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May 2022
Leaders Guild newsletter
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In this issue
DUP - Visions of the Future
Cultural appropriation
Dance write-ups - languages other than English
Leader recognitions
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DUP: Visions of the future
zoom meeting, April 30
On April 30 DUP International was hosted by Sufi Ruhaniat International in a zoom meeting on the theme – DUP: Visions for the Future.
Watch it again
A recording of the event is available here and a link to it is at the bottom of our website home page here. Events mentioned, taking place soon in Turkey, Israel and Latvia are listed in our events calendar here.
Arjun invited participants to write a few words about their vision for the future of the dances, and the ideas were recorded here.
Let the discussion flow
The discussion we began in that meeting can be part of a flow of communication from dance-leaders to the organzation, and between leaders. Already we have a DUP IN facebook group, and online discussion forums for leaders and for mentors.
Now DUP IN Board would like to offer a short survey for all dance leaders: we would like to understand the impact of the pandemic on dance-leading, identify opportunities for strengthening our dance family and making sure we offer the best support for dance leaders; most of all we want to hear your ideas, suggestions, priorities. The survey will be sent out separately from the newsletter, but we can feed back results through future newsletters.
Going beyond
In the meeting on April 30, Arjun talked about taking the dances ‘beyond’, not just to new geographic areas – cultures in the Middle East, Africa, Asia – but to communities beyond predominantly white, ‘western’ roots, maybe to prisons, to indigenous communities (see our next article), going beyond white privilege, or to wider respect for the natural world.
Maybe you have examples of sharing the dances in such contexts - please do share your experiences, via this newsletter or on facebook or in a discussion forum.
With love,
Aziz Dixon
Executive Director,
DUP IN.
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Circling Around Appropriation Issues
Kalama Reuter shares a process she has followed with her mentees on the theme of cultural appropriation, drawing on a paper by Elizabeth Dequine.
Elizabeth Dequine
One definition from Bioneers: Unauthorized taking of dance, folklore, symbols and presenting them out of context by a dominant group.
In this amazing time, we are being given the opportunity to reexamine our relationship with the Dances (along with everything else). As part of the Kinship Ray, I’ve become aware of the characteristics of white supremacy culture (dismantlingracism.org) and begun to grapple with our intentions and unintended impacts.
Realizing there are sensitivities in all of us and no one top-down solution, I invited my mentees to an open discussion. Each of us brought forward concerns and questions. A sense of cohesion emerged as we looked at the definition and our experiences. Bringing together a Dance team or mentees in this way helps everyone expand awareness and explore new ways of presenting our precious heritage.
These were some of the thoughts that came up. Who decides what is appropriation? We don’t want to weaponize this idea. The inspirations for a dance could be included in the write ups and inform our leading. Originators do take license with phrases that can be inaccurate. They may touch an attunement beyond the cognitive. We celebrate and resonate with many Dance creations, but hesitate to name them as “from a certain tradition”. Perhaps focus on the use of a mantra from a certain lineage. These sacred words lift consciousness beyond peace songs. Our hearts are our instrument of discernment and we need to keep that scrutiny alive in our leading. It is important to share the discomfort with the circle and not always expect the atypical ones to carry it (for example allowing people to choose which part to sing, make room for individual abilities/ sensitivities). As we move into a new way, we stay humble and respectful.
Making room for conversation with fellow leaders is one way to begin addressing the various issues and inviting self reflection. For a more in-depth perspective, please read the accompanying article by Elizabeth Dequine.
Kalama has been dancing since 1976. The direct embodied experience of the Dances has been a cornerstone of her life since then. Sharing the sacred phrases and transmitting the fragrance of a tradition through group movement have resonated with her Toward the One journey.
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More dance write-ups
I have been resolving some technical issues with recordings on the dance resource library. In the course of this I realized that we have 685 dance records in English and 525 - nearly as many – in other languages (French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian). I am hoping we will be able to add dance descriptions in Dutch before long.
To see only dances in a particular language, you can use the advanced search facility (see the image above, or check out this web page
I am very grateful for the translation of dance write-ups to add to our resources.
Aziz.
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Leader recognitions
The Guidance Council would like to congratulate and acknowledge all the Walks and Dance leaders
who have been certified or recognized at a new level since our last newsletter:
Mentor
Annie Rayner (Stella Noora), Australia
Mentor in Training
Maria Ximena Arias Miranda, Chile
Certified Leader
Susan Erika Argeres, NM, USA (correction to earlier listing)
Heidi Brown, Australia
Irene Gehring, Germany
Alina Edda Gote, Scotland
Gulistan Piniaeva, Russia
Ana Regina Thomaz, Brazil
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