Leaders Guild E-Newsletter

May 2011

 

May 2011

 

 

 

 

In This Issue 

 
Revised Guidelines

 

In Memoriam

Kamae Amrapali Miller

 

Community Coordinator

 

 Elements of Mastery:

 Dancing Leading

by Tansen O'Donohoe

 

 Website Update & Log-in Info

 

 

Our Community Coordinator 

coordinator 

 Sky Roshay

 

We welcome Sky Májida Roshay as the DUP International Community Coordinator. Sky's new position replaces the former "MTG Secretariat" role. In addition to maintaining the Leaders  Guild data base, Sky is contacting Leaders we have lost touch with, helping mentors update their mentee records, assisting Darvesha with Leaders Guild business, helping members take advantage of our website, and more. Sky brings much experience to this role, including her many years working for DUP North America and also scribing for the International board.

 

A mentor and long-time leader of the Dances, Sky is an organizer of the Canyonlands retreat and is a great networker for events in the western U.S.

 

If your having difficulty logging into our website, need assistance with your leader records or need to contact a leader in some other part of the world, Sky can help.

 

Thanks Sky for coming into this new post! Click here to contact Sky. 

 

circle's edge

Circle's Edge

 

 

Dear Leader,   welcome

 

Your website log-in information appears at the bottom of this email.

Leaders Guild Guidelines

Click for .pdf version

  

Revised Leaders Guidelines now online!

 

The revisions reflect feedback and suggestions we have received from you over the past year, and

are all in the nature of greater clarity -- there are no major policy changes. Click here to see a list of the main changes.

 

As a sample of our editing, I especially invite you to read the new Welcome Letter which presents a beautiful and potent overview of our work as Leaders. Note that the Mentoring Path is now a separate document from the newly renamed Leaders Guild Guidelines. 

 

We believe you will find the new versions are simpler, clearer, and easier to use. They appear in the drop down menus under "Leaders Guild".  I encourage you to download a fresh copy and make them your constant companion as you travel the path of the Dance work.

 

Darvesha2I want to personally thank all those who have submitted ideas and suggestions, and especially Kabir Stuart McKinnon whose gifts of prose and prowess in editing have made a huge service to the Dance network.

 

Much love, Darvesha


Chair, Guidance Council 

 

 

 

 

 

kamae In Memoriam

Kamae Amrapali Ashera Miller

November 25 1943 - March 30 2011  

 

Kamae A MillerOn March 30, the worldwide Dance community lost a bright star, a loving mother, and a fierce champion -- Kamae Amrapali Ashera Miller..  Kamae was a co-founder of the original Dances of Universal Peace organization, PeaceWorks International Center for the Dances of Universal Peace, and its first Office Manager.  Kamae was the editor of Wisdom Comes Dancing, the book of writings of modern dance pioneer Ruth St. Denis.  She was the co-creator of the powerful Native Middle Eastern Cycle of Dances: Seasonal Invocations to the Goddess, which continue to touch and transform people all over the world.  She was a beloved Senior Dance Mentor and Sufi Murshida ("great guide"), devoted to her students worldwide, many of whom are now actively following in her footsteps.

Kamae was one of the earliest masters of Murshid SAM's Walking Concentrations, and was one of the first Dances of Universal Peace and Walks teachers to travel outside the U.S.

Saadi Shakur Neil Douglas-Klotz, her life-partner for decades, said of her, "The spread of the Walks--in their depth--internationally was largely due to Kamae. She caused people to fall in love with them." Kamae was also a staunch advocate of social and community justice.  Her long-time friend and colleague, Mariam Baker, wrote: "Politically she was an activist devoted to the healing of our human family and prayed daily for all of us. Her attention remained constant for the betterment of the lives of women and children in need."  She was known for her quick wit and earthy honesty.

Kamae recentKamae taught Dance and Sufi events all over the world, prior to developing serious health challenges that kept her confined.  Those who spent time with her over the past few years reported that Kamae never stopped teaching, reaching always to better understand Life and herself with a strength and grace that was inspiring to everyone around her.


Stories, memories, and photos of Kamae are posted on the Sufi Remembrance Project website, on a page dedicated to Kamae.  To post your own tribute to this Great Soul, scroll to the bottom of Kamae's Remembrance page to the Leave a Memory section.
 

'Til we meet again, Bodhisattva!

mastery Elements of Mastery:

Dance Leading and the Elements of Mastery

By Tansen Philip O'Donohoe

 

TansenThis article continues our Elements of Mastery column in which we explore the art, craft and spiritual practice of Dance leading and mentoring. Mentors are invited to submit their reflections on this topic to the Guidance Council.

 

It is just over a year now since the Guidance Council presented the Elements of Mastery to dance leaders. It is of great interest to me personally how people may have since incorporated these Elements of Mastery into their work with the dances. Perhaps it will be of interest for you to hear some of the ways that this dance leader has both consciously and unconsciously worked to uncover the gifts offered especially through breath, sound and heart that combine to produce a finely tuned human instrument for the dances.

 

In 1988 I began to lead the dances and since 1992, when as Saadi commented I took the "shock therapy route", I have done so as my main occupation. It has been a most joyful journey and a great way to live. One acknowledges one's blessings every day. The dances were a sudden awakening. I knew right away that they were going to be my life's work and that I was prepared to do whatever it took to become a dance leader similar to two great masters of our art that I had met around this time, Saadi Neil Douglas Klotz and Amida Harvey. The decision to do this was one thing; the reality of bridging the gap between where I stood when I first began to lead and how Saadi and Amida worked was indeed considerable and would clearly take time and effort to overcome.

Website Update

welcomebanner

 New! at www.DancesofUniversalPeace.org!

 

264 Dance write-ups and audio files now in the Dance Resource Library, including Dances and recordings from DUP Volume IV.

  

Mentors in Training now listed on their own page. Our MTs are now participating in the Mentors Guild e-group. See our friends around the world who have been invited to take the Mentoring Path. 

   

Now On Line -

Our Leaders Guild Directory!

Leader DirectoryWhen you log into the website and click Leaders Directory, you now have access to contact information for all 1,200 mentored Leaders of the Dances worldwide. Log in now and check your info! You may search by country, cities, individual names, etc. and may sort your search results by clicking the column headings. We hope this resource will increase the connectivity and cooperation among our worldwide Dance family.

 

The Foundation Dances and Walks Manual (FDWM)  

The Foundation Dances and Walks FDWMManual is a collection of Dances gathered in a binder, first published by DUP International in 2001. We are pleased to offer a completely revised and corrected 2011 edition in three downloadable .pdf files. Please note that the dance write-ups from the FDWM, as well as all of the articles and other materials, are already available in the resource library in .pdf files that can be accessed individually. However, if you do not own the complete manual, or own a previous printing and want to update it, you may download the files you need from the FDWM Section on the Articles/Papers page of the resource library. (You'll need your log-in information. If you do not have it contact the Community Coordinator.) We thank Radha Buko, Kalama Reuter and all others who have made this project a reality over more than a decade.


Remember!
Your personal log-in information for entering the enhanced content of www.DancesofUniversalPeace.org is:

 

User Name:   XXXXX    Password:   XXXXX

 

About that odd User Name...Your user name is an identification code from our data base, in a formula established many years ago. It consists of the first four letters of your last name, the first two letters of your first name, and two numerals (usually "zero one") - ALL CAPS. Sorry, but we are not (now) able to change user names. However, you can change your password anytime by logging in, clicking "My Info" and then "Edit".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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