The Dances of Universal Peace (DUP) are a spiritual practice employing singing and dancing the sacred phrases of the world's religions. Their intention is to raise consciousness and promote peace between diverse religions according to one stated goal.Segner, Dance for Peace at the UUCC, eNews Park Forest, 9 September 2008. The DUP are of North American Sufic origin. They combine chants from many world faiths with dancing, whirling, and a variety of movement with singing.Unitarian Universalist Association, Religious Education Curricula, The Cultural Connection. The dances Five to 500 dancers stand in a circle  often around a leader and musicians , with acoustic instruments , in the center , All dances are participatory and spectatorship is somewhat discouraged because joy is the goal, not technical performance of specified dance steps or forms. Dances are facilitated by a dance leader often playing a drum, guitar, flute or other stringed instrument. For lyrics, dances borrow inspirational poetry, quotes and chants which are sung as the dance is performed. Chants are often sacred phrases put to traditional, contemporary  or occasionally improvised melodies. A wide range of languages are deliberately employed including Arabic, Aramaic, English, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Persian, and Sanskrit. Dance promoters use diverse religious practices, chants and languages to demonstrate how joy lives at the heart of each and all religions . Dance leaders tend to believe peace can be promoted through experiencing the same One Joy through diverse dance steps, chants, and languages.Stoehr, How to reclaim the historic role of art in expressing spirituality, Charleston City Paper, August 13, 2008. The DUP emphasis is on participation regardless of ability ; DUP dances are almost never performed before an audience. Dancers of all levels ; including children, are able to follow along and dance together. Each dance is taught afresh at each gathering. Dances and dancing of this kind is seen as opportunity to develop participants' spiritual awareness, hand-eye-body coordination, and competency in harmonizing with others through dance. Many dances are choreographed with movements, steps, and gestures encouraging dancers to explore the deeper mystical meanings of the dance. Dances were originally performed at camps and meetings with a distinctly new age and alternative feel but have increasingly come to be offered in diverse places of worship , schools, colleges, prisons, hospices, residential homes for those with special needs, and holistic health centers.The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) uses the DUP songbook, Important Resources, in its religious curricula. The therapeutic uses of the Dances as well as the walking meditations developed by Samuel Lewis have also been explored in various settings.Douglas-Klotz, Neil. (2003). "The Key in the Dark: Transformation in the Sufi Tradition" in Mijares, Sharon G., ed., Modern Psychology and Ancient Wisdom: Psychological Healing Practices from the World's Religious Traditions. New York: Harworth Press. 149-174. The Dances have developed into a global movement due to the work of the International Network for the Dances of Universal Peace founded in 1982 by Neil Douglas-Klotz and Tasnim Fernandez, teachers in the Sufi Ruhaniat International and Sufi Order International respectively. Both have continued to be leading exponents of the Dances and Douglas-Klotz's creation of Dances using the Aramaic words of Jesus have entered many alternative and mainstream religious circles.Meyer. Wali Ali. (2001). "A Sunrise in the West: Hazrat Inayat Khan's Legacy in California" in Khan, Zia Inayat, ed., A Pearl in Wine: Essays on the Life, Music and Sufism of Hazrat Inayat Khan. New Lebanon, NY: Omega. pp. 430-431. The Network has members in 28 countries.Dances of Universal Peace International
The Dances of Universal Peace (DUP) are a spiritual practice that employs singing and dancing the sacred phrases of the world's religions. Their intention is to raise consciousness and promote peace between diverse religions according to one stated goal.Segner, Dance for Peace at the UUCC, eNews Park Forest, 9 September 2008. The DUP are of North American Sufic origin. They combine chants from many world faiths with dancing, whirling, and a variety of movement with singing.Unitarian Universalist Association, Religious Education Curricula, The Cultural Connection. The dances Five to 500 dancers stand in a circle , often around a leader and musicians with acoustic instruments in the center . All dances are participatory and spectating is somewhat discouraged because joy is the goal, as opposed to the technical performance of specified dance steps or forms. Dances are facilitated by a dance leader who often plays a drum, guitar, flute or other stringed instrument. For lyrics, dances borrow inspirational poetry, quotes and chants which are sung as the dance is performed. Chants are often sacred phrases put to traditional, contemporary , or occasionally improvised melodies. A wide range of languages are deliberately employed including Arabic, Aramaic, English, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Persian, and Sanskrit. Dance promoters use diverse religious practices, chants and languages to demonstrate how joy lives at the heart of every religion . Dance leaders tend to believe peace can be promoted through experiencing the same One Joy through diverse dance steps, chants, and languages.Stoehr, How to reclaim the historic role of art in expressing spirituality, Charleston City Paper, August 13, 2008. The DUP emphasis is on participation regardless of ability as DUP dances are almost never performed before an audience. Dancers of all levels , including children, are able to follow along and dance together. Each dance is taught afresh at each gathering. Dances and dancing of this kind is seen as opportunity to develop participants' spiritual awareness, hand-eye-body coordination, and competency in harmonizing with others through dance. Many dances are choreographed with movements, steps, and gestures encouraging dancers to explore the deeper mystical meanings of the dance. Dances were originally performed at camps and meetings with a distinctly new age and alternative feel but have increasingly been offered in diverse places of worship and more secular places such as schools, colleges, prisons, hospices, residential homes for those with special needs, and holistic health centers.The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) uses the DUP songbook, Important Resources, in its religious curricula. The therapeutic uses of the Dances as well as the walking meditations developed by Samuel Lewis have also been explored in various settings.Douglas-Klotz, Neil. (2003). "The Key in the Dark: Transformation in the Sufi Tradition" in Mijares, Sharon G., ed., Modern Psychology and Ancient Wisdom: Psychological Healing Practices from the World's Religious Traditions. New York: Harworth Press. 149-174. The Dances have developed into a global movement due to the work of the International Network for the Dances of Universal Peace founded in 1982 by Neil Douglas-Klotz and Tasnim Fernandez, teachers in the Sufi Ruhaniat International and Sufi Order International respectively. Both have continued to be leading exponents of the Dances and Douglas-Klotz's creation of Dances using the Aramaic words of Jesus have entered many alternative and mainstream religious circles.Meyer. Wali Ali. (2001). "A Sunrise in the West: Hazrat Inayat Khan's Legacy in California" in Khan, Zia Inayat, ed., A Pearl in Wine: Essays on the Life, Music and Sufism of Hazrat Inayat Khan. New Lebanon, NY: Omega. pp. 430-431. The Network has members in 28 countries.Dances of Universal Peace International
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