(From Sky’s DUP newsletter 2 August 2019) Peacemaking is the act of bringing everyone into the circle, everyone held in the cupped hands of love and com-passion. Sometimes the acts are huge and newsworthy; other times they are small acts of kindness and recognition. What do we, in our Dance community, do in this arena? And how do we become aware of it, so that peacemaking actions become something to honor and celebrate? That is the purpose of these articles.
Juanita Audre has been a Dance leader and Peace advocate in Denver for years. A vibrant, loving and creative elder in our camp circles, she also takes the Dances to nursing homes as a form of outreach. This is her offering to us.
ELDER DANCE OUTREACH
The Elder Dance outreach program in the Denver area has been an avenue toward peace for over 25 years. Each Dance session is structured to treat Elders with love and respect, creating a feeling of self-worth and inner peace.
The Dance session is opened with a few minutes of laughter yoga to relax participants and familiarize them with the interactions happening, creating an atmosphere of trust. Then we give a brief description of the dances, the fact that they honor many different religions and focus on how we are more alike than different.
The participants are then asked to join hands for the invocation, explaining that as Elders, it is our duty to show others how to create peace and harmony, and if people all over the world would join hands in unity for just a few minutes what a different world we would have. The participants always find a way to connect to the person on either side of them in the circle as they hold hands for the entire invocation, and sometimes need to be prompted that it is ok to let go when the invocation ends.
The Dance itself consists of an opening and closing song that is the same every month in an effort to help residents feel familiar with the songs and creates inner peace. The Elders learn the Dances without the use of sheet music. The songs that are selected to sing each time utilize songs honoring events occurring during the month, i.e. Passover, Soltice, Full Moon, etc. This introduces those attending to the meaning of many of the events happening and their meaning in their respected cultures, and gives them an understanding of the events of other cultures and religions, growing a feeling of knowledge, inner peace and unity.
Each dance session closes with the song, “Peace Be With You,” singing the phrase in four different languages, English, Hebrew, Spanish and Arabic. We also hug each Elder during this dance (with permission, of course – never had a hug refused) and then singing out to the world creating world peace.
The entire Elder Dance is geared toward not only creating peace, but acting peacefully and showing others to be peaceful in their interactions. The activity director tells me no other group that comes to work with the Elders interacts with them as we do – they either sing for or to participants; we hold their hands and sing directly with the Elders. This creates an atmosphere of unity, trust, love, respect and peace. Our presence in the building also affects staff as they walk by; they pause and observe the magic that is being created, sometimes in awe, but always leaving with a smile and a nod of recognition of something special happening before them.
