Friends dance together to live music at the third annual Green Valentines festival. : News Photo
This is Alec and mahself, performing as GLOBAL GROOVE at the Green Valentine Festival in Laguna :)
DANCE!
photoshoot with Jess Gelber
Friday, February 11, 2011
Monday, April 5, 2010
DEEP STIRRINGS AT EARTH FAIRE 2010!
The band (in which I sing) is playing at EarthFair 2010!
This San Diego Earth Day celebration goes from 10am - 5pm om Sunday, April 18 in Balboa Park!
http://www.earthdayweb.org/EarthFair.html
Earth Day 2010 is going to be the BIGGEST Earth Day celebration in the country and Deep Stirrings is very excited to participate! It will most likely be a smaller version of us there, though :) EarthFair will feature three stages (The Children’s Stage, The Moon Stage-contemporary music- and The Folk Music Stage) which will have shows throughout the day. Alec is running sound for the event, and he and Sarah will be performing as well, both dancing and singing. The schedule for the day is still being adjusted, but Alec and Sarah will be performing in the afternoon, both as Deep Stirrings and as "Global Groove" (see the Global Groove fanpage for more info on this fun drum/dance collaboration!)
Visitors can discover organizations, exhibitions, art, shopping, food, programs, goods and services that all address our environment and quality of life. There will be special events for kids, and the day will begin with a parade in the morning (in which Sarah will walk), so feel free to arrive at opening time and spend all day exploring! The schedule for the day is full of education and entertainment!! For more information, go to http://www.earthdayweb.org/EarthFair.html
This San Diego Earth Day celebration goes from 10am - 5pm om Sunday, April 18 in Balboa Park!
http://www.earthdayweb.org/EarthFair.html
Earth Day 2010 is going to be the BIGGEST Earth Day celebration in the country and Deep Stirrings is very excited to participate! It will most likely be a smaller version of us there, though :) EarthFair will feature three stages (The Children’s Stage, The Moon Stage-contemporary music- and The Folk Music Stage) which will have shows throughout the day. Alec is running sound for the event, and he and Sarah will be performing as well, both dancing and singing. The schedule for the day is still being adjusted, but Alec and Sarah will be performing in the afternoon, both as Deep Stirrings and as "Global Groove" (see the Global Groove fanpage for more info on this fun drum/dance collaboration!)
Visitors can discover organizations, exhibitions, art, shopping, food, programs, goods and services that all address our environment and quality of life. There will be special events for kids, and the day will begin with a parade in the morning (in which Sarah will walk), so feel free to arrive at opening time and spend all day exploring! The schedule for the day is full of education and entertainment!! For more information, go to http://www.earthdayweb.org/EarthFair.html
Friday, March 26, 2010
Inspiration
Series of Inspirational Quotes - some are dance-specific....
I have a quote addiction, so be ready for this page to get longer!
"Dancing is just discovery, discovery, discovery--
what it all means." --MARTHA GRAHAM
When you’re through changing, you’re through! ~John Maxwell
No man need stay the way he is. ~Harry Emerson Fosdick
More often than not, when something looks like it’s the absolute end, it is really the beginning. ~Charles Swindoll
"To get what you've never had, you must do what you've never done."
Thomas Huxley's success principle :
“Do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.”
" 'Reality' should always be in quotes. " R. Buckminster Fuller
"If I could tell you what it meant, there would be no point in dancing it." --Isadora Duncan
""Great artists are people who find ways to be themselves in their art.Any sort of pretension induces mediocrity in art and life alike." --Margot Fonteyn
"A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle".
Dancing is the loftiest, the most moving, the most beautiful of the arts, because it is no mere translation or abstraction from life; it is life itself. --Mata Hari
Life must be understood backwards. But it must be lived forward."
~Soren Kierkegaard
"Of all days, the day on which one has not laughed is the one most surely wasted!!" - Nicolas-Sébastien Roch
"Knowledge is of two kinds: we know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it. "
source unknown to me, though I have uttered similar phrases myself...
"...success or failure, the truth of a life really has little to do with its quality. The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for delight...the gift of paying attention." -Julia Cameron
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." Martin Luther King, Jr.
"I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself."--Mikhail Baryshnikov
"Life expands or contracts in proportion to one's courage." Anaiis Nin (French writer)
"To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe."
