We Found Love - Lindsey Stirling (VenTribe)

Folks at VenTribe.com sent Lindsey Stirling to Kenya to film this video.  So inspiring!

#Africa #Kenya #music

My Funny Valentine

Cellists Beth Rapier and Anthony Ross celebrate Valentine's Day and 36 years of marriage with a special performance of Tony's arrangement of My Funny Valentine for two cellos.

#Valentine #MyFunnyValentine #cello #MinnesotaOrchestra

Full of Words - Axis Dance Company

The AXIS Dance Company is based on Oakland, California.  And when I lived in southern California, I desperately wanted to attend their classes and workshops.  Who knows, maybe even audition for the company... My one biggest regret seeing what I was missing.

These are excerpts from "Full of Words", choreographed by Marc Brew in 2011.

Choreography:  Marc Brew in collaboration with the dancers

Choreographic/Rehearsal Asst: Andrea Basile

Dancers:  Rodney Bell, Sonsherée Giles, Sebastian Grubb, Juliana Monin, Alice Sheppard

Original Score: Composed by Dan Wool, cello by Jessie Ivry and Theresa Wong

Costume Design: Sonsherée Giles

Lighting Design: Heather Basarab

Full of Words has been created as a series of physical conversations, encounters and interventions that reflect what it is to be human. 

To learn more about AXIS and how they change the face of Dance and Disability visit www.axisdance.org

AXIS Dance Company

Divide from Guest Artistic Director Marc Brew, draws inspiration from visual artist Carl Andre's designs working in minimalism: Spill, 8 cuts and Copper Ribbon. Divide is an abstract work exploring the divide in human interaction in movement, space and time. This is Brew's first full piece with the company in his role of Guest Artistic Director. The UK-based choreographer first worked with AXIS in 2011 when the company enjoyed a huge success with his Full of Words, which went on to become a favorite on the company's tours.

Axis Dance Company is devoted to changing to the face of Dance and Disability- challenging the idea of what, and who, dancers are.

Concept & Direction: Marc Brew

Choreography: Marc Brew in collaboration with the dancers

Rehearsal Assistant: Juliana Monin

Dancers: Joel Brown, Sonsherée Giles, Sebastian Grubb, Juliana Monin

Original Score: Caroline Penwarden

Costume Design: Keriann Egeland

Lighting Design: Allen Willner

Gods Cricket Chorus

75 Most Empowering, Inspirational Quotes for Sassy, Kickass Women

Via Cuba Gallery/Flickr

For the kickass women of the world

Those that are, and those that are growing up to be.

The daughters. The mothers. The sisters.

The fribblings – friends like siblings.

The wives. The girlfriends.

The aunts. The nieces.

The grand-somethings.

The young uns. The teens.

The women in your life.

Who love, lose, cry.

Laugh, heal, thrive.

Nurture. Create.

You.Are.Amazing.

As. you. are.

Stronger than you know.

More beautiful than you think.

Worthier than you believe.

More loved than you can ever imagine.

Passionate about making a difference.

Fiery when protecting those you love.

Learning. Growing. Not alone.

Warm. Giving. Generous.

Quirky. Sexy. Funny. Smart.

Flawed. Whole. Scared. Brave.

And so, so, so.much.more.

Be Strong. Be Confident. Be You. ~ Copyright: Tia Sparkles Singh, 2011

Your Life YOUR Way

www.yourlifeyourway.net

http://www.yourlifeyourway.net/2011/10/10/75-most-empowering-inspirational-quotes-for-sassy-kickass-women

Masters of Modern Dance: Mikhail Baryshnikov

Here is Misha in rehearsal of the Masters of Modern Dance by MacNeil|Lehrer Productions: 

Mikhail Baryshnikov has always been one of the luminaries and standard by which a student of dance holds.  I began studying dance at a very late stage in the islands of Guam and Hawaii. So, for me at the University of Hawaii Dance Theatre Department, he held an almost mystical presence and unattainable technical level of expertise  which I could not have possibly met.

He, obviously, is still a great inspiration to adoring fans world wide, and it was a thrill to have seen him perform in Washington, D.C. when he was with the avant-garde White Oak Dance Project with Mark Morris (another huge inspiration).

Happy Birthday Wishes for Lydia 'The Tattooed Lady'

The Muppet Show: Kermit and Lydia - "Lydia The Tattooed Lady"

In celebration of my 47th birthday a week ago and my sister's birthday yesterday, here's the Muppet's version of the Marx Brothers song about my namesake 'Lydia The Tattooed Lady'

Energy Share for Sunday, March 27th

Be with those who help your being

Be with those who help your being.
Don't sit with indifferent people, whose breath
comes cold out of their mouths.
Not these visible forms, your work is deeper.

