Aramaic Retreat in DSM: CANCELLED :(

We are so very sorry to inform you that The Breathing Life of All retreat with Neil Douglas-Klotz April 14 – 17 in Des Moines, IA has been cancelled. We deeply apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you. Eventbrite will provide full refunds for those registered. Please let us know if there is any problem with that process.

Neil has experienced unanticipated complications

Registration is Open for "The Breathing Life of All" Aramaic Jesus Retreat

2/21/23 Update:  We are so very sorry to inform you that The Breathing Life of All retreat with Neil Douglas-Klotz April 14 – 17 in Des Moines, IA has been cancelled. We deeply apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you. Eventbrite will provide full refunds for those registered. Please let us know if there is any problem with that process. Read more details here.  

2023 DSM Dances Retreat Lodging & Meal Notes

2/21/2023 Update:  We are so very sorry to inform you that The Breathing Life of All retreat with Neil Douglas-Klotz April 14 – 17 in Des Moines, IA has been cancelled. We deeply apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you. Eventbrite will provide full refunds for those registered. Please let us know if there is any problem with that process. Read more details here.

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This retreat will offer an experience of chanting, moving and meditating with the Aramaic Prayer of Jesus (the "Lord's Prayer").

Information about the retreat is here. Registration will be on eventbrite.  Please note the staggered registration schedule.  

This page has lodging information and more details about meals provided.  Please use the contact us form is you have questions!  

Lodging

A block of rooms is reserved at the Courtyard Des Moines West/Clive (By Marriott): 

1520 NW 114th St

Clive, IA 50325 

Event Summary: Neil Douglas Klotz Room Block 

99 USD - 109 USD per night

• Start Date: Thursday, April 13, 2023
• End Date: Monday, April 17, 2023

 Last Day to Book: Thursday, March 23, 2023

Here is a direct link to book a room in the block.  

These accommodations are either close to the hotel with the block or closer to the retreat location:

1. Days Inn, 1600 NW 114th St, Clive, IA 50325 - close to the Courtyard above
2. Sleep Inn and Suites, 885 South 51st St, West Des Moines, IA 50265
3. Drury Inn and Suites, 5505 Mills Civic Parkway, West Des Moines, IA 50266

If you would like to be matched for a homestay, please contact the coordinator at guildtammy@gmail.com.

Meals

For the main retreat, two lunches (Saturday & Sunday) and one dinner (Saturday) is provided in registration. 

On Monday, lunch will also be provided.

Your information about dietary restrictions, i.e., vegetarian/vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, etc., will be collected during registration. We will accommodate your needs as best we can.

COVID Protocols

For the health and well-being of everyone coming to sing, dance, and pray together, we ask each of us to participate in these group agreements:

• Practice limited large group experiences the week before the retreat
• Take a home test before leaving for the retreat and each day of the retreat, attending only when you have a negative result.
• Don't come if you are not feeling well.
• We hope most are vaccinated and boosted and request unvaccinated folks to mask. You are encouraged to tend to your personal risk tolerance and sense of safety to the level of your comfort.
• The retreat space will have windows that can be opened and HVAC filters are changed regularly.
• Refunds (minus the Eventbrite fees) are available on request.

May 10: Hearts Wide Open to the Wind: Movement Meditations Weaving Peace, Community, Justice, & Our Hearts

We're sharing the Spirit of Peace Meditation with folks in Des Moines, Iowa!  

Come on over if you're in the neighborhood!

Event:  Hearts Wide Open to the Wind:  Movement Meditations Weaving Peace, Community, Justice & Our Hearts

When:  Tuesday, May 10, 2022, 6:30-7:30 p.m. 

Where:  the Peace Garden at Cowles Commons, 221 Walnut St. Des Moines, IA
(Map)

Schedule for Elemental Joy Virtual Retreat

All times are Central Daylight Time (CDT).

• Retreat sessions will open 30 minutes before the start of the session for Zoom tech assistance.  
• We invite folks to join the social conversation about 15 minutes before the session starts. 