Anatole France
"A goal is a dream with a deadline." - Leo B. Helzel
"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."--Mark Twain
"When everything has been explained, nothing is known." Unknown (rather appropriate...)
"Talent is always conscious of its own abundance, and does not object to sharing." Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1918~) Russian Novelist
Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right. - Henry Ford
Fall down seven times, stand up eight. - Japanese Proverb
Life is the universe's gift to you, the way you live it is your gift to the universe. - ca
The artist should be present everywhere and visible nowhere. - Flaubert (approximately)
What moves men of genius, or rather what inspires their work, is not new ideas, but their obsession with the idea that what has already been said is still not enough. - Eugene Delacroix
You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it, however. - Richard Bach, from The Messiah's Handbook (Illusions)
Be what you want, rather than get what you want. - ca
As an artist, it is central to be unsatisfied! This isn't greed, though it may be appetite. - Lawrence Calcagno
Play by standard rules, and you get standard results. - ca
Just because everyone's looking doesn't mean anything's happening. - Pat Emerton
One should live one's life in a regular, orderly fashion - like a bourgeois - so that one may be violent and original in one's work. - Flaubert (approximately)
Love is respect for, and joy in, the dynamic evolution of energy. - ca
Life is short, but it is wide. - Ya-ya?
Ultimate Truth is Infinite Possibility. - ca
The greatest sin is to speak when there is nothing to say, and to remain silent when there is something to be said. - unknown
Vitality shows not only in the ability to persist, but in the ability to start over. - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Imagination is more important than knowledge. - Albert Einstein
I'd rather regret something I did do, than something I didn't do. - ca
If you have the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed. - David Viscott
Beauty is graceful power. - ca
Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire. - Reggie Leach
If you can walk, you can dance. If you can talk, you can sing. - Zimbabwe Proverb
You never really know what your dreams are until they come true. - ca
Let the beauty we love be what we do. - Jalal Uddin Rumi
We see what it is time to see. - ca
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. - Robert Frost
There is no such thing beneath the heavens as conditions favourable to art. Art must crash through or perish. - Sylvia Ashton-Warner
Every moment of your life is an event. - Tony Caruto
Life is not about accomplishment but about experience. - ca
We shall not cease from exploration * And the end of all our exploring * Will be to arrive where we started * And to know the place for the first time. - T.S. Eliot
Always advance. Never dig in. - General Patton
Things you are proud of you'll more than likely lose. Things you are grateful for, you'll keep. - Leo Simone, Laguna Beach, 1988
Contentment is allowing your entire being to flow with the rhythms and harmonies of the universe. - ca
To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. - Joseph Chilton Pearce
To achieve results never before accomplished, we must employ methods never before attempted. - Sir Francis Bacon
Learning is finding out what you already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding that they know just as well as you. You are all learners, doers, teachers. - Richard Bach, The Messiah's Handbook (Illusions)
"Dance, when you're broken open.
Dance, if you've torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of the fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance, when you're perfectly free. "
-- Jelaluddin Rumi (13th century)
We look at the dance to impart the sensation of living in an affirmation of life, to energize the spectator into keener awareness of the vigour, the mystery, the humour, the variety, and the wonder of life. This is the function of the American dance. - Martha Graham
" Life is usually about what you didn't expect!" me :)
"To dance is to be out of yourself, larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking." Agnes De Mille
"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair" - Kahlil Gibran
Dance, when you're broken open.
Dance, if you've torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of the fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance, when you're perfectly free.
-- Jelaluddin Rumi (13th century)
To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love." Jane Austen
"Great dancers are not great because of their technique; they are great because of their passion". ---Martha Graham
" If you never put yourself in a box, you never have to figure out how to get out of one." Wise dancer at Mendocino dance camp
"Any problem in the world can be solved by dancing.” -- James Brown
Ambivalence is a wonderful tune to dance to. It has a rhythm all its own. - Erica Mann Jong
Life's a dance you learn as you go, Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow, Don't worry 'bout what you don't know, Life's a dance you learn as you go. - John Michael Montgomery
Work like you don't need the money. Dance like no one is watching. And love like you've never been hurt. - Mark Twain ( or so I have heard- I am not sure this is correct)
The dance is a poem of which each movement is a word. - Mata Hari
Think of the magic of that foot, comparatively small, upon which your whole weight rests. It's a miracle, and the dance is a celebration of that miracle. - Martha Graham
We look at the dance to impart the sensation of living in an affirmation of life, to energize the spectator into keener awareness of the vigour, the mystery, the humour, the variety, and the wonder of life. This is the function of the American dance. - Martha Graham
"To accomplish great things we must not only act but also dream, not only plan but also believe. "
Anatole France
"Strange travel suggestions are merely dancing lessons from god." Kurt Vonnegut
“Love sought is good, but given unsought is better.” - Shakespeare (1564-1616)
"Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen."