A chunk of dirt thrown in the air breaks to pieces.
If you don't try to fly,
and so break yourself apart,
you will be broken open by death,
when it's too late for all you could become.

Leaves get yellow. The tree puts out fresh roots
and makes them green.
Why are you so content with a love that turns you yellow?


Ode 2865 by Rumi
Translated by Coleman Barks, www.allspirit.co.uk

From one of my all-time favorite poets and sharing it with treasured friends as you. I believe the time is right now to place these energy shares where they will be accessible to a much larger circle of friends. The mission of an energy share has always been to give and receive support and motivation to healers worldwide, and to that end, I'll be posting the share messages on Facebook. So this will be the last share message on the blog and I want to let you know what a pleasure and honor it has been to conduct these weekly shares over the years. Now let's look forward to doing more for so many who are in dire need today, especially our friends, family, and neighbors at home and overseas.

And what better time to celebrate this transition than with my Birthday! Today, I am 45 years young! Don't know why people get so hung up on a number, when it's just another opportunity to celebrate a special day with loved ones. I've hosted my annual Tea and Chocolate Party which I've posted on Facebook with poetry, music and movie videos, http://on.fb.me/dMFyzG. Hopefully, the link works, otherwise, just checkout my profile, facebook.com/passion4living

So, from soul to soul, with all the happy, peaceful, loving energy I am thrilled to share, I also gratefully acknowledge the awesome spark of energy from you, welcoming it with open arms. Enjoy every moment and live the passionate life you intend it to be.

