Ritual, magic and alchemy
Magic and EDM: ritual magic on the dance floor
Not card tricks. The older kind of magic: setting an intention, raising energy together, and letting it go. A dance floor turns out to be a very good place to do it.
What magic means here
If you came looking for a stage magician, The Great Medicine Show is not that. There are no card tricks and no illusions. The magic we mean is ritual magic: attention, done with purpose, in company. One common way to describe a magical working has four movements, and a night of electronic dance music can follow them.
The four movements of a night
- Set the intention. The opening. Sound bowls, a spoken intention over a drone, the room naming together what it came for.
- Raise the energy. The long climb. Each song a notch faster or heavier than the last, dancers filling the floor, never letting it fall.
- State the outcome. The peak. A breakdown for the words, then the drop, fire and the whole room as one thing.
- Release the energy. The closing. An ambient fall, a sound bath, and silence at the end to let it go.
This is a shape we build a show on when an event asks for it, and it is why our sets rise and fall rather than holding one level for hours.
Why EDM and magic fit
Electronic dance music already does what a ritual does. It repeats, it builds, it releases. A room full of people moves to one pulse, and the bass is felt in the body, not only heard. The Great Medicine Show writes for that: more than 100 songs of bass music woven with world instruments and voice. Live, dancers, aerial and fire give each movement of the night its own image.
The Art of Magic, a live session
Jordan Larsen teaches the practice behind it in The Art of Magic, a two hour live session over video. It covers energy awareness, intention, ritual and practice, connecting to deeper states of consciousness, and bringing magic into daily life.
Bring the magic to your event
Festivals, themed nights, New Year's Eve, solstice gatherings and private celebrations. We were top billed on New Year's Eve 2022 at Indra's Awarehouse in Austin, a night of aerial, acrobatics, cirque and ceremony. Start from ritual medicine music for the whole picture, or book the show.
Questions people ask
Is The Great Medicine Show a magic show?
Not a stage magic show. There are no illusions. It is a live electronic music performance shaped like a ritual, with dancers, aerial and fire, and the magic is in the shape of the night.
What does magic have to do with EDM?
Both work with repetition, building energy and release. We can stage a night on the four movements of a working: set the intention, raise the energy, state the outcome and release it.
Does Jordan Larsen teach magic?
Yes. The Art of Magic is a two hour live session over video on energy awareness, intention, ritual and practice. Details and booking are on the course page.
Can you perform a magic themed show at our event?
Yes. We can build the night on the four movements, from a solo DJ set to a cast of up to 12 with fire.