Michael Jordan
When everything has been explained, nothing is known.
Oliver's Law of Public Speaking: A closed mouth gathers no feet.
"Procrastinators: Leaders of Tomorrow! "
"It is kind of fun to do the impossible" –Walt Disney
Todos estamos aqui con un solo proposito: para crecer con sabidur y aprender a querer mejor. (We are all here for a single purpose: to grow in wisdom and learn to love better.)
---Rachel Naomi Remen MD from her book Kitchen Table Wisdom (Thanks, Vernon!)
"If you haven't any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble." - Bob Hope (1903-2003)
Frank (Tribal Dancer extraordinaire) "Tribal style bellydancers are the love children of Martha Stewart and McGyver!"
"If the mysterious complexity of women doesn't prove the existence of God, I don't know what does!" Timothy Bayer (my brother-in-law)
The answer is 42. - Deep Thought
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
I have a quote addiction, so be ready for this page to get longer!
"Dancing is just discovery, discovery, discovery--
what it all means." --MARTHA GRAHAM
When you’re through changing, you’re through! ~John Maxwell
No man need stay the way he is. ~Harry Emerson Fosdick
More often than not, when something looks like it’s the absolute end, it is really the beginning. ~Charles Swindoll
"To get what you've never had, you must do what you've never done."
Thomas Huxley's success principle :
“Do what you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.”
" 'Reality' should always be in quotes. " R. Buckminster Fuller
"If I could tell you what it meant, there would be no point in dancing it." --Isadora Duncan
""Great artists are people who find ways to be themselves in their art.Any sort of pretension induces mediocrity in art and life alike." --Margot Fonteyn
"A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle".
Dancing is the loftiest, the most moving, the most beautiful of the arts, because it is no mere translation or abstraction from life; it is life itself. --Mata Hari
Life must be understood backwards. But it must be lived forward."
~Soren Kierkegaard
"Of all days, the day on which one has not laughed is the one most surely wasted!!" - Nicolas-Sébastien Roch
"Knowledge is of two kinds: we know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it. "
source unknown to me, though I have uttered similar phrases myself...
"...success or failure, the truth of a life really has little to do with its quality. The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for delight...the gift of paying attention." -Julia Cameron
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." Martin Luther King, Jr.
"I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself."--Mikhail Baryshnikov
"Life expands or contracts in proportion to one's courage." Anaiis Nin (French writer)
"To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe."
Anatole France
"A goal is a dream with a deadline." - Leo B. Helzel
"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."--Mark Twain
"When everything has been explained, nothing is known." Unknown (rather appropriate...)
"Talent is always conscious of its own abundance, and does not object to sharing." Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1918~) Russian Novelist
Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right. - Henry Ford
Fall down seven times, stand up eight. - Japanese Proverb
Life is the universe's gift to you, the way you live it is your gift to the universe. - ca
The artist should be present everywhere and visible nowhere. - Flaubert (approximately)
What moves men of genius, or rather what inspires their work, is not new ideas, but their obsession with the idea that what has already been said is still not enough. - Eugene Delacroix
You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it, however. - Richard Bach, from The Messiah's Handbook (Illusions)
Be what you want, rather than get what you want. - ca
As an artist, it is central to be unsatisfied! This isn't greed, though it may be appetite. - Lawrence Calcagno
Play by standard rules, and you get standard results. - ca
Just because everyone's looking doesn't mean anything's happening. - Pat Emerton
One should live one's life in a regular, orderly fashion - like a bourgeois - so that one may be violent and original in one's work. - Flaubert (approximately)
Love is respect for, and joy in, the dynamic evolution of energy. - ca
Life is short, but it is wide. - Ya-ya?