Namaste,

1. Lydia Smith-Lenardson, Moreno Valley, California, USA

2. Amy Manuel, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

3. Andy Cooper, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China

4. Annette Maxwell Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

5. Austin Ndego, Lagos, Nigeria

6. Brian Yeates, Dublin, Ireland

7. Carol Gent, Lancashire, England, UK

8. Denise Matthews, Nottinghamshire, UK

9. Donna Pfeiffer, Venice, Florida, USA

10. Dunni Olasehan, Lagos, Nigeria

11. Egon Russell, Adelaide, Alabama, USA

12. Eileen To, Middlesex, Alabama, UK

13. Eve Hale, Hampshire, England, UK

14. Grant Luckey, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

15. Gudrun Gudmundsdottir, San Diego, California, USA

16. Gurjinder Strom, Miami, Florida, USA

17. Heidi Fruhling, Ft. Collins, Colorado, USA

18. Hillary Bisaillon, Yorktown, Virginia, USA

19. Janet Evans, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, USA

20. Janet Henningsen, Indialantic, Florida, USA

21. Janet Kinge, Basingstoke, UK

22. Janice Trenair, Koroit, Victoria, Australia

23. Joan Anderson, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

24. Joseph Bennett, Ventura, California, USA

25. Judy Oliver, Silver Spring, MD, USA

26. Karen Saldanha, Corona, California, USA

27. Karen Sheppard, St. John's, Newfoundland/Labrador, Canada

28. Kim Lerman, North Highlands, California, USA

29. Kim McCluskey, Tucson, Arizona, USA

30. Kyle James, Bel Air, Maryland, USA

31. Lena Goon, Alberta, Canada

32. Linda Cromer, The Villages, Florida, USA

33. Linda Prucha, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

34. Lynda Truthseekir, Los Angeles, California

35. Lynn Wilson, Manchester, England, UK

36. Madhurima Bhatnagar, Fremont, California, USA

37. Maree Rogers, Hastings, Westernport Bay, Australia

38. Margaret McGuire, Cooma, New South Wales, Australia

39. Mari Hayama, Berkeley, California, USA

40. Mark Woit, Nuermberg, Bavaria

41. Matthew Leonard, Vermont, USA

42. Meelah Rasheed, Columbia, South Carolina, USA

43. Mirjam Kik, Oude Tonge, The Netherlands

44. Moira Congreve, England, UK

45. Monica Hernandez Estrada, Corona, California, USA

46. Natasha Adair, Olney Springs, Colorado, USA

47. Nathan Norton, Wentworth Falls, New South Wales, Australia

48. Nieema and Jan Thasing, Elkton, South Dakota, USA

49. Pamela Clements, Westminster, Colorado, USA

50. Patricia Blundon, Pembroke,Ontario

51. Pauline Leung, England, UK

52. Rebecca Cochran, Findlay, Ohio, USA

53. Rene Beauchemin, Alabama, Tomono, Canada

54. Rev. Patricia Lusher, Berlin, Vermont, USA

55. Rosemary Barton, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

56. Sandy Kolman, Belleville, Illinois, USA

57. Sheryl Morris, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

58. Silvia Weisz, Melbourne, Australia

59. Sister Mary Mebane, Santa Maria, California, USA

60. Steve and Karen Edwards, Gunnislake, Cornwall, England

61. Theresa Johnson, Salisbury, Maryland, USA

62. Tiffany Wardle Croydon, Surrey, England, UK

63. Velanthas, Manila, Philippines

64. Venkataramadas Vivekanand, Chennai, India

65. Vera Murrell, Friendsville, Tennessee, USA

66. Veronica Hansen, Sarina, Queensland, Australia

67. Violet Moreau, Pembroke,Ontario

68. Y.Nowshad, Kollam Kerala,India

69. Zachary Buchholz, Chicago, IL, USA

My Birthday Reflections

Your birthday's a time for careful reflection
About your life, and its future direction.
You see where you've been when you look at the past;
Most of it's great; you had quite a blast!   You wonder what's coming, what life has in store;
Will it be just the same? Will there be a new door?
Remember this, as you blow out the last candle:
Life holds no challenge that you cannot handle.   By Joanna Fuchs    

Create your own free slideshow design

Energy Share for Sunday January 30th

The one change we cannot change is change itself.
No moment, however perfect, can be maintained.
Life moves on and moves on and moves us with it.

We are all works in progress, all developing parts of a perfect plan.
Only as we surrender to change can we find permanence and peace.
Only by being open to the fierce flow of life can we find the steadying current.
The one thing that remains the same is that nothing remains the same.
As we accept and acknowledge life's passing nature,
we are freed to cherish the moments that pass in bittersweet glory.

No matter how difficult, life is beautiful.
No matter how beautiful, life is difficult.

This is the great paradox that opens the heart and brings compassion.
We are all travelers on the vast and shifting sands of time.
We are all inconsequential and important, very small and very large.
Our transitions are like octaves building brilliantly upon each other.
We are life's music, so let us dance.

Today, I sing the song of change. I celebrate each moment as it passes.

Today, I am a syllable of time and my voice is heard.

Julia Cameron

Today, I send a heartfelt boost of joy and gratitude to share in this moment. And by openly embracing the energy shared with you, I receive it with heartfelt thanks. As we recall the learned wisdom of our past in anticipation of our collective future, let us live in this moment together with awareness, acceptance, and creative intention.

