Dances of Universal Peace

Copyright 2002 Wahabba Karuna & Karuna Arts

If your speakers are on, you will probably hear music on this page eventually.....
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"Preseverance furthers." ~I Ching

"Life is a dance. May the music of your life be in perfect harmony with all of your dreams." ~Unknown

The Dances of Universal Peace are the most wonderful, heart-centered spiritual practice I have ever experienced!

The Dances of Universal Peace (sometimes called Sufi dancing) are a joyous, multi-cultural way to touch the spiritual Essence within ourselves and others. The Dances bring together sacred phrases, chants, music and simple movements evocative of the many spiritual traditions of the Earth. Offered as "body prayer" in a spirit of sacredness, the dances promote peace and create an integrated experience of body, mind and spirit, helping dancers to realize the unity of all. No experience is necessary - the dances are simple Circle dances and all dances are taught each time.

The Dances of Universal Peace are simple, meditative and uplifting group dances that represent and integrate the world's spiritual traditions.  Some of the traditions represented are:  Hindu, Buddhist, Zoroastrian, Sufi, Native American, Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Goddess, Celtic and Universalist.  We often call this practice Walking Prayer.

 
Sufism is a mystical spiritual path, not a religion.  One can be any tradition or religion and also be a SUFI. Sufism  is also know as the tradition of the HEART and the heart with wings is a symbol of that tradition. Hazrat Inayat Kahn was the first who brought the Sufi message to the west.
 
Samuel Lewis started the Dances in San Francisco in the 60's. He had been confirmed as a Murshid (teacher) by numerous Sufi Brotherhoods in the East, as a Zen Master by Zen maters in Japan, a  rabbi, a master of Yoga and a teacher of the Christian scriptures and he found himself becoming a spiritual teacher of the 60's children.
 
I think one of the reasons I love Dances of Universal Peace so much is that all the "centers" of my being are engaged and participating. MY intellectual center gets the satisfaction of learning the words and the tune to the songs. My emotional center gets to be IN  JOY in the enjoyment of interacting in beautiful and meaningful ways with the other dancers, in communion with the Divine in myself and in each of the others. The emotions are nourished by the beauty of the words and music. And my moving center is having fun because the body gets to MOVE!! It is a spiritual practice for the whole person.

Dances of Universal Peace are done all over the world. Here in the Northern Arizona, we have several dances each month, in Cornville (near Sedona), in Prescott, and in Snowflake. There are also Dances of Universal Peace held in Tempe (Phoenix Metro area) and in Tucson.

Arizona Dances of Universal Peace

 
*Second Saturday of Each Month - 7 PM - Sedona  - Sedona Community Center, 2615 Melody Lane, Sedona, AZ. ~ Info and directions: Cathryn Tezha Swann *In March, 2008, we will dance on FRIDAY, March 14, due to a schedule conflict with a weekend Dance Retreat with Pir Shabda Kahn in Prescott on the weekend of our regular dance date. In April we will return to our regular 2nd Saturday schedule.
Second Saturday of Each Month - 7 PM - Tucson - Yoga Oasis, 2631 N. Campbell Ave. Tucson ~ Info and directions: Subhana Blythe ~ 520 825 0508
Second and Last Saturdays of Each Month - 7:30 PM - Tempe - SW Institute of Healing Arts, 1100E Apache Blvd. ~ Info and directions: Joyce Carlson - 480 250 1888 ~ Website: www.phoenixdances.org
Second Sunday of Each Month - 2 PM - Snowflake - Horizon House, a private property North of Snowflake. Please call or e-mail for directions: Wren Kothrade - 928 536 4910
Third Saturday of Each Month - 7 PM - Prescott - Grove Studio, 119 Grove Ave. Prescott, AZ. ~ Info and directions: Yaqin Lance Sandleben Website: www.prescottdances.org
*Last Saturday of Each Month - 7 PM - Cottonwood - Old Town Center for the Arts, 633 N. 5th St., Studio B, Cottonwood, AZ. ~ Info and directions: Cathryn Tezha Swann  *No Dances of Universal Peace in Cottonwood in December, as our regular dance date falls between Christmas and New Years. Instead, we invite you to join us for the Winter Solstice Dances in Sedona on Dec. 21, and the New Year's Eve Dances in Prescott. 
 

