Name: Ecstatic Dance Retreat 2025 • BORNEO
Start: 2025-11-21T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2025-11-29T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Sabah, Malaysia, Borneo

Dance The Medicine

Email address verified

46 reviews

Nov 21 - 29, 2025

Group size: 10 - 24

Ecstatic Dance Retreat 2025 • BORNEO

Sabah, Malaysia, Borneo

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Dance The Medicine

Email address verified

46 reviews

Nov 21 - 29, 2025

Group size: 10 - 24

NATURE – DANCE – JOURNEY

Experience true freedom, unlock your body’s natural energy, and reconnect with joy in the heart of nature on a transformative 9-day journey!

Embark on a unique retreat in Borneo, where we’ll awaken your inner vitality through dance, creativity, and community. Immerse yourself in the vibrant pulse of nature, surrounded by rich colors, dramatic landscapes, and the primal essence of this incredible land. This isn’t just a retreat—it’s a transformative journey that will light up your spirit in one of the world’s most awe-inspiring settings.

Together, we’ll explore:

• Ecstatic Dance: Guided dance sessions with DJ Bernice Raabis to reconnect with your body and spirit.

• Nature Immersion: Explore Borneo’s OCEAN, MOUNTAIN, and WILDLIFE landscapes in unforgettable settings.

• Cultural Connection: Engage with local communities and traditions.

• Wildlife Encounters: Discover Borneo’s unique wildlife with professional guides.

Your ecstatic dance sessions will be led by DJ Bernice Raabis, founder of Dance The Medicine. This unique journey across North Borneo consists of three mindfully arranged components: OCEAN – MOUNTAIN – WILDLIFE, blended with culture and environmental consciousness and supported by a professional team of licensed guides. Join us, and let’s create memories, connect deeply, and dance under Borneo’s stunning skies—together!

✤ BERNICE RAABIS - FOUNDER OF DANCE THE MEDICINE

Having begun humbly in the Kootenay Mountains of Western Canada, Bernice is now a respected mentor for Conscious Dance Leaders across the globe. Her journey started with hosting Dance Church for over ten years, where she harnessed her expertise from training in various disciplines, including Soul Motion, Movement Based Expressive Therapy (The Life Art Process), and Relational Somatic Therapy. These were brought together to nurture her local multi-generational dance community, which flourished and surpassed even her most ambitious expectations.

In 2016, she stretched her wings co-founding Ecstatic Dance International, facilitating successful leadership trainings in the US, the Netherlands, Guatemala, and Portugal. Driven to incorporate DJ and dance facilitation skills into available trainings, she used the name of her unique practice, and founded Dance The Medicine, a collective of accomplished conscious dance professionals determined to infect the world with dance.

While Bernice loves DJing and creating transformative events, her deepest fulfilment comes from facilitating deep somatic processes using a combination of dance, art, and ritual; to help dancers find freedom through connection to self, community, and humanity.

✤ HANSAH

Hansah is a transformational lifestyle organization offering tool kits, workshops, frameworks, private and group therapy that empower people to envision, plan & execute an extraordinary life. A member of the Transformational Travel Council. a group of global experts unlocking the power of travel & self development to positively transform how we live our lives, how we live with others, and how we live on our planet through transformative education, community engagement, experiences, and events.Learn more about Hansah.

Borneo is located just above the equator, its hot with day time temperatures around 28-30 degrees. Night time 26 degrees.

• Lightweight casual evening clothes, t.shirts, loose trousers suitable for the tropics.
• Casual shoes / flip flops for evenings
• Lightweight Raincoat
• Shorts & t.shirts suitable for hiking & sweating leggings for hiking are great.
• Hat, sunglasses, sun screen, insect repellent.
• Light weight towel / day hiking bag / refillable water bottle (there is a ban on single use plastic)

Ecstatic Dance Retreat Borneo 2025

Deposit: $300

Our Package Includes:

All Land & Boat Transfers In Country
8 Nights Twin/Double/Triple Share Accommodation in Stunning Natural Environments.
Full Board Meals
Day of Snorkeling & Beach Activities
A Day Hiking “The Most Beautiful Trail” Pineapple Ridge
Kinabatangan River for Wildlife Safaris
Cultural Immersion Sharing Stories with Local Tribes
Ecstatic Dance & Conscious Dance Practices by legendary DJ Bernice Raabis
Plus lots more … see full inclusion list below
Facilitated by Adventures In Borneo. Staff Team On Location.

A nonrefundable deposit of €300 plus 30% of the package is due when you sign up. The €300 is payable here, to Dance the Medicine. When you sign up here with your €300 deposit, we will send you a link to pay the remaining 30% deposit to Down Below Adventures. The balance must be paid in full by 1st March 2025.