Namaste, (I honor the place in you in which the entire Universe dwells),

Lydia

1. Lydia Smith-Lenardson, Moreno Valley, California, USA
2. Amy Manuel, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
3. Andy Cooper, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
4. Annette Maxwell Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
5. Austin Ndego, Lagos, Nigeria
6. Brian Yeates, Dublin, Ireland
7. Carol Gent, Lancashire, England, UK
8. Denise Matthews, Nottinghamshire, UK
9. Donna Pfeiffer, Venice, Florida, USA
10. Dunni Olasehan, Lagos, Nigeria
11. Egon Russell, Adelaide, Alabama, USA
12. Eileen To, Middlesex, Alabama, UK
13. Eve Hale, Hampshire, England, UK
14. Grant Luckey, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
15. Gudrun Gudmundsdottir, San Diego, California, USA
16. Gurjinder Strom, Miami, Florida, USA
17. Heidi Fruhling, Ft. Collins, Colorado, USA
18. Hillary Bisaillon, Yorktown, Virginia, USA
19. Janet Evans, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, USA
20. Janet Henningsen, Indialantic, Florida, USA
21. Janet Kinge, Basingstoke, UK
22. Janice Trenair, Koroit, Victoria, Australia
23. Joan Anderson, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
24. Joseph Bennett, Ventura, California, USA
25. Judy Oliver, Silver Spring, MD, USA
26. Karen Saldanha, Corona, California, USA
27. Karen Sheppard, St. John's, Newfoundland/Labrador, Canada
28. Kim Lerman, North Highlands, California, USA
29. Kim McCluskey, Tucson, Arizona, USA
30. Kyle James, Bel Air, Maryland, USA
31. Lena Goon, Alberta, Canada
32. Linda Cromer, The Villages, Florida, USA
33. Linda Prucha, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
34. Lynda Truthseekir, Los Angeles, California
35. Lynn Wilson, Manchester, England, UK
36. Madhurima Bhatnagar, Fremont, California, USA
37. Maree Rogers, Hastings, Westernport Bay, Australia
38. Margaret McGuire, Cooma, New South Wales, Australia
39. Mari Hayama, Berkeley, California, USA
40. Mark Woit, Nuermberg, Bavaria
41. Matthew Leonard, Vermont, USA
42. Meelah Rasheed, Columbia, South Carolina, USA
43. Mirjam Kik, Oude Tonge, The Netherlands
44. Moira Congreve, England, UK
45. Monica Hernandez Estrada, Corona, California, USA
46. Natasha Adair, Olney Springs, Colorado, USA
47. Nathan Norton, Wentworth Falls, New South Wales, Australia
48. Nieema and Jan Thasing, Elkton, South Dakota, USA
49. Pamela Clements, Westminster, Colorado, USA
50. Patricia Blundon, Pembroke,Ontario
51. Pauline Leung, England, UK
52. Rebecca Cochran, Findlay, Ohio, USA
53. Rene Beauchemin, Alabama, Tomono, Canada
54. Rev. Patricia Lusher, Berlin, Vermont, USA
55. Rosemary Barton, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
56. Sandy Kolman, Belleville, Illinois, USA
57. Sheryl Morris, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
58. Silvia Weisz, Melbourne, Australia
59. Sister Mary Mebane, Santa Maria, California, USA
60. Steve and Karen Edwards, Gunnislake, Cornwall, England
61. Theresa Johnson, Salisbury, Maryland, USA
62. Tiffany Wardle Croydon, Surrey, England, UK
63. Velanthas, Manila, Philippines
64. Venkataramadas Vivekanand, Chennai, India
65. Vera Murrell, Friendsville, Tennessee, USA
66. Veronica Hansen, Sarina, Queensland, Australia
67. Violet Moreau, Pembroke,Ontario
68. Y.Nowshad, Kollam Kerala,India
69. Zachary Buchholz, Chicago, IL, USA

Women, Nature and the Body
by Barbara Sellers-Young PhD

posted January 17, 2011

http://www.gildedserpent.com/cms/2011/01/18/barbara-sellers-young-delilah/

Dance is a metaphor for life. As we are born, we are destined to move in life through time and space. As we learn to dance, we are also learning to move through time and space. Thus, the process of learning to dance can bring us information about living our lives, if we allow it to. We can learn how to move through our lives with fearless autonomy, grace and spirit; to flow with the melody line, be in the stillness or ride the chaos; to overcome the fear that puts us on the sidelines. We can listen to the voice in our head that says, I CAN DANCE!

- Delilah 2008

Gathered in a circle, thirty women define hips and torsos as they move in a counter clockwise circle as the drum keeps up a steady rhythm. Shaking their shoulders, they gather into the center of the circle and back out again returning once more to the movements of hip and torso. Within the room there is a deep concentration and quiet dignity in the bodies of the dancers as Delilah’s choreography for ‘Birthing and Reclaiming Dance’ is repeated again and again. The dancers have come to the big island of Hawaii, to the quiet of the 120 acre Kalani retreat to be guided by Delilah in a communion with each other and with nature. The dance retreat is, for Delilah, an eighteen-year commitment to bringing women to an environment away from the distractions of their daily lives that allows them to investigate their  relationship to their personal natures through an environment set in nature. This dedication to dance in nature is an extension of a philosophy of the feminine evolved from years of personal study which has included such authors as Joseph Campbell, Marjita Gimbutas and Barbara Walker while living in the Pacific Northwest city of Seattle, a city in which she is a teacher, performer and political activist.

Delilah’s initial introduction to belly dance took place while working her way through college as a hair dresser. In 1972, one of her clients told her about a class that was being offered at Grossmont Junior College and helped her enroll for the course taught by Scheherazade. It was a movement vocabulary that came easy to her and she was soon being asked by a group of Lebanese musicians based in San Diego to perform with them as entertainment for family gatherings such as birthdays and weddings. Soon she was also approached by a group of Greek musicians to perform with them at a San Diego restaurant. Like other dancers who started performing in the 1960s and 70s, she learned by doing. She had the opportunity to gather new vocabulary from the different dancers who were performing with her. After performing in venues throughout the United States, she permanently settled in Seattle in the 1980s.

