An aborted planned trip to Nepal to mountain trek in 1988 resulted in an intense interest in the Far Eastern religions, and Buddhist chanting.  In 1990 Priscilla McLean’s mother died, and she wanted to celebrate her memory through the liturgical songs of Hildegarde of Bingen, the 12th Century abbess.  The DANCE OF SHIVA title derives from the Hindu god/goddess Shiva, and sound material draws from Tibetan monk chants, medieval liturgical songs of Hildegarde of Bingen (Germany), a bumblebee, violin playing, drumming, and invented woodwind sounds as well as strokes on an autoharp. The words from the Buddhist prayer book inspired the music: “The full moon, the flying bird, the peaks of high mountains, the lotus leaf wet with rain, the roaming bee, the woodland mire— All t these things are beautiful.”

Created in the McLean home electronic studio in Austin, TX, DANCE OF SHIVA was premiered on August 24, 1990 at LTrobe University, Melbourne, Australia during a McLean Mix concert tour. For this, McLean created a fade-and-dissolve slide show which illustrated the music (now available as a slides-to-video on YouTube).  DANCE OF SHIVA was regularly performed on their main concert through 1996, throughout the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand. The music was recorded on Capstone Records CPS-8622 CD on the album The McLean Mix: Gods, Demons, and the Earth in 1994, now available on Ravello/Naxos Records.