History of Dance

*From the beginning of time, sacred movement, song and story have brought
people together - at times of seasonal ceremony and celebration, as part of everyday
life and life passages, in daily renewal and meditation, etc. The Dances of Universal
Peace are part of this timeless tradition of Sacred Dance.

Samuel L. Lewis ( Murshid Sam)

The Dances were brought together in the late 1960's
by Samuel L. Lewis also known as Murshid Sam (1896-
1971) . A Sufi Murshid (teacher) and Rinzai Zen Master,
who also studied deeply in the mystical traditions of
Hinduism, Judaism, and Christianity. From his rich life
experiences, Lewis in his early 70's began to envision
and create the Dances as a dynamic method to
promote "Peace through the Arts". From the early days and his original body of
about 50 dances, the collection has grown since his passing to more than 500 dances
which celebrate the sacred heart of Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Sikhism,
Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Aramaic, Native American, Native African, Celtic,
Goddess, Pagan and Universalist traditions. In this creation, Lewis was deeply
influenced by his contact and spiritual apprenticeship with two people: Hazrat Inayat
Khan, who first brought the message of universal Sufism to the West in 1910,
and Ruth St. Denis, a feminist pioneer in the modern dance movement in America
and Europe.

Hazrat Inayat Khan

Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882-1927) brought the Sufi
Message of Love, Harmony and Beauty to Europe and the
U.S. from India in the years 1910 – 1926.He was born into
a family of musicians and through the guidance of the
spiritual teachers of India with whom he was associated,
he became the musician of the soul, for his work was
mostly performed in the higher spheres, tuning people to their real pitch. Hazrat
Inayat Khan called for the awakening of the individual as the awakening of the
consciousness of humanity to the divinity in every person, our inheritance of the
divine perfection. He offered beautifully spoken teachings on the unity of religious
ideals and the one source of all human religious expression. These teachings in
particular inspire the Dances of Universal Peace.

Ruth St. Denis

Ruth St. Denis (1878-1968) was a pioneer of contemporary
dance in America. She was a sensation in her early years
performing individual dances like Radha and Incense. Ruth
St. Denis entered the inner realization of the figures of
divinity that she chose to perform - like Holy Mother Mary,
Kwan Yin, the Buddha and others and from that feeling
danced a vision of perfection. By choosing figures from many
different cultures, Ruth St. Denis presented a wordless show
of unity before thousands of audiences all over the world
throughout her life. Ruth St. Denis wrote of her vision of a
future dance for life and peace.

-Since the late 1960's, the Dances have spread throughout the world,
touching more than a half million people in North and South America, eastern and
Western Europe, the former Soviet Union, India, the Middle East, Africa, Pakistan,
Australia, and New Zealand. Further networking and citizen diplomacy through the
Dances have occurred in South Africa, Bosnia and the Middle East. New grassroots
Dance circles are continually springing up around the globe, with over two hundred
dance circles meeting weekly or monthly in the United States alone.

-The Dances of Universal Peace have evolved and expanded in practical

application to meet the deep felt needs today for rediscovering reverence, creativity,
and a body-based connection to the natural world. Teachers share the Dances in
schools, therapy groups, prisons, hospice houses, drug rehabilitation centers, homes
for the developmentally disabled, retirement villages, holistic health centers, and
ecumenical worship celebrations.
-The International Network for the Dances of Universal Peace, a non-profit
organization, was founded in 1982 to further the work begun by Samuel L. Lewis
with the Dances of Universal Peace and to help make the Dances available to all
people. Based in Seattle, it is the coordinating hub that links the many worldwide
Dance circles.