For example, Friday night's Welcome session starts at 7 p.m. so the call would open at 6:30 p.m. for Zoom technical assistance and we welcome pre-session socializing at 6:45 p.m.

• Zoom links to sessions are provided in retreat confirmation emails.  

Still need to register?  

• To choose sessions a la carte ($20-30), please register at Eventbrite.
• To register for the whole retreat, please register at here.   

Learn more about the retreat here.  

Friday, April 24, 2020

* 7-8:30 p.m. - Welcome Session and all the Elements
Arrive simply as you are to the circle of hearts and receive this first nights’ taste of the magic that is available to us when we focus our intention. This will be a welcome and a warm up as we enter into virtual connection. We’ll begin building a sense of unity and cohesiveness, invoking and attuning to the Four Elements in pursuit of our vision for the retreat:  

“How do we sustain ourselves with what is ours to do unless we continue to connect with our innate sense of JOY and Creativity? If we don’t take time to do this, life can become a burden and we may lose sight of why we are here to live. You are invited to a weekend retreat with the Dances of Universal Peace and the Four Elements to reignite your Inner Joy.”  

Over the course of the weekend, we’ll be invited into the potential of Elemental Alchemy in our lives. We begin with an experience of generous grounding Earth flowing into adaptable and purifying Water. We continue our journey of transformation upwards and through the portal of cleansing and creative Fire and finally arrive at the freedom and expansion catalyzed by the Air element ~ with a new vision of where we have been, where we are and where we will be.

* 9-11 p.m. - Song & Sharing Circle

Update: Elemental Joy Dances Retreat, now Virtual

We, Morgan, Jennifer, Saleem, and Conie are sad and disappointed that the public health precautions around the coronavirus will keep us from dancing, singing, and praying together in person in late April. We understand these serious measures are necessary to protect the vulnerable and support the healthcare systems from being overloaded. We pray and hope that we can circle together again soon with more joy and gratitude after being apart.

Within this constriction, we also see possibility of virtual connectivity and communal practice with technology available today.  

We are curious and excited to explore what joy we can invite and invoke during this time of virtual connection. 

We believe there is benefit to be found in gathering to sing (all muted except the leader, of course) our prayers, to listen, remember, and experience the wisdom of the elements in song, movement, ritual, breath, walks, and creativity. 

Who knows what surprise gifts and blessings may come forth through this offering? 

Would you join us in the ether for this adventure? 

We hope so. Read on for more details...

To Elemental Joy Registered Participants: Exploring in the Ether

Greetings, registered Elemental Joy Dancers, Leaders, and Musicians,

DSM Retreat Lodging Options: Offsite

OFFSITE

If you prefer more personal space and solitude, these options are available about 3-4 miles away: 

• Boulders Inn and Suites, 4222 South 22nd Avenue East, Newton, IA 50208 * 641-275-9495
• AmericInn, 4401 S 22nd Avenue East, Newton, IA 50208 * 641-791-1160

Homestay/Roommate List
If you're interested in a local homestay or matched with a roommate, please reach out to Mary Ann, kochmaryann2014@gmail.com.

Meet Jen

JF at Tribal Visions

Points of Light Music (PLM) invited each curator to answer some questions about the Dances and this retreat and we'll be doing a deeper introduction weekly.

Here's Jen, the fourth of four. 

Meet Conie

Points of Light Music (PLM) invited each curator to answer some questions about the Dances and this retreat and we'll be doing a deeper introduction weekly.

Here's Conie, the third of four. 

Meet Morgan

Points of Light Music (PLM) invited each curator to answer some questions about the Dances and this retreat and we'll be doing a deeper introduction weekly. 

Here's Morgan, the second of four.  

Meet Saleem

Points of Light Music (PLM) invited each curator to answer some questions about the Dances and this retreat and we'll be doing a deeper introduction weekly.

Here's Saleem, the first of four.  

Tell us about your relationship to the Dances. How and when did it begin? Is there a highlight experience you could share?

