by Carla de Sola, Director, Omega West Dance Company
The Parliament of the World’s Religions was held in Salt Lake City from October 15-19, 2015. First held in 1893, the Parliament was created “to cultivate harmony among the world’s religious and spiritual communities. Their approach is to promote interreligious harmony, rather than unity.” The theme this year was “Reclaiming the Heart of Our Humanity.” There were over eighty nations and fifty faiths represented.
As many of you know, I direct the Omega West Dance Company. For the Parliament we presented our dance: “Beyond Words: An Interfaith Ritual for Peace.” The ritual was first created in 2003 for The Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. The dancers and Omega artists included Sabine Henrie, Karin Jensen, Claudia Florian McCaffrey, David McCauley and Sylvia Miller-Mutia (joining us from Albuquerque – quite a feat to jump into the dance) Stephen McDermott Myers “called forth the word” Enver Rahmanov was our ritual facilitator, Sr. Martha Ann Kirk led the forum (and with Enver was responsible for our presentation being accepted) and Michelle Mueller, stage manager. All hands were needed!
It has been a few days since I returned from this amazing gathering of people “who love God” as one of my dancer’s, Claudia, said in wonder. There were 9,800 people at the Parliament, creating a world of good will, acceptance of differences, joy, dancing, earnest discussions, and searching out the “ways that make for peace.” Graces were being showered upon me and it wasn’t until I returned home that I processed the depth of the experience—and I noticed how eagerly I sought prayer, and how easy it was to pray in the aftermath of the experience. The Parliament offered glimpses of a future world of good will, acceptance, joy, and overflowing love.
This began a journey encompassing much more than any one of the hundreds of offerings by groups from all around the world that I had experienced at the Salt Lake Convention Center. One morning I found myself, involved in a fascinating discussion of key passages from Christian, Jewish and Islamic scriptures that might seem to promote violence, and from there I went to join a line up for a free lunch offered by the Sikhs. That meal is called “langar” — a beautiful example of hospitality in the form of conscious offering of food served in a gentle, loving ritual. As we slowly progressed to the eating hall we had only to turn our heads to see deeply meditative work on the creation of an amazing peace mandala created by Buddhist monks, or be awed by the sight of a silent peace procession led by international women from conflict zones; all this in the public sphere, with the always present background ambience of chanting, drums and gongs. It would take all of us to explore fully this “tent” of God’s peace.
Additional note of appreciation from Carla to all the Omega West crew: The Parliament was a wonderful experience, but it was hair-raising for me when it came to actually presenting our offering. The “dancers”saved the day! Our venue was changed three times! An hour before the performance I was anxiously waiting for our religious leaders to find us, much less rehearse, wringing my hands. Then an amazing thing happened under my eyes…The company bonded together in a new way, and sprung into action. They were seemingly exuberant that we were in a widely traversed lobby – Sylvia finding tape to mark off our performance area and the seats, others finding stools and our brightly colored material on which to place our props (Tibetan bowls, water fountain, greenery (Enver grabbed some bushes!) David and Michelle worked on fountain and sound, and so on. They were all faith, optimism and joy. Lesson: And I thought I had to do it all! It went off beautifully.
Here is an email I just received from a member of the Sacred Dance Guild: Dear Carla, Your group was a radiant and inspiring experience for all!!!!! Clearly so much thought and preparation went into the choreography. Thank you for the grace and wisdom that you gave to all through word and dance! With deep appreciation, Lana
Peace, Shalom, Salaam, Shanti…
The Parliament of the World’s Religions was held in Salt Lake City from October 15-19, 2015. First held in 1893, the Parliament was created “to cultivate harmony among the world’s religious and spiritual communities. Their approach is to promote interreligious harmony, rather than unity.” The theme this year was “Reclaiming the Heart of Our Humanity.” There were over eighty nations and fifty faiths represented.
As many of you know, I direct the Omega West Dance Company. For the Parliament we presented our dance: “Beyond Words: An Interfaith Ritual for Peace.” The ritual was first created in 2003 for The Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. The dancers and Omega artists included Sabine Henrie, Karin Jensen, Claudia Florian McCaffrey, David McCauley and Sylvia Miller-Mutia (joining us from Albuquerque – quite a feat to jump into the dance) Stephen McDermott Myers “called forth the word” Enver Rahmanov was our ritual facilitator, Sr. Martha Ann Kirk led the forum (and with Enver was responsible for our presentation being accepted) and Michelle Mueller, stage manager. All hands were needed!
It has been a few days since I returned from this amazing gathering of people “who love God” as one of my dancer’s, Claudia, said in wonder. There were 9,800 people at the Parliament, creating a world of good will, acceptance of differences, joy, dancing, earnest discussions, and searching out the “ways that make for peace.” Graces were being showered upon me and it wasn’t until I returned home that I processed the depth of the experience—and I noticed how eagerly I sought prayer, and how easy it was to pray in the aftermath of the experience. The Parliament offered glimpses of a future world of good will, acceptance, joy, and overflowing love.
This began a journey encompassing much more than any one of the hundreds of offerings by groups from all around the world that I had experienced at the Salt Lake Convention Center. One morning I found myself, involved in a fascinating discussion of key passages from Christian, Jewish and Islamic scriptures that might seem to promote violence, and from there I went to join a line up for a free lunch offered by the Sikhs. That meal is called “langar” — a beautiful example of hospitality in the form of conscious offering of food served in a gentle, loving ritual. As we slowly progressed to the eating hall we had only to turn our heads to see deeply meditative work on the creation of an amazing peace mandala created by Buddhist monks, or be awed by the sight of a silent peace procession led by international women from conflict zones; all this in the public sphere, with the always present background ambience of chanting, drums and gongs. It would take all of us to explore fully this “tent” of God’s peace.
Additional note of appreciation from Carla to all the Omega West crew: The Parliament was a wonderful experience, but it was hair-raising for me when it came to actually presenting our offering. The “dancers”saved the day! Our venue was changed three times! An hour before the performance I was anxiously waiting for our religious leaders to find us, much less rehearse, wringing my hands. Then an amazing thing happened under my eyes…The company bonded together in a new way, and sprung into action. They were seemingly exuberant that we were in a widely traversed lobby – Sylvia finding tape to mark off our performance area and the seats, others finding stools and our brightly colored material on which to place our props (Tibetan bowls, water fountain, greenery (Enver grabbed some bushes!) David and Michelle worked on fountain and sound, and so on. They were all faith, optimism and joy. Lesson: And I thought I had to do it all! It went off beautifully.
Here is an email I just received from a member of the Sacred Dance Guild: Dear Carla, Your group was a radiant and inspiring experience for all!!!!! Clearly so much thought and preparation went into the choreography. Thank you for the grace and wisdom that you gave to all through word and dance! With deep appreciation, Lana
Peace, Shalom, Salaam, Shanti…
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