TRIBAL RITUAL :: 2000 - 2008
In 2000, a dramatic decline in the quality and quantity of underground dance events occured as the infamous "Dot Com" implosion sapped the financial resources underpinning the scene at large. However, within Moontribe, the commitment to the Full Moon Gatherings (FMGs) carried on (albeit not every Full Moon as occurred from 1993-1999). Despite all manner of challenges — legal, artistic, personal, organizational, access to public land, and the end of the vinyl record era — Moontribe persevered. At the FMGs, many hearts continued to be opened to the possibility of transcendence and bliss through communal, ritual dance. In the pulse of the music, with dust rising high into the air, and in the sublime shared moments of spontaneously formed circles, we reaffirmed our shared dream.
In addition, the seeds planted during the 1990s, were bearing fruit regionally. Others were collaborating, re-inventing, and shaping their own tribal dance communities. 13 Moontribe in Santa Cruz; Faeries & Fools on the Sunshine Coast, Tribal Harmonix in Vancouver; the Portal/Labyrinth at Shambhala in Nelson, British Colombia; Mother Earth Sounds System (M.E.S.S.) outside of Boulder (which, incidentally, had begun organizing it's own Full Moon Gatherings); Oracle Gatherings in Seattle; Green Sector and The Do Lab in LA, and others. In 1999, the Gathering of the Tribes (GOTT) organization/ conference was established to nurture the ties between the various like-minded organizers, dancers, and artists and to promote education, activism, and sustainability.
Thus, the essence of the tribal underground was alive and well; maturing, expanding, and keeping faith in the intrinsic value in music, dance, and community.
