Call for Peace: In Silent Language

Dance as the Language of Peace

The Call for Peace Drum and Dance Company is a performing arts company of dancers who, through dance, drums and contemporary music, blur and seek to break down the preconceived divisions between the earth’s ethnic groups. They celebrate the vibrant cultural heritage that makes up humanity, not as subjects apart from each other, but as interconnected racial, cultural and ethnic groups.

In the coming together and blending in performance, of the many traditional interpretive movements of dance, Call for Peace wordlessly communicates the common need for global cooperation in building a new culture of non-violence for humankind which will give hope to all humanity and in particular, the children of the world

Call for Peace is the result of a vision in 1988 that came to Dawn Shegonee, now Artistic Director and Art Shegonee, Ambassador of Call for Peace, celebrating man’s interconnectedness through drum and dance. As Iroquois people, they understood the Native American drum as the deep, earthy heartbeat of the drum circle while other cultures and their traditional drums would represent the different rhythms of man and nature. Together, the drums would echo the harmony that is possible between all peoples and things on earth. This audible unity would be mirrored and complemented by the visual presentation of unique ethnic dances.

When the Martin Luther King Coalition and a local Reverend called upon the Shegonees in 1989 to bring together five cultures of traditional drums and dancing, they knew the time was right to form a dance company. Since then the troupe has performed at opening ceremonies, universities, museums, conventions, celebrations and for an Earth Day celebration that brought together the children and grandchildren of Gandhi, King, Chavez and Black Elk. And they have shared stages with Martin Luther King’s family and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Performing across the globe, they have toured in the United States, Italy, Russia, Egypt, Israel, Germany and Egypt.

Call for Peace is the only international dance company to unite more than 26 dance company directors and performers representing more than 10 different cultures in a theatrical performance entitled “Dancing the Dream: A New Hope for Humanity.” Performers include dancers from Ballet Folklorico Avila, Waswagoning Indian Dance Theater (including five tribes of Wisconsin), Maggie Thompson Heather Highland Dance Company, Sadira and Riad Dance Company, Chinese Dance Company, Miriam's Dance Company, and E Gwynn Dance Company of North Carolina University.

The “Dancing the Dream” performance with its varied drum rhythms seems to reach back through time to the original roots of human life, finding the common thread that connects us all, while the ethnic expressions of those rhythms celebrate the diversity of humanity. The traditional dances mimic movements and elements of nature, demonstrating their origins in the natural, physical environment that surrounds us. They remind us that we are only a small part of the environment that nurtures and sustains us. The Circle Dance visibly embodies global cooperation, respect and understanding that must lead the nations’ peoples through the 21st century if there is to be a future for the children of the world. Call for Peace is a metaphor for that vision of a nonviolent world where all life lives and thrives harmoniously.

In order to create that world that must necessarily become traditional for the children of the 21str century, Call for Peace offers opportunities in the arts for children and holds workshops to conduct Talking Circle—a native traditional open and accepting communication forum where participants make their own talking stick. They are taught to use the circle to discuss problems they all share, the environment, conflict resolution and things that are important to their future. Only the individual holding a marked feather is allowed to speak during the process and the feather is passed continuously until everyone who wishes to speak has done so. If the group is working through a conflict the talk continues to consensus to empower participants to resolve interpersonal, inter-group, intra-group and other conflicts non-violently in an atmosphere where everyone has a voice and all voices are important.

Since youth hold the ability to create a new world of respect and peace in their hands, Call for Peace has now launched Call for Peace-the Next Generation. In a time when youth are plagued by having to face violence, prejudice and bullying, it is increasingly crucial to expose youth to peers who celebrate diversity and express themselves creatively through the arts. Call for Peace provides opportunities for quality performances that inspire and fuel imagination actively encouraging youth to explore a new and significant means of understanding, creativity and communication.

Call for Peace Drum and Dance Company has a new initiative: the launch of a brand new website as a global and cultural educational networking resource for “A New People”—those people who are working together for the greater good of humanity and the planet. The site www.anewpeople.net is under construction but will be a central site for those creating a new human experience and a new planet by “a new people. Resources will include films, books, publications, organizations and movements. The “Dancing the Dream” performance that incorporates peoples of many nations that Call for Peace Drum and Dance Company has presented round the world is the circle dance, metaphor and inspiration for “A New People” gathering in circle on the world wide web.

Watch for new announcements and for more information about Call for Peace Drum and Dance Company visit: www.callforpeace.org