The Nature Of Trance

[APWW #702] In many communities throughout Africa and the diaspora, music and spiritual life are deeply connected through the experience of trance: ritual possession by ancestors, spirits, deities, or simply the trance of communal dancing—usually accompanied by hypnotic melodies and rhythms. In this program, we explore the phenomenon of trance through a survey of musical and spiritual traditions. We'll discover how different cultural and spiritual ideas are expressed musically, and how innovations from behavioral psychology and neurology give insight into how trance works in the brain.