Ultimate Truth is Infinite Possibility. - ca
The greatest sin is to speak when there is nothing to say, and to remain silent when there is something to be said. - unknown
Vitality shows not only in the ability to persist, but in the ability to start over. - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Imagination is more important than knowledge. - Albert Einstein
I'd rather regret something I did do, than something I didn't do. - ca
If you have the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed. - David Viscott
Beauty is graceful power. - ca
Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire. - Reggie Leach
If you can walk, you can dance. If you can talk, you can sing. - Zimbabwe Proverb
You never really know what your dreams are until they come true. - ca
Let the beauty we love be what we do. - Jalal Uddin Rumi
We see what it is time to see. - ca
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. - Robert Frost
There is no such thing beneath the heavens as conditions favourable to art. Art must crash through or perish. - Sylvia Ashton-Warner
Every moment of your life is an event. - Tony Caruto
Life is not about accomplishment but about experience. - ca
We shall not cease from exploration * And the end of all our exploring * Will be to arrive where we started * And to know the place for the first time. - T.S. Eliot
Always advance. Never dig in. - General Patton
Things you are proud of you'll more than likely lose. Things you are grateful for, you'll keep. - Leo Simone, Laguna Beach, 1988
Contentment is allowing your entire being to flow with the rhythms and harmonies of the universe. - ca
To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. - Joseph Chilton Pearce
To achieve results never before accomplished, we must employ methods never before attempted. - Sir Francis Bacon
Learning is finding out what you already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding that they know just as well as you. You are all learners, doers, teachers. - Richard Bach, The Messiah's Handbook (Illusions)
"Dance, when you're broken open.
Dance, if you've torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of the fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance, when you're perfectly free. "
-- Jelaluddin Rumi (13th century)
We look at the dance to impart the sensation of living in an affirmation of life, to energize the spectator into keener awareness of the vigour, the mystery, the humour, the variety, and the wonder of life. This is the function of the American dance. - Martha Graham
" Life is usually about what you didn't expect!" me :)
"To dance is to be out of yourself, larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking." Agnes De Mille
"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair" - Kahlil Gibran
Dance, when you're broken open.
Dance, if you've torn the bandage off.
Dance in the middle of the fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance, when you're perfectly free.
-- Jelaluddin Rumi (13th century)
To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love." Jane Austen
"Great dancers are not great because of their technique; they are great because of their passion". ---Martha Graham
" If you never put yourself in a box, you never have to figure out how to get out of one." Wise dancer at Mendocino dance camp
"Any problem in the world can be solved by dancing.” -- James Brown
Ambivalence is a wonderful tune to dance to. It has a rhythm all its own. - Erica Mann Jong
Life's a dance you learn as you go, Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow, Don't worry 'bout what you don't know, Life's a dance you learn as you go. - John Michael Montgomery
Work like you don't need the money. Dance like no one is watching. And love like you've never been hurt. - Mark Twain ( or so I have heard- I am not sure this is correct)
The dance is a poem of which each movement is a word. - Mata Hari
Think of the magic of that foot, comparatively small, upon which your whole weight rests. It's a miracle, and the dance is a celebration of that miracle. - Martha Graham
We look at the dance to impart the sensation of living in an affirmation of life, to energize the spectator into keener awareness of the vigour, the mystery, the humour, the variety, and the wonder of life. This is the function of the American dance. - Martha Graham
"To accomplish great things we must not only act but also dream, not only plan but also believe. "
Anatole France
"Strange travel suggestions are merely dancing lessons from god." Kurt Vonnegut
“Love sought is good, but given unsought is better.” - Shakespeare (1564-1616)
"Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen."
Michael Jordan
When everything has been explained, nothing is known.
Oliver's Law of Public Speaking: A closed mouth gathers no feet.
"Procrastinators: Leaders of Tomorrow! "
"It is kind of fun to do the impossible" –Walt Disney
Todos estamos aqui con un solo proposito: para crecer con sabidur y aprender a querer mejor. (We are all here for a single purpose: to grow in wisdom and learn to love better.)
---Rachel Naomi Remen MD from her book Kitchen Table Wisdom (Thanks, Vernon!)