$3,900

Deposit: $300

Day One:
Day One:
Land Transfer & Evening Opening Ceremony
11am scheduled land transfer from Kota Kinabalu City to Kudat. Evening opening ceremony intention setting & dance. Free at leisure until dinner time.
Overnight: Ocean Villa’s Twin/Double / Triple Rooms, Air-conditioned with En-suite bathroom. (Lunch, Dinner Included)
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Day Two
Day Two
Acclimatisation, Beach Strolls and More
Acclimatisation. Enjoy breakfast and have a rest and reset session – enjoy beach strolls, ocean swimming and generally explore this stunning location. Sunset beach dance & dinner.
Overnight: Ocean Villa’s Twin/Double / Triple Rooms, Air-conditioned with En-suite bathroom. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Included)
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Day Three.
Day Three.
Local activities, Tip of Borneo
Today we will enjoy some local activities which may include snorkeling & beach activities with a trip to the Tip Of Borneo for a powerful dance where the two oceans of the South China Sea & Celebes Sea meet. Dinner at the villas.
Overnight: Ocean Villa’s Twin/Double / Triple Rooms, Air-conditioned with En-suite bathroom. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Included)
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Day Four
Day Four
Village visit, Afternoon dance, Local explorations
Overland transfer to a local village in the mountains for your homestay. Meet your hosts after the welcome ceremony. Afternoon dance. Exchange stories with local elders to learn about the culture and traditions of the native people of Sabah. Learn how they live in harmony with their land, respecting and honoring nature, growing their own vegetables & fruit, making their own instruments, utensils & homeware. Exceptional night skies and stunning mountain backdrop.
Overnight: Village Homestay, Private Twin/ Double Rooms, Shared Bathroom. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Included)
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Day Five
Day Five
Hike to the foothills of Mt Kinabalu, Dinner Celebration, Dance
Embark on a hike through the foothills of Mt Kinabalu, passing by Pineapple Ridge and orchards. After the long hike, enjoy a lunch picnic by the Tahubang Riverside. Evening dinner celebration with the village, dance and play music.
Overnight: Village Homestay, Private Twin/ Double Rooms, Shared Bathroom. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Included)
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Day Six
Day Six
Visit to mini Mt Kinabalu, Evening River Safari, Wildlife Exploration
Farewell to your homestay hosts after visiting the ‘Tanak Nabalu’ – mini Mt Kinabalu. Overland journey passing by hills, lush rainforests and palm oil plantations to the Kinabatangan River.
Evening river safari in search of wildlife and birdlife along Sabah’s longest river. Try to spot pygmy elephants, orangutans, crocodiles, proboscis monkeys, macaques, hornbills and myriad of birds living in the region.
Overnight: Bilit Adventure Lodge, twin/double share, air-conditioned en-suite rooms. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Included).
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Day Seven & Eight
Day Seven & Eight
1-hour morning river safari & Evening Safari, Closing Ceremony, Dance
Rise to the calls of gibbons and hornbills and enjoy a 1-hour morning river safari in search of wildlife waking up by the river bank.
Evening river safari & optional night walk with the in-house guide. Closing Ceremony & Dance.
Overnight: Bilit Adventure Lodge, twin/double share, air-conditioned en-suite rooms. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Included).
Read more

Day One:

Land Transfer & Evening Opening Ceremony

11am scheduled land transfer from Kota Kinabalu City to Kudat. Evening opening ceremony intention setting & dance. Free at leisure until dinner time.

Overnight: Ocean Villa’s Twin/Double / Triple Rooms, Air-conditioned with En-suite bathroom. (Lunch, Dinner Included)

Dance The Medicine

46 reviews

Our Dream Team at Dance the Medicine includes established Conscious and Ecstatic Dance event organizer, movement facilitators and DJ's, We are diverse, coming from a wide array of backgrounds and modalities with varying visions about how to deliver our dance medicine to the world. What we share is a love of dance, music and community. We are collaborative, empathetic, action-minded and believe that dance has the ability to change the world! Come learn, play and DANCE with us!

The training was fantastic, both in terms of training content and interpersonal relationships, and the way Bernice and all the staff accompanied us not only with expertise but also with so much heart!

By Paola B for Dance Facilitator Training 2025 • ONLINE on Jun 12, 2025

This was a great course and arrived just at a time when I needed something to boost my confidence and inspire me to follow my love of dance again. The course material was well thought through - embodied all the way - with an enthusiastic team who so obviously LOVE what they do! We did get to dance together on zoom and that works surprisingly well! I found the small groups particularly helpful - being someone who doesn't feel comfortable in a larger group. Having access to that support in the smaller group has continued beyond the training. I feel I am still assimilating the material and as with any of these trainings - you get out of it what you put in...... Thank you DTM! I hope to see you again!

By vicky c for Dance Facilitator Training 2025 • ONLINE on Jun 12, 2025

This learning goes so deep. Beyond enriching and impactful. Highly recommend any training with DTM.

By Mikaela G for Dance Facilitator Training • Self-Led Course on Jun 09, 2025

The 7-day Facilitator Training in Portugal with Dance The Medicine reminded me how sacred this practice truly is. Each day, we danced up to three times—held in a circle of over 40 people from diverse cultures and paths, all united by the deep knowing that dance transforms. We explored what it truly means to hold space with presence, clarity, and love—not just as a skill, but as a way of being. Before this training, I had already invested in the self-led Facilitator Course and had begun holding events in my community. But this immersive experience opened me up in ways I couldn’t have imagined—it showed me how much more there is to learn, embody, and offer. It deepened my understanding of what it means to serve a dance floor with humility, awareness, and care. I feel incredibly grateful to have been granted a scholarship, which made this life-changing opportunity possible. Being part of the very first Level 2 graduate class was an honour, and co-facilitating a small group during the week allowed me to grow in trust, listening, and presence. A heartfelt thank you to Bernice and her extraordinary team, whose vision, clarity, and love held us all. The structure, content, and behind-the-scenes work were impeccable—crafted with intention, precision, and soul. This path is not just about holding space or facilitating conscious dances. It’s about honouring a potent force—one that moves energy, softens emotional blocks, shapes intentions, and nurtures deep well-being and connection with oneself and others. Throughout the week, I witnessed and felt transformation in everyone—participants and team alike. Just like every dance, the training itself became a big, beautiful hold, where each of us could shift, unfold, and remember who we are. I return home with a clearer vision, a fuller heart, and a deep sense of belonging. I feel truly part of a global community, and I’m committed to sharing what I’ve learned—with a humble and open heart. And yes—Dance is the Medicine.