08/21/2024
Hello beautiful dancers-
It is with a heavy heart that we share the recent passing of Johnny Woods. There are truly no words to express our tender hearts as we share this news with our community. Johnny was a dear friend, a constant abiding presence and a true gift to the ecstatic dance community. Johnny was deeply devoted to ecstatic dance austin, the dance practice, and the sacred container we created together weekly for over a decade (and Body Choir for many years prior to the formation of ecstatic dance austin). Johnny’s quiet and profoundly grounded presence was essential in our collectively created dance space…he was a channel for Grace-selflessly serving so many of us week after week through his devotional spiritual practice-powerfully seeing us, connecting us to greater awareness and moving with us…all with a deep knowing gaze and without a sound. Johnny’s seva to the community also extended to setting up the space, coming early and staying late every week to set up the speakers, wires and mats necessary to keep us up and running. He was the quiet and powerful force that held us together to create a dance space like no other for over 10 years…we are forever grateful.
David and I were so lucky to have dear friend in Johnny…he was one of the hardest workers I have ever known. He always seemed to move things with genuine care and steadfast devotion. He loved nature, trees, and had a simple approach to most things. He was held and supported by the love of his wife, the incredible soul that is Sharon Slater. Holding her heart so tenderly at this time and encircling her with all our love.
Johnny loved serving the dancers in the dance community and we shared many conversations about the power of showing up and how deeply each of us were served through serving in that space for so many years. Countless lives were changed as a result of Johnny’s devotion and pure heart. I will always see and feel him in every room I dance in for the rest of my days…holding the most profound space for me to be entirely myself…the self that I have a hard time accessing and find hard to share…Johnny gave tremendous permission and access to that sharing of my true self in the exhale of dance through his unwavering presence. Thank you Johnny for your silent, unwavering, clear presence…I am forever changed from knowing you.
