Sharing Dances with College Students
by Shivadam Adam Burke

Dearest Ones, 
Just back home from the college class where I led Dances, now offering this report as requested by some of you.

First, thank you again for your many excellent suggestions. Alhamdulillah!
 
In short, it was a great experience that far exceeded even my most optimistic imaginings, a high point in my 11 years of leading
the Dances.
 
Yesterday, the professor wrote to prepare me: 
“Shivadam, I am looking forward to you leading the Dances with my class on Wednesday. I informed them today and one male student immediately stated that he didn't dance. Later I told him he had to observe. But maybe he'll join in. Here are the directions to my classroom...”
 
There would be 21 students, all well under 30 years old. I imagined many would feel as this one student felt. Much to the contrary, each and every student danced! I had no sense of which had made this earlier objection.
 
I had planned to modify the two Dances so that the students would not have to hold hands. But, after preparing them — easing them into the process — they all held hands and no modifications were needed.
 
What’s more, they enjoyed the Dances so much that they all enthusiastically clapped after
each one!
 
For a variety of reasons, I felt called to lead Fill Your Cup and also Fattah Kriner’s OM Mani Padme Hum.
 
In the new, spacious, wood-glass-and-steel meeting hall, I began with a 15-minute “talk” to introduce the Dances, their history and birth, establishing contextual relevance to their class curriculum (which is the study of how cultures large and small interact and often resist one another). I explained about the cultural tensions of the 1960s — something like today’s — and how the Dances arose out of that milieu.
 
I read a quote by Pir-o-Murshid from a recent Daily Bowl, explaining his influence with Sam and the Dances. (Interestingly perhaps, the night before last I dreamt that I was introducing the Chenrezig mantra to students, explaining that mystics of all times and climes arrive at the same conclusion: that there is one all-pervading reality, despite superficial, apparent differences. I awoke to find the Daily Bowl’s quote that followed closely what I had explained in the dream.) I then segued into introducing Kabir, tying in ancient cultural clashes with today’s, adding that each of us may carry some discomfort around dealing with people we perceive as unlike us, and that the Dances help bring ease around this...
one of several benefits of the practice.
 
To my delight, the students jumped right in, engaging the Dance even more enthusiastically than some of the more experienced circles
I have worked with!
 
Click here to read Shivadam's full reflection

 

Dancing Peacock Paradise

by DiAnahita Kanoy,
Owner, Dance leader and mentor,
Sufi teacher and Manual laborer

There is a place, peaceful and calm
Where all your cares float away.
A place to sing, a place to dance
A place to meditate and pray.
Dancing Peacock Paradise ~ Music's in the air
A place where people come to share
Dancing Peacock Paradise ~ Hearts open there
A place where people really care
 
This song, composed by our talented and dedicated guitarist Kathy Staines, conveys the ambiance of our north Florida retreat center and monthly dance venue.
 
Over 30 years ago, my husband, Allan McRae, and I were visualizing and praying for a place with woods, water, and wonder for a home site.  What we found exceeded our hopes, with a heart-shaped lake out front, old oaks and pines, plenty of native foliage, and a large house, which all needed loving care and lots of physical labor to bring out the beauty.
 
After my beloved Allan died in 2000, I renovated the house to let a large dance room emerge, and added the cottage and several little screen rooms around the 50 acres of woods to provide rustic accommodations.  Being an hour from almost anywhere (Gainesville and Ocala the closest towns), would anyone come into the unknown countryside for Dances of Universal Peace?
 
Ya Mujid!  The answer, a fulfilling yes!  And now 18 years later, we have hosted countless dance and zikr weekends, plus over 30 longer Dance retreats with well-known leaders, in addition to dance leader trainings and Sufi meetings.
 
The transporting experience of our monthly dance events is described by one of our dancers, Barclay Braden in her book Faith at Hand -- Finding My Way to Depth Journaling:
 
“High among my all-time favorite life experiences are the recurring occasions of coming together for these dances, dedicated to the fervent hope for peace to prevail upon earth, I continue to find myself touched at the core to be standing in a circle, with twenty to thirty kindred spirits.  We are moving, chanting, singing, mostly in unison, sometimes in parts. Again and again and again.  I am transported to a place of rich appreciation for all traditions, for this convergence of all that’s held sacred.”
 
We dance for a couple of hours in the afternoon to simple, stirring, entrancing music of guitar, viola, cello, and percussion.  On occasion we have also enjoyed the accompaniment of flute, keyboard, stand-up bass, hammered dulcimer, and even a visiting harp player.
 
Before and after the dances, we enfold ourselves in nature:  sitting by the lake, paddling in little boats, walking the labyrinth, exploring the woods trails, feeding the chickens, petting the Himalayan cats, and marveling at the shimmering glory of the peacocks.  Opportunities abound for taking photographs.  Look at our joyful faces on the website, www.PeacockParadise.org
 

Click here to read DiAnahita's full reflection.

(This timeline with notes was produced with the help of Ruhaniat Archivist Tansen O’Donohoe and with the author’s access to the Ruhaniat archives at murshidsam.org. References and dating evidence from the writings and recordings of Samuel Lewis follow the timeline.
—Neil Douglas-Klotz, May 2018.)

TIMELINE

  1. EARLY 1930s: Samuel Lewis meets Ruth St Denis and Ted Shawn in Hollywood, Los Angeles and participates in their Denishawn school, where he dances while St Denis talks about how to pick dances from the akashic sphere. Samuel Lewis begins to call Ruth St Denis his “fairy godmother.” 

2. LATE 1930s: Samuel Lewis writes “Spiritual Dancing,” as an informal commentary on Hazrat Inayat Khan’s “Art: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.” The book also references his time at the Denishawn School and includes ideas of Ruth St Denis. 

3. MARCH 1962: Samuel Lewis visits the tomb of Selim Chishti in Fathepur Sikri, India and receives a vision of the “Dance of Universal Peace.” See excerpt of letter below. He reports this two years later to Ruth St Denis, who says that she and Ted Shawn received the same vision while they were there. 

4. SEPTEMBER 1963: First Walks shown to Paul Reps. Murshid S.A.M. begins to instruct his god-daughter and first Khalifa Saadi Khawar Khan in them via correspondence, in preparation for S.A.M’s return to Pakistan and his teaching them to children there. 

5. MAY 1964: Murshid S.A.M. meets with Ruth St Denis for an hour and presents his vision of “the Dance of Universal Peace.” 

6. SPRING 1967: Walks classes begin on Saturday for the few early mureeds, including Mansur Johnson, Moineddin Jablonski and Fatima Jablonski. 

7. MARCH 1968: First small Sufi dance class for mureeds. (See transcribed recording from March 13, 1968 and subsequent letter and diary entries from May 2,1968 about classes in “Dance of Universal Peace.”) 

8. JUNE 24, 1968: First public
Dervish Dances presented. 

9. JULY 1970: Saturday night advanced Dance class continues, along with public Dance classes Sunday afternoon and Monday night (combined with Sufi teachings). 

Click here to view the complete timeline and detailed references

May the message of Love, Harmony, and Beauty spread far and wide. Toward the One!

Sincerely,