouragement of us all, TOTALLY LOVING OUR LIVES♥️🔥🖐🏽 Birds swarmed in a vortex above us 🦅🌀🌟 Two rainbows appeared as we departed our beach ceremony🌈🌈 The Song came on the radio✨ “Hello from the other side”✨ He is here with us ALL, available to us ALL, NOW STRONGER and MORE THAN EVER🙌🏽🌈🔥♥️☄️🌈☀️🌏🌺 Open to receive his energy, presence, and LOVE🌺♥️🌈 #celebrationoflife #celebrationoflove #powerfamily #lovefamily #strongerthanever