We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Aradia Sunseri a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Aradia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

Creating Ritual Movement Arts has been such an amazing journey. Years ago, when I stepped onto this path, I had dreamed of the modern mystery school devoted to women’s vitality practices. I was just 24 years old, and I knew I was born to create something I’d never seen. As an artist, I was always rebellious and loved finding new ways to perceive the world.

Coming from a background as a professional Dancer/Choreographer/and Artistic director. I have years of experience in film on stage and performing at festivals. In the entertainment industry and the dance world, it can be very lonely and highly competitive, especially with women. In my years of early training in traditional ballet and modern dance and found it almost impossible to create lasting friendships with women. It’s a cultural conditioning that is so outdated and these toxic traits cause lots of young women to be in a state of fear and jealousy rather than a supportive and team-like environment.

It was when I found the art of tribal fusion belly dance in 2000 that I also found my tribe of wild women. The dance was a new language and an ancient remembrance.
All body types were welcome and there was so much emphasis on communing with the dance, the music, and each other. This dance was like poetry- each move unfurling another isolating wave.

I was immediately in love.
To be heard & seen by other women in our most authentic selves is one of the most powerful things. When women gather in these ways deep healing occurs naturally. This brings us back to the magic of the ancients drawing down the moon into a blossoming circle of union.
I had just got back from a European tour with my dance company at the time; on the airplane, this vision came to me.
Women dancing on the rich black volcanic soil. Together dancing & praying. No audiences, tour vans, or greenrooms. Just women dancing on the earth perfectly in sync moving hypnotically by the ocean.

I felt the pull to the Hawaiian islands.
The land itself seemed to call me asking me to create a Women’s retreat devoted to sacred dance. I have met so many sisters over the years expressing their soul’s yearning for healing & unconditional love among women. So I set forth to create a breathing living temple dedicated to sacred feminine arts.
Dance has brought me home & it is through this dance as a spiritual practice I have devoted my heart to goddess wisdom. We as women return to our true nature -discovering our birth rite of embodiment practices & share in true sisterhood. This is my continued life’s work, going on for 18 years. It’s my honor to offer specialized R.M.A workshops & retreats focused on healing; issues of separation of sisterhood, reclaiming sacred sensuality, cultivating embodiment practices, re-establishing a healthy body image, recovering from abuse & the remembrance of the sacred phases of a woman’s life menstruation,(maiden) pregnancy, (mother)menopause. (crone)

It is such an amazing gift to continue to deepen my passion for dance as a healing art form.
This October I am offering my annual 9th Radiant Priestess Retreat in Maui Hawaii.
This is a huge success as the 1st retreat started as a little seed vision in 2014 and has now grown into an annual transformative healing retreat.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hello readers,

My name is Aradia Julia Sunseri,

I am the founder of Ritual Movement Arts. A modern mystery school of ancient practices is devoted to Sacred Dance, Ayurveda, and Women’s Vitality Practice. I facilitate sacred dance online courses, international retreats, workshops, and courses in essential magick. These transformational teachings empower women to unlock their own birthright of embodiment and deepen their wild womxn’s soul connection to this planet and their unique purpose.

Since 2008 I’ve been devoted to this path of sacred dance, ritual, and empowering women through authentic sisterhood. My innovative style blends Temple fusion belly dance, Nepalese, Ballet, and energy healing as a holistic spiritual practice. Honoring the traditions and her lineage work, I weave the meditative aspects of ceremony & cultivation of personal practices.

All teachings as rooted in wisdom teachings weaving somatic movements such as sacred dance and yoga, with Ayurveda and meditation. These teachings are nurturing and holistic practices to bring balance into everyday life. As an (AHC) practitioner and women’s health specialist, I also hold degrees in Somatic therapy, yoga Nidra, womb healing, herbalism, and Tantra, and am a graduate of the California College of Ayurveda.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

In these times we becoming more aware of the genuine need to slow down and not get lost in the grind culture. We see this in the slow food movement, slow fashion movement etc.
This work is devoted to an creating authentic connection to the daily embodiment movement. We have one temple body for the whole ride. In this time we are here to thrive by staying connected to the natural world. Moving out of autopilot modes of burnout and focusing on connecting to nature daily. Even in an urban city, you can find practices that connect you to the earth and to other humans. We need one another.

As mammals, it’s scientifically proven that we need hugs, eye contact and to be in awe of discovering this human experience. Dancing together is so much fun and a great way to express yourself by moving out of your head and into a somatic state of play! Artists have always bridged the worlds and helped unify people with their own creative centers. I believe we are here to take care of this planet and create solutions through creative collaboration and inspired action. I encourage you to support local artists and seek out art forms that are rooted in mysticism, for we all desire to feel connected and a sense of belonging. Invest in visions that support the natural world, as we are connected to this planet through each breath we take and each sunbeam that warms our skin.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

You’re invited into this temple of alchemical wisdom offering practical applications to connect with your body’s natural intelligence, psychic powers & ecstasy of self-expression.

Explore your own desires through reclaiming the wisdom of the goddess, and honor the inner calling within the awakening wild soul of the collective feminine psyche. All Teachings are devoted to women’s empowerment through creating sacred spaces while applying ancient techniques that awaken embodiment, through the teachings of Sacred Dance, Ritual, Ayurveda, and Yoga.

Drawing Inspiration From The Feminine Divine, Devadasi & The Soul Memory Of The Temple Dancer Rites. Movement and dance are inherent qualities, not only to humans but to all of nature and the cosmos. From the creation of the universe to the first heartbeat of the fetus in the womb, rhythm, and dance have always existed. Honoring the lineages that create the rooted structure of these practices of many ancestors who have come before. For tens of thousands of years, humans have used dance as an integral part of ritual, prayer, and reaching other states of consciousness, for the purpose of healing, and facilitating contact with the Divine. It is believed that the soul of a people is woven into the steps of their dances.

The Origins of “Belly Dance” is extremely old and traces of it can be found up to 6,000 years ago, based in pre-Christian pagan societies that worshipped nature & feminine divine. This dance was women’s fertility magic & helped in childbirth. The origin of name ‘belly dance’ comes from the French Danse du ventre, which translates as “dance of the stomach”.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.ritualmovementarts.com
• Instagram: @aradiasunseri
• Facebook: Ritualmovementarts
• Other: https://youtu.be/PYKxZY6n64k
• Learn more about Radiant Priestess Retreat https://www.ritualmovementarts.com/retreats

Image Credits
Photo by Hannah Fraser