Deborah Jay-Lewin
I trained originally as a Sesame Movement and Drama Therapist working in Special Needs environments, at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London in 1988. I then went on to train as a Holistic Massage Practitioner. At this point I felt inspired and motivated to use both these skills to make a difference in the world. I began dancing with 5Rhythms® creator Gabrielle Roth in 1989 and was accredited by the Moving Centre, New York in 1994 to teach the Waves® level of the work. In January 2007, I completed the training to teach Heartbeat®, the emotional maps of this dance practice.

I now teach 5Rhythms in the Findhorn Community in Scotland, which has primarily been my home since 1986. I can be found teaching groups of dedicated dancers here, or just as likely in dance studios in Hong Kong, Japan, Shetland, Spain or Israel. I also work with individuals and in corporate & educational settings, using the Rhythms as a tool for creative expression and managing change, stress, projects - life! Since 2005 I have taught these vital moves in Findhorn, both physically and as a metaphor, to teach young American students on a programme called ‘The Human Challenge of Sustainability’, run by the Findhorn College. I am also a director of Bodysurf Scotland, an artist-led organisation that produces and promotes dance & movement activities in North East Scotland.

The 5Rhythms map has been the worldview through which I have lived for the past 20 years. It informs and transforms my thinking, perception and my behaviour - physically, emotionally and mentally. It is an ever changing and evolving practice, which is why I am still interested, engaged, inspired and loving dancing and teaching it.

I bring warmth and an open heart to my teaching, with a joyful passion and dedication to the work and it's power to transform peoples’ lives - on & off the dance floor...

Praise the Dance

I praise the dance for it frees people
from the heaviness of matter and binds
the isolated to community.

I praise the dance which demands
everything:
health and a clear spirit and buoyant soul.
Dance is a transformation of space, of time,
of people,
who are in constant danger of becoming
all brain, will or feeling.
Dancing demands a whole person,
one who is firmly anchored in the centre
of his life,
who is not obsessed by lust for people
and things and the demon of isolation in
his own ego.
Dancing demands a freed person, one
who vibrates with the equipoise of all his
powers.
I praise the dance, or else the angels
in heaven will not know what to do with you.

St. Augustine of Hippo