Delilah’s involvement with belly dance is a celebration of the Earth. She is involved in environmental activism and in 1993, she entered and won the National Public Radio broadcast on the environment; more recently, she sent letters to the mayor of Seattle and the governor of the state of Washington with a suggestion of how to solve the increasing energy crisis. Her definition of the earth’s consciousness is not narrow but expansive. Recently, in an interview, I asked her whether or not she ever did site specific industrial performances. I anticipated a negative response. Instead, she replied “there is nothing on the planet that is not an extension of Gaia consciousness. This includes contrivances some might consider aberrant. To celebrate earth and the goddess is to celebrate her in all her aspects.”1

Energy through the Legs and Torso

Archeologist Marija Gimbutas writes in The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe (1982) that “The teaching of Western civilization starts with the Greeks and rarely do people ask themselves what forces lay behind these beginnings”. One of the goals of Gimbutas’ research into the myths and related artistry of old Europe was to consider what aspects of the old were still extant in the modern world.

Delilah’s project is a similar reclamation in a desire to reconnect the body of the dancer with the primal belief in a relationship between the body as body and body as an ‘extension of’ and an ‘at oneness with’ the earth and its forces. This belief in the force of the earth is central to Delilah’s approach to teaching belly dance.

In Delilah’s approach, the power of the earth moves from the feet into the pelvis and from this place of creativity throughout the upper torso, arms and head. As she phrases it, the energy moves as “if water were gushing through the body connecting you from your kinesthetic awareness to the great web of life and related creativity.”3 The basic stance to create this movement of energy comes from acknowledging the center line of the body that penetrates the head, torso and pelvis. This central core she illustrates by using a pole to demonstrate this vertical dimension.

The pelvis is engaged around this core through a release of the knees and the movement of the coccyx which allows for what she refers to as slack in the area between the knees and the rib cage. The slack created by this position allow the hips and pelvis to move fluidly in a variety of directions that she suggests emerges from an internal mapping of the individual’s creative forces.

The circles, spirals, twists, lifts, shimmies are an expression of the complex muscle system that integrates the pelvic floor with the spine and provides the strength for women to hold and give forth life. Delilah guides the students through what she refers to as ‘mapping the internal realms of the body,’ a process that unites the individual consciousness with a kinesthetic experience in an enhancement of a dancer’s felt presence.

These internal dimensions of consciousness are not new in Delilah’s conception of the female body. They are expressions of the ontology of the female principle in history as expressed through the body and reminiscent of ancient symbols archeologist Marija Gimbutas brought to public attention in her books on the goddess cults of Europe.4 Using examples of symbolic shapes of spirals, triangles, circles, and double spirals borrowed from the illustrations provided by Gimbutas’ writing, Delilah helps the dancer to traverse these ancient internal pathways within the spaces of her body. The culmination of this deep, internal, kinesthetic awareness of the energies within the pelvis and hips is a journey through the labyrinth.

Although most often associated with the Cretan myth of King Minos and Minotaur, the elaborate design of the labyrinth was symbolically etched on the walls of caves as well as incorporated into the designs of ancient and contemporary pottery. Historically, labyrinths were used to trap malevolent spirits, define a path for a ritual dance or in medieval times symbolize a path to God.

The average medieval person could not afford to travel to holy sites and lands, so labyrinths and prayer substituted for such travel. Labyrinths are used by modern mystics to help achieve a contemplative state of transcendence. Walking among the turnings, one loses track of direction and of the outside world, and thus focuses the internal energy. This is the state that Delilah, through the labyrinth exploration, guides the dancer. Yet, it is also her goal for the dancer to experience a revelatory awareness of the labyrinth as a representation of the complex interweaving of the energy body, which is a corporeal version of the labyrinth.

She expands the dancer’s internal mapping of consciousness by borrowing from nineteenth century French movement theorist François Delsarte’s system of connecting the inner emotional experience of the dancer with the various parts of the body in order to give ‘voice to the body’. Within this system, the body is initially divided up first by the head as the origination of the intellectual, spiritual and mystical, the torso as the emotive and personal, and the legs as the vital relationship to the earth. There are further divisions of the torso into upper torso intellectual, middle torso emotive and lower torso vital. This organization is reversed in the legs and feet, as the upper leg is the vital, the calf and knees the emotive and the feet reflecting an intelligent relationship to the earth. The arm is in a similar correspondence as the legs, with the vital connection in the upper arm and its attachment to the torso, the emotive in the forearm and the intelligence represented by the hands and fingers. The head is also divided into three areas with the forehead and the eyes as the place of intelligence, the cheeks as emotive and the chin and neck with its connection to the torso as vital.