 

 
Special Events:
 
Events in Arizona
 
Summer Solstice Outdoor Dances of Universal Peace and Picnic
Prescott, AZ ~ June 21, 2008
Free Spirit Gathering
near Snowflake, AZ ~ October 3 - 6, 2008
 
Sufi Activities in the Verde Valley
~ Ongoing ~
 
Events in New Mexico
 
The Perfection of Heart 
 near Silver City, NM ~ May 16 - 18, 2008 
 
 near Silver City, NM ~ July 19 - 25, 2008 
 
 
 Canyonlands National Park, UT ~ May 15 - 19, 2008 
 
 Capitol Reef National Park, UT ~ July 25 - 28, 2008
 
 Canyonlands National Park, UT ~ September 25 - 29, 2008 
 
 
Slideshow of  DUP Related Images
 
 
Invitation to the Dance
Wonderful 22 minute documentary about Dances of Universal Peace
If the above link does not work for you, please visit www.youtube.com and do a search for Invitation to the Dance. Choose the one filmed at Canyonlands National Park.
 
 
 

Peace, peace – give peace a chance

Life can be peaceful – when viewed as a dance.

 

Peace, peace – give peace a chance

I choose to be peaceful – and join in the dance.

 

 

Except from a song called Give Peace a Chance a Scott Beck (Sedona's Minstrel for Peace) 2006

 

If you would like to receive an e-mail notice of Dances of Universal Peace and related events in Prescott, Sedona and the Verde Valley area of Northern Arizona, please join the DUP-NAZ yahoogroup newsletter here.

 

You will find updated information about these dances, special events of the Arizona DUP communities, and other events here:

Sedona/Northern Arizona Events Calendar

Arizona Dance events:

Prescott Dances of Universal Peace

Phoenix Dances of Universal Peace

And if you live somewhere else in the world, you can find out about Dances of Universal Peace in your area here:

Dances of Universal Peace International

There is a very active Sufi and Dance community in the Silver City area of New Mexico:

Southwest Sufi Community

Wahabba at Karuna Arts also has info about Dances of Universal Peace, and she creates and sells beautiful prayer flags and other art works relating to Sufism and many other spiritual traditions. 

 
Sufi Prayers
 

Support Peaceworks / Dances of Universal Peace  while you search the web with GoodSearch! What if Peaceworks earned a penny every time we search the internet? Well, now they can! GoodSearch is a new search engine that donates half its revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. You use it just as you would any search engine. Just go to www.goodsearch.com and be sure to enter PEACEWORKS DANCES OF UNIVERSAL PEACE in the field that says, "What do you GoodSearch for?" Just 500 of us searching 4 times a day will raise about $7300 a year, without anyone spending a dime. Please spread the word!

On this page you are listening to a recording from the Sedona Dances of Universal Peace, Winter Solstice Dance 2006. The song is called Custom Zikr. I believe it was written by a student of Leilah Be. In this recording I, Cathryn Tezha Swann, am  leading the dance, I learned it from Sky Majida at Canyonlands Dance Camp, September 2006, at the time this documentary was filmed. The DVD ends with this song.

 
La illaha il Allah hu, La illaha il Allah hu,
Ishq Allah mahboud lillah, Ishq Allah mahboud lillah...
 
Usually translated as 
"there is no reality but Oneness, or there is nothing that is not God" and 
"God is Love, Lover and Beloved."

Please visit our Dancing Peace CONMAZUT blog to share your experiences, get in touch with other dancers, or to ask questions about Dances of Universal Peace. http://dancingpeace.blogspot.com/ 

                     

 
View my page on AZ Conscious Connections

 

 "Step out of the circle of time, and enter the circle of Love." ~Rumi

                             

Whirl Peace

"Music and movement find their way into the secret places of the soul." ~ Plato

Peace on Earth

"Let us sing the world back into the very Heart of the Holy Name of God." ~Deena Metzger, Prayers for a Thousand Years
 
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