The practice of Dances of Universal Peace has been running in small and safe circles in several countries in Asia from the work of some dance leaders and leaders-in-training.
In 2022, Arjun (Jorge Calero), with the support of Thao Kin and Luvian Iskandar from GEN Oceania & Asia, and many others, did a tour through some countries in Asia including India, Maldives, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Thailand to share and plant the seed of DUP. The DUP workshops attracted more than 100 participants in Vietnam alone and nearly 300 people in total. You can read more about the workshops in Indonesia and Vietnam here.
In December 2022, the first Asian DUP camp was held in Gaia Ashram, Thailand with more than 30 participants, some of them having joined the workshops in the countries listed above.
After the first Asian DUP tour, many seeds of DUP practice have sprouted and kept being nurtured in our countries, especially in the ASEAN region where DUP was introduced for the first time in 2022. This year, when the camp is happening in Vietnam (29/11 – 03/12/2023), more of our friends in Asia and especially in ASEAN will be able to join. More members directly joining and meeting experienced dance leaders/masters mean a high possibility of co-creating a community of dance leaders in training. We envision a community of interregional learning and enhancing the experience together.
We leverage and embrace gifts of heads, hearts, and hands of local organizers, volunteers, and participants to co-create a nurturing and safe environment for experiencing DUP, looking deeply into the inner world, as well as being present and witnessing each other. In the camp, besides DUP practice, we also have sessions and activities to learn about each other in circles. We trust that meaningful conversation and deep listening will encourage new collaborative initiatives to emerge. We commit to practicing inclusiveness and participatory leadership in the process of preparing and running the camp, as well as after the camp.