"If you haven't any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble." - Bob Hope (1903-2003)
Frank (Tribal Dancer extraordinaire) "Tribal style bellydancers are the love children of Martha Stewart and McGyver!"
"If the mysterious complexity of women doesn't prove the existence of God, I don't know what does!" Timothy Bayer (my brother-in-law)
The answer is 42. - Deep Thought
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
ASTRA VON BERLIFITZING!!!!!!
Our premier run of ASTRA von Berlifitzing ended (April 7, 2009), and what an experience it was! A whirlwind of passionate storytelling through dance which has left me itching for more...pictures from this round will be going up on facebook... and trust me, if you missed this show....you missed OUT! So stay posted and don't miss the next run! We are looking for a new venue to keep telling our tale. Check back frequently for more teasers and tidbits!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Very soon, The ASTRA VON BERLIFITZING DANCE COMPANY will be gearing up for the next incarnation of this passionate, edgy dance theatrical. After our spring production of ASTRA, the dance company decided to rework the show, and after recasting a few roles, tightening some of the choreography and another round of rehearsals, we will be ready to reveal the new version. Stay tuned for dates! Pictures and video from April's show are now available at www.astradance.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
www.astradance.com http://SarahalNour.fanbridge.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Very soon, The ASTRA VON BERLIFITZING DANCE COMPANY will be gearing up for the next incarnation of this passionate, edgy dance theatrical. After our spring production of ASTRA, the dance company decided to rework the show, and after recasting a few roles, tightening some of the choreography and another round of rehearsals, we will be ready to reveal the new version. Stay tuned for dates! Pictures and video from April's show are now available at www.astradance.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
www.astradance.com http://SarahalNour.fanbridge.com
Thursday, December 17, 2009
nEWSFLASH!
December 17, 2009
Hi everyone!
Well, I am just teaching up a storm these days, so if you have been thinking about trying out a bellydance class, this could be the chance for which you have been waiting!
For those of you who have expressed a desire to try out my class but needed a different location- guess what!? I have TWO new locations for this season!
Now, since we all know we are going to be going 100 miles an hour this holiday season, why not unwind and refresh yourselves through dance? PLUS you can burn off any guilty calories you may pick up along the way....
I hope to see you soon!
Bellydance with Sarah al Nour
Winter 2009-Spring 2010 Classes
Monday 8:30 pm-9:30 pm Beginning Bellydance Ekta Studio 2691 Richter Ave., Ste 105, Irvine, CA. 92606 Starts December 21, 2009
Tuesday 6:00 pm-7:00 PM American Cabaret Bellydance with Zills Homeland 1321 E Anaheim St., Long Beach, CA 90813 ( Btwn Mahanna Ave and Warren Ave) This class is already in session, and is normally taught by the marvelous Tehani (www.dancingtehani.com) but I will take over on Jan 29, 2010 and teach there until she returns from her travels.
Wednesday 7:00 Pm- 8:00 PM Basic Bellydance Anaheim Family YMCA 240 S. Euclid St. Anaheim, CA 92802 Class starts Jan 6th- we will be adding to our previous choreography- using VEILS!
Thursday No classes (Hey, I gotta sleep sometime!)
Friday 6:00 PM-7:15 PM Tribal Fusion Progressive Class Stiletto Shimmy (FKA Fit4U) 1779 Newport Blvd (Upstairs) Costa Mesa . Class began last week, but it is not too late to sign up!
Saturday WORKSHOPS (upon request and subject to availability) PERFORMANCES (ongoing at several locations)
You can stay posted on my website: www.bellyssimadancer.com or my FB events page: search for Sarah al Nour
I also update occasionally via MySpace, twitter and bellydancingdiva.com :) http://bellydancingdiva.co m/findaclass/orangecounty/ sarah-al-nour/
Friday, December 11, 2009
NEWSFLASH!
Fri, December 11, 2009 - 4:26 PM
~I HAVE TO GET RID OF A TRIBAL FUSION FAIRE WORKSHOP I CAN'T USE: for this Sunday, 11:00AM-12:30AM: Rose Harden $30.00!!!! PM me if you can use it!
~My NEW TRIBAL CLASS Session starts TONIGHT, 6 pm at Stiletto Shimmy; "Empowering Women through Dance, Fitness and Health".
