| We are very fortunate to announce that, Amina Silk and Arif Leininger are offering Dances of Universal Peace at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Gardner. Arif has wanted to bring the dances to this area for several years and has been working on his dance leadership and musicianship skills. Amina, who has been dancing for many years, likes to share these dances with others. They both lead the dances as a well-partnered team.
The first dance, held on Thursday January 10, was well attended. Many came out to experience the dances, as a spiritual practice, for the first time.
The Dances were originated by Samuel Lewis (1896-1971) in the late 1960s in San Francisco. He was a lifelong student of the esoteric teachings of many religious traditions, including Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism. Sam inspired folks in San Francisco with his dances and his peace plan – to eat, dance and pray together. Since then, the Dances have spread throughout the world. There are dance circles in North and South America, Eastern and Western Europe, New Zealand and Australia. From an original collection of 50 dances there are now more than 500. Mr. Lewis writes, “The spiritual dance has no other purpose, no other aim than to elevate (hu)man kind beyond self thought, to joy, to bliss, to realization and to peace. The sincere dancer is one of the best workers for universal harmony, and so for universal peace.”
The Dances of Universal Peace are joyous and meditative circle dances. They use sacred phrases, chants and songs from many of the world's wisdom traditions. The songs and phrases are combined with simple folk dance movements. All the dances are taught during the session, no prior dance or music experience is necessary.
The Dances of Universal Peace are held the second Thursday of the month from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the UUSG which is located at 66 Elm Street. Check this web site calendar for upcoming dates.
All are welcome. For more information contact Amina 978-502-0254 or Arif 978-502-0247  or the UUSG at 978-632-0222.
Also visit : http://www.dancesofuniversalpeace.org/
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