After years of spiritual seeking without finding a spiritual community that I felt at home in, I was surprised by finding just that with my first curious and reserved visit to the Dances in Arcata California, where I met a vibrant Sufi community that included, accepted, and honored all of me.

Now Open! Registration for the 2020 DSM retreat, Elemental Joy!

Meet Your Elemental Joy Retreat Leaders

We are excited to introduce the four retreat leaders for Elemental Joy. Here are their bios. We asked them to answer a few questions and their responses will be revealed over the next few weeks.

Without further ado ...

Retreat Schedule for The Music & The Dance

The Music and the Dance 

Musicianship and Dance Leader Training with Anahata Iradah 

Thursday, April 25
2 – 3 PM: Arrive
3 – 5 PM: Session 1
5:30 – 6:30: Dinner
7 - 9 PM: Session 2
9PM: #1 Individual Session with Anahata
9:30PM: #2 Individual Session with Anahata

Friday, April 26
7AM: #3 Individual Session with Anahata
7:30: #4 Individual Session with Anahata
8 – 9AM: Breakfast
9:30 – 12:00: Session 3
12:30 – 1:30: Lunch
1:30 – 3:00: Free Time
3 – 5 PM: Session 4
5:30 – 6:30: Dinner
7 – 9 PM: Evening Session led by Leaders and Musicians from The Music and The Dance retreat, inviting early-bird Dancers

Saturday, April 27
7 – 8 AM: Meditation led by Anahata
8 – 9 AM: Breakfast
9:30 – 11:00: Session 5
11:30 – 12:30: One-hour session, inviting in early-bird Dancers, co-led by Anahata and Conie
12:30 – 1:30: Lunch
1:30 – 3:00: Free Time
3:00: Dancing Ourselves Awake Begins - See that schedule here

Sunday, April 28
Dancing Ourselves Awake continues thru lunch

1:30 – 2:30PM: Final The Music and The Dance completion session with Anahata 

2:30:  All depart

NOTE: # 5 – 10 Individual Sessions with Anahata will be woven in throughout the training, either in private sessions or within the circle

Read more about the retreat here, more about Anahata here, here, here, and here, and to register, go here!

Retreat Schedule for Dancing Ourselves Awake

Dancing Ourselves Awake

A Dances of Universal Peace Retreat with Anahata Iradah

Theme:
"What if each dance called forth from us the ability to be so present that time stands still and we are living exactly in the present moment? What would we need to do, to adjust, to let go of to allow that to happen? What would we need to do to dance ourselves awake?”

Saturday, April 27
2 – 3 PM: Arrive
3 – 5 PM: 1st Session
5:30 – 6:30: Dinner
7 – 9 PM: 2nd Session

Sunday, April 28
7 – 8 AM: Meditation with Anahata
8 – 9 AM: Breakfast
9:30 – 12:00: 3rd Session
12:30 – 1:30: Lunch
END

Optional Add-On for Early-Bird Dancers

Come for Dinner and Dances led by the Leaders and Musicians who have been in training with Anahata

Friday, April 26
4 – 5 PM: Arrive
5:30 – 6:30: Dinner
7 – 9 PM: Evening Session

Saturday, April 27
7 – 8 AM: Meditation with Anahata
8 – 9 AM: Breakfast
9:30 – 11:00: Personal retreat time, or join in Mandala Rock Painting led by Mary Ann Koch
11:30 – 12:30: One-hour session co-led by Anahata and Conie Borchardt
12:30 – 1:30: Lunch
1:30 – 3:00: Free Time

Dancing Ourselves Awake begins with Anahata at 3PM (see the above).

Read more about the retreat here, more about Anahata here, here, here, and here, and to register, go here!

Highlighting Anahata (Vision for the Dances)

We're getting to know Anahata Iradah, the featured guest Dance Leader and trainer for the 2019 Newton, Iowa Dances of Universal Peace retreat (Dancing Ourselves Awake & The Music and The Dance). We've asked her a few questions and she has been kind and gracious enough to answer them, even while she's travelling in Brazil! We hope you enjoy reading about this as much as we have!

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PLM: Where do you dream the Dances will be 50 years from now?