Stiletto Shimmy
1779 Newport Blvd 2nd FLOOR
Costa Mesa, CA 92627
714-966-2676
The class is an 8 week series that takes students from the basics to performance!
~ALSO I have a new TRIAL class that starts Monday at Ekta studios (2691 Richter Ave. Ste 105,Irvine) 8.30-9.30 pm. call: 949-362-0149 to enroll. The fees are $15 for one 1 hr. class OR $150.00 for 3 month package (1 class/ wk) Please email me with any questions!
OK that is it for now!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
PEACE....?....!
"A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history."
~Ghandi
"One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.
"What is the POINT of another Peace march?"
I have been asked this question in various forms over the last few months, ever since I started telling people about the World March for Peace and Non Violence. Although the question has been phrased many different ways, the real questions people seem to have are: "What is the use of trying to change the way things are?" And "What makes you think you can do anything about it?"
I am an artist. I am not a political person. In general, I would rather sing about the human experience or dance than discuss, ponder or participate in politics. But I am a big believer in personal responsibility and "being the change you want to see in the world."
I've focused on mindfulness; initiating change in small ways- random acts of kindness for strangers, practicing peace in my own sphere of influence by resolving conflicts in loving ways. I never felt the need to join groups or carry signs, and never really felt like my getting involved in such activities would make any positive difference in the world.
Until now.
A few months ago, I went to a meeting that unexpectedly changed my life.
I went to the meeting with a friend, knowing nothing about it (we were going swing dancing afterwards, and I was far more focused on that than where we were going beforehand!)
But at this meeting, there was a core group of passionate people who were taking on a monumental task with hope and faith that everything would come together to make their project a success. That was how I discovered the World March for Peace and Non-Violence. I volunteered to get involved with this wonderful project by throwing a small dance event to help raise funds and before I knew it, I became one of the Orange County Organizers...! So what was it that inspired me to participate?
This is the first World March to circle the earth calling for the end of war and nuclear arms, and the elimination of violence of all kinds. It has been endorsed by leaders of nations, philanthropists and celebrities all over the planet.
But all that, as impressive as it is, could just be a flash in the pan, a momentary blip in the collective attention span of our easily underwhelmed society. Through history, many communities have marched to bring awareness to their needs, rights and demands. Some have found to their dismay, that the very people they are trying to persuade are more than happy to observe and then walk away unchanged. What makes this March different is that it is not isolated to one place, one demographic, one topic.
This March will last 90 days and pass through all climates and seasons. It began on New Zealand on October 2, 2009, the anniversary of Gandhi’s birth, declared the “International Day of Non-Violence” by the United Nations. It will conclude in the Andes Mountains (Punta de Vacas, Aconcagua, Argentina) on January 2, 2010. The WMFPNV involves EVERY community and individual that has a desire to address Peace issues in the place they live.
The more I talked with the people behind this March, the more I realized how much we need something like this right now. Grand gestures are easily forgotten, but relationships change us forever. The team of Marchers goes wherever they are invited and gets communities dialoguing about their own peace issues. Some communities are experienceing inter-racial or religious violence. Some nations are in the middle of civil wars. Some communities still struggle with sexual oppression. In whatever place the March visits, the team will attend and participate in forums, meetings and festivals organized by the local individuals and groups who request their presence!
To create global awareness - as has already happened with environmental issues - of the urgent need to condemn all forms of violence and bring about real peace, everyone must get involved!
The backbone of the march will be the route through 90 countries, but the heart and body will be the thousands of local initiatives developed at each point along the way. These initiatives will vary in form and size (e.g., a concert with thousands of people, a university symposium on economic violence, a community forum on discrimination against immigrants, a workshop on civil disobedience, a theater or dance piece that expresses the hope for a violence-free future, seminars with school children on conflict resolution, a neighborhood potluck for peace, street actions, art exhibits, etc.) Participants will organize forums, meetings, festivals, conferences, and events (sports, cultural, social, musical, artistic, facilitate meetings and educational, etc.), depending on their own creative initiative. Hundreds of projects have already been set in motion by different individuals and organizations.
This "facilitation" approach hopes to merge the wills of people everywhere and create a global conversation. The ultimate intention of the March is to achieve global Peace via the eradication of nuclear weapons; the progressive and proportional reduction of non-nuclear arms; the signing of non-aggression treaties among nations; and the renunciation by governments of war as a way to resolve conflicts, as well as creating bridges in communities currently divided amongst themselves.
