Dancers promote cultural, religious peace

      A Northwest dance group is doing all it can to promote understanding and tolerance within the world's population in order to promote world peace.
      The Dances of Universal Peace is an international organization with a chapter in Las Vegas. The group's desire is to promote peace through understanding the belief system and religious background of people from around the world.
      "If you sit back and look at it, more wars are caused by religious differences than any political differences," said Jeanne Gutterman, 55, who is a member of the organization. "We try to bridge that gap and bring about an appreciation of these people's beliefs."
      The Dances of Universal Peace was founded in the early 1960s by Samuel L. Lewis. Lewis, a Sufi teacher as well as Rinzai Zen Master, studied deeply in the mystical traditions of Hinduism, Judaism and Christianity.
      By studying and understanding these various religions, Lewis felt the only way to accomplish world peace was to appreciate all religions and all people. He felt this could be best accomplished through the sharing of dance and music.
      "The idea is to accept other beliefs while setting aside your own beliefs," said Kirsten Barrett, 30, also a dancer with the group. "We are not worshiping or practicing any religion. Instead we just try and understand and appreciate the various religions and cultures from around the world."
      The group meets weekly at various locations throughout Las Vegas and performs and dances once a month at the Dome of the Desert, located at 5485 Rio Vista Road.
      The dances are selected from a book, which has been amended since Lewis founded the group over 30 years ago. Lewis' dance book started with about 50 dances and has now swelled to 500 dances.
      Each dance is different, celebrating religious and cultural beliefs from all over the world.
      "There are dances from Native American religions and even some Christian sects that can be found in the book," Gutterman said. "It is an universal text and we relish the fact we can experience many of them."
      Each time a dance is selected, the group rehearses the steps as well as the music. Surprisingly, the most difficult part of learning the dance is not the dance itself -- it's the music.
      "The music is the essence of dance and it is very difficult to master the music sometimes," Gutterman said. "It is the most time-consuming preparation of all."
      Besides their local performances, the Las Vegas dancers also travel throughout the Southwest sharing their message of peace and understanding.
      "We have traveled to the Grand Canyon and even out to Pahrump to share the experience," Gutterman said. "The whole idea is to learn and experience different cultures from one another."
      While Gutterman said the idea of sharing religions has offended some people, what the Dances of Universal Peace does is not a religious ceremony.
      "We have participants on the group that come from all races and religions," Gutterman said. "We are not a religion or a cult asking people to give up their existing belief. All we are saying is to respect others beliefs and celebrate them. In doing so we can all get along much better."
      The experience of dancing with the group has helped Barrett find more comfort in her own spirituality.
      "When I began participating I wasn't too sure what my beliefs were," Barrett said. "But now I have been able to experience many religions and it has helped me to strengthen my own beliefs."
      Both Gutterman and Barrett are studying a religion as a way of spiritual education so they can better understand their fellow human beings.
      "The sense of joy you get from taking part in this is so satisfying," Gutterman said. "It's something that I find to be the most enlightening thing I have ever done."
      Those interested in participating in the Dances of Universal Peace can call the group's office at 631-9246.