Communities in Bloomington are finding connection through the Dances of Universal Peace, an international movement that blends music, meditation, and movement to promote unity.
While based in North America, the Dances of Universal Peace have spread globally, with circles now held in Asia, Europe, Australia, and other regions of the world.
In Bloomington, Naomi Wilansky leads the dances at Moses Montefiore Temple; the most recent was Saturday.
“We are co-creating together a feeling of unity and love and respect and honor. It’s fanciful to think we could all get along, but maybe it’s not,” Wilansky said.
The dances blend live music, poetry, phrases from Scripture, and interfaith prayer circles to promote a sense of community. Sessions start with an instrument player at the center of a circle of people, who typically hold hands while dancing and chanting along to the music.
The dances welcome all communities. There isn’t one specific religion the group follows. Instead, spiritual messages from multiple faiths are integrated into each circle, with chants from various languages woven into the experience.
The goal is simple — to bring joy to the community.
Christina Schulz was among those who took part in the dance. After attending various dances over the last few years, Schulz said she's learned there's power in letting your voice carry.
“Underneath shaped thought by outside influences, everybody has an inner voice, an inner light that should be tended to, listened to,” Schulz said.
Schulz described the atmosphere as a safe space to feel open, where you can contemplate the time you’ve spent in your life, while simultaneously leaning into sharing your personal space with the dancers alongside you.
Wilansky has danced far longer than Schulz, leading circles for more than 30 years in different locations. Right now, she holds the dances in Bloomington.
“These dances bring people together. The idea is to be respectful to each other," she said.
Nodding to conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, Wilansky seeks to promote the idea of peace in a time where the community feels disconnected.
“It’s a place where we can all get along and be present with each other," she said.
Wilansky said the dances promote harmony despite the differences people may have with each other, describing the dances as body prayer.
She travels across the nation to train other dance leaders and promotes events like guided nature walks and farm tours. There’s an upcoming weekend of dances planned in Tennessee in April.
Dan Liecthy, Wilansky’s husband who plays guitar for the dances, said he always viewed spirituality as an academic.
He studied religion himself and also served as a hospice social worker, counseling and assisting patients and families during end-of-life care.
Liecthy did his own research on the Dances of Universal Peace that were first presented in the late 1960s by Samuel L. Lewis, a Sufi Murshid and Rinzai Zen Master, who studied the mystical traditions of Hinduism, Judaism, and Christianity.
Now retired after teaching human development in the Illinois State University School of Social Work for 25 years, Liecthy said he now focuses on the dances with his wife.
“Hope is making new friends, being together,” he said. “What we are is family. We don’t talk politics.”
Liecthy assists his wife in the dances by sharing his own spiritual knowledge of texts, phrases, and practices from several religions — and turns it into music. He promotes unity within the dances, aiming for everyone to feel more grounded.
With more and more communities learning about the dances, new grassroots dance circles are springing up around the globe, with hundreds of circles meeting weekly or monthly in North America alone, according to Dances of Universal Peace North America.