Anahata:  For me the question is a little broader than this. For me the question is more like “will the rituals and ceremonies that we need for the survival of the planet be available for humanity 50 years from now”? What the rituals actually look like is not so important, nor the name that we give them. What is important is that we pass down the tools we need from generation to generation. For our indigenous friends, dance is as important as eating and drinking. So we imagine that dance will always exist. What is essential is that our sense of awe for creation is protected, our reverence for life. We need to value our inter-connectedness. We need to preserve the honoring of our ancestors and the wisdom of our elders. If the Dances continue to hold these values, then they will survive. What I feel the Dances do best is to show us the paths that are cherished by the devotees of the many faith traditions. As long as the earth still has people of many faiths, then the Dances show us the perfect way to tread lightly in the footsteps of the devotees and to taste a little of the nectar of their traditions. Probably as planetary consciousness evolves the Dances will evolve too. Most likely in fifty years from now the Dances will mirror the concerns, joys, sorrows and prevailing wisdom of the seekers of that era.

Anahata presenting Morgan and Cindy a gift of appreciation
at the end of the 2017 Newton retreat

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Join us for The Music & The Dance or Dancing Ourselves Awake, late April in Newton, Iowa.  Follow the links for more information and to register.  

Highlighting Anahata (Being a Dance Leader/Musician Means...)

We're getting to know Anahata Iradah, the featured guest Dance Leader and trainer for the 2019 Newton, Iowa Dances of Universal Peace retreat (Dancing Ourselves Awake & The Music and The Dance). We've asked her a few questions and she has been kind and gracious enough to answer them, even while she's travelling in Brazil! We hope you enjoy reading about this as much as we have!

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Anahata leading Dances of Universal Peace

PLM:  What does it mean to you to share the Dances as a Dance Leader and Musician?

Anahata:  The most precious thing we have on this earth is our time spent here. So for me to be deserving of having a circle around me, it is my sacred responsibility to use that time wisely and well.

Because there are an infinite amount of possibilities and ways people can spend their time, I realize that they have selected to be in the circle because there is an experience their soul is needing.

It is my job to find out what that might be in any given moment and also to find out what the group soul needs as well.

So once I have tuned in to what that need is, it is my job to shape the energy, to prepare the space, to create the opening for that transformation to take place. Whether as a dance musician or leader, it is my job to use my gifts to meet that need in the best way I know how. All the time listening, fine tuning, crafting and shaping that experience in the same way an artist applies the brush to the canvas. The results will be felt on many levels, and can bring inspiration and courage as well as states of deep peace and silence. So there is a responsibility to wear the mantle of leadership with respect and humility.

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Join us for The Music & The Dance or Dancing Ourselves Awake, late April in Newton, Iowa.  Follow the links for more information and to register.  

Highlighting Anahata (Encountering the Dances)

We're getting to know Anahata Iradah, the featured guest Dance Leader and trainer for the 2019 Newton, Iowa Dances of Universal Peace retreat (Dancing Ourselves Awake & The Music and The Dance). We've asked her a few questions and she has been kind and gracious enough to answer them, even while she's travelling in Brazil! We hope you enjoy reading about this as much as we have!

---

PLM:  Tell us about your first encounter with the Dances of Universal Peace. 

Anahata:  I actually have two first encounters, one actual and one that is shrouded with mystery.

The actual encounter happened through a T.V. show that I was helping to produce in Los Angeles around 1985. I was invited to compose the theme music for a Cable T.V. show called Women to Women. It was an interview show with important women of the time, politicians and such. As a thank you for composing the theme music they gave me my own one show segment. I decided to invite my healing teacher Rosalyn Bruyere to be my featured guest. She was a “natural healer” that was scientifically documented. I wanted to find a medical doctor who was interested in natural healing. Someone told me about a medical doctor in La Canada by the name of Dr. Susan Bennett. I went to meet her and she was delighted to be on the show, because she had always wanted to meet Rosalyn. She gave me her business card and it said “Dr. Susan Bennett Shakura”. I asked her why she had a “funny” last name and she responded that she was a Sufi and did the Dances of Universal Peace, and would I like to come! She told me did it at 4.00 p.m. on Sunday afternoons.