The march will be successful according to its ability to reach the billions of people worldwide who are yearning for an end to the violence.
These goals take time, and will not be reached simply by one march or one seminar.
You can help by talking about the march with your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, fellow students, and total strangers.
This is a powerfully positive project, and I sincerely hope you will find an authentic way to get involved.
Most of you already know I've been talking about almost nothing but Peace events for the last few weeks ... and now you know why! So what am I doing besides talking?
The World March Team will be arriving in LA in December for ONE DAY. As the Orange County section of the LA/OC Welcoming Committee, Alec Marken and I are trying to create as much awareness about the March and its objectives before the arrival of the team as we can. Time is so short, and we have so little time to actually spend with the Marchers when they arrive, so we are doing all we can to get people involved.
Each event we hold has two purposes: to raise awareness about the March itself, and thus bring people's awareness to peaceful living, and to raise funds to support the arrival of the World Marchers in LA in December (providing food/lodging/transportation to forums, etc).
Because the main event is the arrival of the Marchers, and because we only have one day with them, we really are depending heavily on fundraising events to achieve both purposes. So far, we have 4 main events: one already past, (Bands and Bellies 1), Bands and Bellies 2 coming up on Nov 22, a bellydance show on November 29th at Merry's Fashion with Passion in Long Beach, and a symbolic peace march/celebration concert on the day the marchers arrive at Immanuel Presbyterian in LA (site of many civil rights marches)
Bands and Bellies was our first OC support event (featuring local bands and professional bellydancers) and it was marvelous success.
So many people volunteered their time, energy and creativity to the event, and many more are already stepping up for future events. To those of you have already gotten involved, I just cannot tell you how much I appreciate all your help!!
To those of you just hearing about this or who feel hesitant to get involved, let me just say that this is the ONLY World March planned, and it will only succeed in its objectives if people the world over become part of the solution rather than expecting someone else to fix everything. As someone once said "Don't wait for the government to step up, or think that 'they' will take care of it. Who are 'they?' There is no 'they!' There is only us- it has to be us!"*
If you can do nothing else, tell people about what we are doing and practice peace in your own life!
ANYTHING you can do to create peace makes life better for everyone!
http://www.worldmarchusa.net
~Ghandi
"One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means."
-- Martin Luther King, Jr.
"What is the POINT of another Peace march?"
I have been asked this question in various forms over the last few months, ever since I started telling people about the World March for Peace and Non Violence. Although the question has been phrased many different ways, the real questions people seem to have are: "What is the use of trying to change the way things are?" And "What makes you think you can do anything about it?"
I am an artist. I am not a political person. In general, I would rather sing about the human experience or dance than discuss, ponder or participate in politics. But I am a big believer in personal responsibility and "being the change you want to see in the world."
I've focused on mindfulness; initiating change in small ways- random acts of kindness for strangers, practicing peace in my own sphere of influence by resolving conflicts in loving ways. I never felt the need to join groups or carry signs, and never really felt like my getting involved in such activities would make any positive difference in the world.
Until now.
A few months ago, I went to a meeting that unexpectedly changed my life.
I went to the meeting with a friend, knowing nothing about it (we were going swing dancing afterwards, and I was far more focused on that than where we were going beforehand!)
But at this meeting, there was a core group of passionate people who were taking on a monumental task with hope and faith that everything would come together to make their project a success. That was how I discovered the World March for Peace and Non-Violence. I volunteered to get involved with this wonderful project by throwing a small dance event to help raise funds and before I knew it, I became one of the Orange County Organizers...! So what was it that inspired me to participate?
This is the first World March to circle the earth calling for the end of war and nuclear arms, and the elimination of violence of all kinds. It has been endorsed by leaders of nations, philanthropists and celebrities all over the planet.
But all that, as impressive as it is, could just be a flash in the pan, a momentary blip in the collective attention span of our easily underwhelmed society. Through history, many communities have marched to bring awareness to their needs, rights and demands. Some have found to their dismay, that the very people they are trying to persuade are more than happy to observe and then walk away unchanged. What makes this March different is that it is not isolated to one place, one demographic, one topic.
