Shuck and Jive


Friday, November 30, 2007

Videos of Dances of Universal Peace


I gave a brief report of our Dance of Universal Peace the other day. Rebecca reminded me of the third thing that makes for peace and directed me toward some videos.

Here are the three things that make for world peace from the founder of Dances for Universal Peace, Samuel Lewis:

  1. Dance Together
  2. Eat Together
  3. Pray Together
Here are a couple of youtube videos of the dance.

This is a 22 minute documentary about it, Invitation to Dance

To get a sampling of what these dances are like this is a dance to the chant Om Mani Padme Hum

This is Beauty is Eternity.

These dances are always geared toward beginners. You are instructed as you do it. It is not about being perfect or about being a good dancer, but about using our bodies, music, and our willingness to step out of our own self-consciousness to see the Divine presence in the other, in the group, and in ourselves.

There is hope for the world
when it accepts the evidence of spirituality
not only as presented by, let us say, a guru,
but when it is reflected
in the awakening of hearts,
in the brilliancy of faces,
in the manifest joy and delight.

- Murshid Samuel L. Lewis
Sufi Vision and Initiation


Thanks to Rebecca, we are going to be able to have these dances on a regular basis. Go to the website to find a dance near you!

3 comments:

  1. You know, I can't see a thing wrong in dancing for peace. But, it seems to me that the people we need to reach the most are not going to show up for the dance. :(

    So, how do we reach out to them?

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  2. Hi Grace,

    The dances are not for others. They are for us. The us circle gets larger and larger and includes all. We start with ourselves, dance, and invite. We don't expect or force anyone to dance who doesn't want to do so.

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  3. It does sound pretty neat. I love liturgical dance, and also dancing to praise music, too.

    ReplyDelete