So that was the invitation. So most Sundays, I would go to a friend’s house for a pot luck gathering and one of the women would leave every Sunday to go somewhere. We all had no idea where. Well on the next Sunday this woman got up to leave around 3 p.m. and so did I! She had to leave and I had to leave to go to meet Dr. Susan Bennett Shakura. Well, when I arrived at my destination, low and behold my friend (Linda Gibson) was at this meeting. She said to me “what are you doing here?”. And I said the same to her! It turned out that my friend Linda was Tasnim Fernandez’ guitarist for the Dances and she also played for Shakura. I had my guitar with me and Linda showed me open G tuning and I began my initiation into the Dances of Universal Peace. Shakura introduced me to Tasnim and Tasnim introduced me to Saadi and my career began at this moment.


But the other encounter that is shrouded in mystery could almost be a dream. Some time before I was formally introduced to the Dances in the way I describe above, I participated in a couple of dances. The problem is I cannot recall the context, nor can I trace the leaders of the group who came to share them. What I recall is that I was in some kind of group and an outside person (or people) came to share a few Dances of Universal Peace. As I participated they told me that they thought I was born to dance these dances. I felt myself to be in another world, not of this earth. I even recall that they said they were from the Lama Foundation. Later on when I was firmly connected with Lama I tried to trace the leaders who shared those dances, and no one knew who they could be. So this is why I say the telling of this version of my first encounter is shrouded in mystery. I am grateful it took place, but have no way of verifying whether this was a dream or reality!

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Join us for The Music & The Dance or Dancing Ourselves Awake, late April in Newton, Iowa.  Follow the links for more information and to register.  

Highlighting Anahata (Extended bio)

Introducing Anahata Iradah 

When Anahata Iradah picked up her first musical instrument at the age of seven she was sure that she had entered the angelic realms. She has been transporting people there ever since, through her ministry of music and dance.

Born and raised in England, she received advanced diplomas from the London College of Music before heading for the United States. There she was introduced to the Dances of Universal Peace, a tradition that celebrates the unity of religious ideals through simple circle dances using the sacred words of the world’s great religious traditions.

Since 1990 she has made great contributions to this tradition. As a musician, she has arranged, recorded, notated and composed many of the treasured songs that accompany the dances. As a teacher she is known for her depth. Having absorbed the background of the dances, she leads her circles into the profound atmosphere of each culture. As a core member of the Mentor Teacher’s Guild, she has developed comprehensive curriculum to assist her “mentees” in developing their own dance leading skills. 

Ever seeking to broaden her personal experience she graduated from the Healing Light Center Church in Glendale California where she studied to be a natural healer. She received her certificate of Ministry from this church.

Working closely for many years with Shinzen Young, a respected Buddhist scholar and meditation instructor, she has incorporated the profound teachings of Buddhism into her work.

Inspired by the brilliance of the Sufi path she studied to become a Semazen in the Mevlevi tradition, the whirling dervishes, guided by Jelaluddin Loras in the direct lineage of Rumi.

She studied to be a film composer at UCLA which became excellent preparation for her work in producing a series of video documentaries about the Dances of Universal Peace and the Mandala Dance of the 21 Praises of Tara.

Becoming interested in citizen diplomacy through music and dance, she co-led a group of pilgrims to the Middle East in 1993 . The delegation met with refugees, spiritual and political leaders and offered the Dances wherever they went.

She co-led with Prema two pilgrimages to offer the Tara Dance to Tibetan Refugees in India and Nepal. They also co-led a group to South India.

Anahata traveled and taught with Prema for 11 years. She wrote many wonderful melodies and created fabulous dances during this time. She continues to work tirelessly in the service of sacred music and dance. She serves Tara Dhatu selflessly as the Artistic Director.

Anahata teaches with gentleness and openheartedness. Her music and the poetry of her understanding leads her students into the breadth and depth of the human heart.