Cynthia Winton-Henry, cofounder of InterPlay (an international not-for-profit organization with locations in over fifty cities on five continents), teaches people to unlock the wisdom of the body through movement and creativity. She has served as an adjunct faculty member at Pacific School of Religion and the Sophia Center at Holy Names University, and is author of Chasing the Dance of Life: A Faith Journey; What the Body Wants and Dance—The Sacred Art: The Joy of Movement as a Spiritual Practice (SkyLight Paths).

• Introduction ixA Dancing Parable xvChapter One: May I Have This Dance? 1Chapter Two: Approaching Holy Ground 16Chapter Three: Unlocking the Dance of Joy 37Chapter Four: Dancing into Wholeness 51Chapter Five: Dancing for Healing 77Chapter Six: Dancing for Spiritual Direction 103Chapter Seven: Dancing with Beloved Community 131Chapter Eight: Dancing as Peacemaking 158Resources 181Suggestions for Further Reading 185Index of Movement Practices 191Gratitude 193

Do you sometimes feel as if you are experiencing information overload? Then pick up this book and learn the technique of "exformation" through dance. That is only one of the many ideas Winton-Henry shares in this creative contribution to spiritual practice.The author presents the Divine as asking each person "May I have this dance?" Yet so many religious traditions downplay or deny the value of the body in spite of numerous traditions of God's movement toward creatures and the lively response of followers. This repression was not always so nor need it be so in the future, according to the author. In fact, words such as “carol” and “chorus” mean to dance and to dance together.Winton-Henry develops ways in which to approach the Holy through unlocking the dance of joy, approaching wholeness through movement and dancing for healing. Interestingly, she also promotes dancing as a part of spiritual direction, as action of the beloved community and as a form of peacemaking.Included in the book are a variety of movement practices for each theme, additional reading suggestions and resources for particular forms of dancing. No matter what age, what physical ability or limitation or what spiritual tradition you are, there is much in this volume to invite you to the sacred dance.