This March will last 90 days and pass through all climates and seasons. It began on New Zealand on October 2, 2009, the anniversary of Gandhi’s birth, declared the “International Day of Non-Violence” by the United Nations. It will conclude in the Andes Mountains (Punta de Vacas, Aconcagua, Argentina) on January 2, 2010. The WMFPNV involves EVERY community and individual that has a desire to address Peace issues in the place they live.
The more I talked with the people behind this March, the more I realized how much we need something like this right now. Grand gestures are easily forgotten, but relationships change us forever. The team of Marchers goes wherever they are invited and gets communities dialoguing about their own peace issues. Some communities are experienceing inter-racial or religious violence. Some nations are in the middle of civil wars. Some communities still struggle with sexual oppression. In whatever place the March visits, the team will attend and participate in forums, meetings and festivals organized by the local individuals and groups who request their presence!
To create global awareness - as has already happened with environmental issues - of the urgent need to condemn all forms of violence and bring about real peace, everyone must get involved!
The backbone of the march will be the route through 90 countries, but the heart and body will be the thousands of local initiatives developed at each point along the way. These initiatives will vary in form and size (e.g., a concert with thousands of people, a university symposium on economic violence, a community forum on discrimination against immigrants, a workshop on civil disobedience, a theater or dance piece that expresses the hope for a violence-free future, seminars with school children on conflict resolution, a neighborhood potluck for peace, street actions, art exhibits, etc.) Participants will organize forums, meetings, festivals, conferences, and events (sports, cultural, social, musical, artistic, facilitate meetings and educational, etc.), depending on their own creative initiative. Hundreds of projects have already been set in motion by different individuals and organizations.
This "facilitation" approach hopes to merge the wills of people everywhere and create a global conversation. The ultimate intention of the March is to achieve global Peace via the eradication of nuclear weapons; the progressive and proportional reduction of non-nuclear arms; the signing of non-aggression treaties among nations; and the renunciation by governments of war as a way to resolve conflicts, as well as creating bridges in communities currently divided amongst themselves.
The march will be successful according to its ability to reach the billions of people worldwide who are yearning for an end to the violence.
These goals take time, and will not be reached simply by one march or one seminar.
You can help by talking about the march with your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, fellow students, and total strangers.
This is a powerfully positive project, and I sincerely hope you will find an authentic way to get involved.
Most of you already know I've been talking about almost nothing but Peace events for the last few weeks ... and now you know why! So what am I doing besides talking?
The World March Team will be arriving in LA in December for ONE DAY. As the Orange County section of the LA/OC Welcoming Committee, Alec Marken and I are trying to create as much awareness about the March and its objectives before the arrival of the team as we can. Time is so short, and we have so little time to actually spend with the Marchers when they arrive, so we are doing all we can to get people involved.
Each event we hold has two purposes: to raise awareness about the March itself, and thus bring people's awareness to peaceful living, and to raise funds to support the arrival of the World Marchers in LA in December (providing food/lodging/transportatio
Because the main event is the arrival of the Marchers, and because we only have one day with them, we really are depending heavily on fundraising events to achieve both purposes. So far, we have 4 main events: one already past, (Bands and Bellies 1), Bands and Bellies 2 coming up on Nov 22, a bellydance show on November 29th at Merry's Fashion with Passion in Long Beach, and a symbolic peace march/celebration concert on the day the marchers arrive at Immanuel Presbyterian in LA (site of many civil rights marches)
Bands and Bellies was our first OC support event (featuring local bands and professional bellydancers) and it was marvelous success.
So many people volunteered their time, energy and creativity to the event, and many more are already stepping up for future events. To those of you have already gotten involved, I just cannot tell you how much I appreciate all your help!!
To those of you just hearing about this or who feel hesitant to get involved, let me just say that this is the ONLY World March planned, and it will only succeed in its objectives if people the world over become part of the solution rather than expecting someone else to fix everything. As someone once said "Don't wait for the government to step up, or think that 'they' will take care of it. Who are 'they?' There is no 'they!' There is only us- it has to be us!"*
If you can do nothing else, tell people about what we are doing and practice peace in your own life!
ANYTHING you can do to create peace makes life better for everyone!
http://www.worldmarchusa.n
*Michael Jackson, shortly before his passing.
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