Flashmob: Phoenix Area Dances of Universal Peace - April 2012

The dancers for our first flashmob were wonderful! The crowd was much smaller than at previous festivals in this space, but we succeeded in attracting a dancer to participate and we shared fliers with some folks who inquired afterwards. One person asked, "Was that Sufi Dancing that you were doing?"

Murshid SAM had indicated that dancing as "performance" is not outside of the scope of this work, when the intention is to draw people into the practice of dancing together in love, harmony and beauty. These days, a "flashmob" is one way to do that.

The challenge of doing a flashmob with DUP is to emerge from a crowd in a space where lots of people are gathered, where there is no other music, and in a manner present and loud enough - with only acoustic instruments and voices - to magnetize attention to the circle of dancers, and then to encourage new people to join in. It almost requires some magic, the perfect chemistry of the moment.

The minor variations seen in this version of Mir Miru Mir were done to help accommodate folks that might join in from the crowd.

We had a wonderful time in accomplishing what we set out to do: surprising onlookers with an act of beauty; inspiring onlookers to join in; inspiring interest in and awareness of the DUP; and, sharing powerful dances, for the sake of dancing, in a beautiful setting.

Learning that a Dance circle can "spontaneously" arise from a crowd with skill and ease was a sublime delight. Thanks, beloved dancers!

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