Delilah teaches dancers to engage these different areas by guiding them through an ongoing improvisation that begins with the hips and pelvis and moves up and out through the head, arms and hands. As the dancers improvise, she encourages them to explore the various energetic pathways of their body. She reminds them to appreciate the support and balance provided by the legs and how the placement of the feet impacts the alignment of the pelvis, hips and torso. She asks them to feel the emotions coming from their central torso, supported by the upper arm and acknowledged by the forearm before the hands add the final communicative touch. She also points out “that where the eyes go has a lot to do with commanding the body.”5 She expands on this advice by noting that the direction and gaze of the eyes communicate a relationship between a dancer and their body and the dancer and the audience. As she guides them through a deeper relationship, she never critiques their personal method of exploration. Delilah’s goal for the dancer is to bring them to a conscious realization of a deep internal knowing that ultimately empowers them and allows them to creatively express their unique individuality in dance and in life.

Empowering Lives

To many, there is a rich feminine antiquity associated with its image, one that projects world heritage and a long lost esoteric past. These powers are due to be returned to us. The simple truth is that this is a beautiful dance art honoring life and the feminine experience….. When women get the wisdom of this truth then a whole world opens up to them. Woman = Body = Vessel = World. -Delilah 6

Empowering others is a central theme of Delilah’s approach to teaching belly dance. It is an extension of her liberal upbringing in which she was taught to be inquisitive and investigate the possibilities inherent in any idea. For example, she comments, “We read the Bible, but not as absolute truth, but as one way of knowing.”7 In her frame of reference, there are many ways of experiencing life and her goal is to help those who study with her to discover their personal potential.

Initially, she acts as a guide for the dancers in their individual discovery, but she enlarges their experience of empowerment in group explorations that commune with nature and ultimately in celebrations that bring the ethos of her teaching to the community of Seattle and beyond.

The group explorations require that the dancers take responsibility for the bodies of one another. One example is an exploration she refers to as ‘veil therapy.’ It is one she discovered while teaching a class for children in which her youngest daughter was participating. Delilah needed to find away of attending to her daughter without disturbing the flow of the class. Her solution was to have her daughter lie down in the middle of the floor while the other children carefully draped and removed large pieces of light fabric, referred to as veils. When the last veil was removed, her daughter sat up saying she was all better. It is now an exploration that she includes in her classes, retreats and workshops both in Seattle and in international venues.

The kinesthetic awareness the dancer has learned in mapping the internal dimension of the self is shared with the recipient of the veil therapy, as individuals or groups of two or more carefully lift three foot long pieces of light fabric and place the fabric across the body of the fellow dancer lying on their back on the floor. They then slowly pull the fabric over the dancer’s body. The fabric may cover the entire body or only sections. The different arrangements of the fabric provide a varied kinesthetic experience for the dancer on the floor. The dancers focus throughout the exercise is one of empathetic intensity as they silently respond to each other. This same focus is brought to other ensemble work in which the dancers are required to stay physically connected to each other while they improvise to music. Dancers learn to extend an internal focus outward from self to other and ultimately to nature.

Dance and Nature

We must remember the chemical connections between ourselves and the stars, between the beginning and now. We must remember and reactivate the primal consciousness of oneness between all living things. Barbara Mor. 8

Delilah’s approach to nature lies within the framework of one branch of eco-feminism in its exploration of women’s relationship to nature. Thus, one of the primary places to discover the potential of the self is in nature and for this reason Delilah organizes opportunities for women from around the world to dance in and with nature. As she phrases it:

"The process of dancing in nature is to be in-tune with the natural world around you, to invite nature in to inspire your dance. The student learns there is a difference between dancing with nature and dancing in front of nature. The more experience one develops, the closer one is able to come to the earth. The illusionary barrier that separates humankind from nature thins, and the realization of our sacred inter-connectedness with absolutely everything takes over".9

Within the dance and nature retreats she organizes, the above is realized in sunrise rituals as well as dances in the sea, gardens and forests. The dancers are in each instance taking the deep, internal, kinesthetic experience of nature imagery provided in the studio–the hips as earth revolving around the body’s sun core or the positioning of the arms as hugging a redwood tree–to an interaction with nature. Their quest is to allow a personal correspondence between the movements of their body and that of the tides and waves of the ocean or in relationship to the grass, trees, and other plant life. In the process of dancing in nature, they discover, as Delilah phrases it, the ‘sacred-interconnectedness’ between self and the environment. She believes this realization can lead to a transformation of consciousness that empowers the life of the dancer as it increases their appreciation for their place within the earth’s scheme. At the same time this expanded sense of self enlarges their sense of empathetic response to the earth and its fragility.

Delilah’s political activism is not limited to providing an experience for dancers within studio and natural environments. Her philosophy of the ‘self in the world’ extends to dancers being politically active in the world.

In a recent gathering of dancers in Hawaii, Delilah asked if anyone knew just how many belly dancers there were in the world and speculated on what a political force they could be if they all united in common cause. What would happen she asked if instead of signing peace and environmental agreements on a piece of paper, governments were required to sign them over the belly of a pregnant woman? She added, “The symbolism of the belly and the consequences to the future generation would not get lost as it sometimes does.”10

Delilah makes this image of the belly public in her involvement with events such as the Fremont Summer Solstice Parade at Street Faire in Seattle. The Summer Solstice Parade and Pageant is an annual event sponsored and produced by the Fremont Arts Council (FAC), an organization that supports the arts and artists in the Fremont neighborhood where Delilah has her studio. Started in 1989 by Barbara Luecke and Peter Toms, the parade quickly grew to over 80,000 participants. This local event with an international reputation is held the Saturday prior to summer solstice and culminates in the two-day Fremont Fair, a benefit for the Fremont Public Association. The event is distinguished by a sense of freedom in which anything goes, with the exception of no printed words or logos, animals (except guide animals), motorized vehicles, weapons or advertisements.

Delilah’s contribution has been to participate with other dancers from Seattle and elsewhere in theme based performances that are integrated into the parade. More recently, she has been referring to their performance as the ‘Billion Belly March’ as the number of dancers has increased to over 200 plus participants. Each year is a different theme. In 1999, it was the color blue and within this focus the dancers acknowledged the ‘Tuareg’of North Africa in deep blue costumes, in 2004 the dancers dressed in red as the symbol of women’s power. Delilah’s message to the dancers that year was:

"We are living in perilous times. They could very well be some of the last days. We cannot keep running things in the ways of the past. We need new energy, we need new ideas and creativity. We need women to be more present. We need the Mother energy. It is time for women to step up and take their turn. It isn’t even a choice anymore, it is a responsibility….. Start talking to each other about politics more. Don’t be afraid to voice your opinion and to influence women around you. We all have power! We all have opportunities for influence. What is your power? Define it for yourself! Use it! I am using my power by influencing you now. I say, ‘Make sure you are a registered voter!’ I’m not saying how to vote. I’m saying USE YOUR POWER!"11

A symbol of this power was the 2007 project to build a model of an ancient Egyptian temple which could be set up and taken down as the parade moved through the streets of Seattle. Over 200 dancers from across the United States participated. Some of these dancers received a DVD prior to the event that taught the choreography to be used in the dance. All of the dancers converged in Seattle prior to the Fremont parade to rehearse and to participate in a ten-day combination of workshops and classes. Delilah is planning an even larger events for the future such as the 2008 event dedicated to Peace in support of the woman’s organization Code Pink and using the color hot fuschia pink. Dancers will come from a variety of styles within the belly dance community from tribal to ethnic to cabaret. As with earlier projects, Delilah’s goal is to revise the vision of women as incapable of taking on the issues of the day, and replace it with but an image of a woman who like in Delilah’s image of Aphrodite is “pleasant, feminine, and charming,” but is also “powerful.”12

Controlling the Image

The powerful images on TV, in movies and magazines can throw us into obsessions and insecurities about our looks, age, weight, and economic or professional status. Ignored are real values such as nourishing our creative spirits, practicing compassion and care-taking of our families, communities, and our earth.

Delilah 13

Delilah communicates with the global belly dance community through her website titled Visionary Dance Productions. She created the website and associated production company in order to promote the image of her philosophy and her approach to the dance. An image that is resistant to mainstream television. For example, Delilah was able to perform and record “The Dance to the Great Mother,” a piece she performed at concerts in the Seattle area in 1985 when she was pregnant with her second child. In conversations, she notes it was not a project that would have been supported by the average production company as it does not reflect the media image of the seductive belly dancer. The video performance does, however, represent Delilah’s aesthetic philosophy of the magnificence of the female body and its ability to be creative whether in giving birth or in devising solutions to social problems. Besides which, twenty-five percent of the profits are designated to support women’s causes through ‘Birth and Life’ women’s shelters and the March of Dimes.

Beyond allowing her to promote video and digital projects about which she is passionate, the website also provides opportunities for correspondence between Delilah and the dancers from across the globe in blogs and in a large interactive group of essays referred to as Alexandra’s Library, a reference to the famous library of Egypt. The essays in the collection are by Delilah and other dancers. They incorporate personal reflections of individual dancers’ experiences of dancing in nature, the role of the dance in empowering their lives, references to dancing and pregnancy, dancing and body image, and health in general. The site is also where those interested in the Fremont Parade and ‘Billion Belly March’ stay in contact with each other.

The extensive web and production services also include a series of DVD’s that offer different levels of instruction and performances by Delilah as well as CD’s by musicians based in North Africa and the Middle East (Hakim Yaho) and renditions by American musicians (Sirocco, House of Tarab, Brothers of the Baladi), some which fall into the global beat category such as Necmi Cavli. She also sells belly dance accessories–costumes, veils, etc. Income generated from web sales is a fundamental supplement to the classes and workshops she teaches in Seattle and elsewhere.

Stay flexible in body, mind and spirit

Each stage of a woman’s life brings something unique: The strength and agile beauty of youth, to the zophtic, sensual nurturance and wealth of experience in mid-life, to the wise woman cultivated by charisma and maturity, and much more.

Delilah 14

One afternoon as the dancers in the Hawaii workshop were sharing their stories about the significance of dance in their lives, Delilah suggested that a flexible body helps evolve a flexible mind and spirit. A flexible stance is necessary to understanding the complex interrelationship between earth, wind, water, plants, and animals and, therefore, provides an opportunity for individuals to explore the possibilities of the flexible integration of their body, mind and spirit. This is a ‘state of being’ Delilah brings to her performance as dancer, teacher, artist, and political activist. She has not limited herself to specific stages or venues or styles. Instead, she has performed in the restaurants, on stages in choreographed pieces, created movement rituals, and performed in other venues that allow an expression of the joy and power within of female body. In this variety of performance modes, she serves to remind the dancers who work with her not only to stay flexible, but that they are the embodiment of earth’s consciousness.

Footnotes
1, 2- Personal Communication, September 1998.

3. Personal Statement from Absolute Beginning Bellydance

4. The Books by Marija Gimbutas The Living Goddesses, The Language of the Goddess, and The Goddesses and the Gods of Old Europe inspired many women during the second wave of feminism.

5. Delilah’s observation in retreat class, January 2008.

6. Delilah, http://www.visionarydance.com/revivingophelia.html, 2008

7. Delilah’s observation in retreat class, January 2008.

8. The Great Cosmic Mother: Rediscovering the Religion of the Earth, New York, Harper and Row, 1987.

9. Personal Communication, September 1998.

10. Delilah’s observation in retreat class, January 2008.

11, 12, 13, 14 Delilah. http://www.visionarydance.com various pages

THANKSGIVING DAY CELEBRATION

What am I most thankful for? It's the everyday things, of course...family, friends, good health, good weather, the beauty of nature, Nate Berkus, tea and chocolate!!!  Enjoy the day, this lovely video, and my music choice of Susan Boyle...

What we're really talking about 

is a wonderful day set aside 

on the fourth Thursday of November 

when no one diets. 

I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving? 

~Erma Bombeck, "No One Diets on Thanksgiving," 

26 November 1981

As we express our gratitude, 

we must never forget that the highest appreciation 

is not to utter words, 

but to live by them. 

~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Remember God's bounty in the year. 

String the pearls of His favor. 

Hide the dark parts, except so far as they are breaking out in light! 

Give this one day to thanks, to joy, to gratitude!

~Henry Ward Beecher

Thanksgiving Day comes, 
by statute, once a year; 
to the honest man it comes 

as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow. 

~Edward Sandford Martin

Our rural ancestors, with little blest,

Patient of labour when the end was rest,

Indulged the day that housed their annual grain,

With feasts, and off'rings, and a thankful strain.

~Alexander Pope

Winter Solstice Sacred Circe Dance!

Sunday, December 5 · 7:00pm - 10:00pm

Location: Knoxville Square Dance Center, 828 Tulip Street, Knoxville

For thousands of years. people all around the world have been celebrating the passing of the longest night and the Return of the Sun.

Come join us in a community celebration of Light, Hope, and Peace.

Please bring a candle to add to the center of the Circle and wear white to symbolically banish fear, ignorance, and darkness.

Directions and map at www.InTheDance.com

Cost: $5/person or $10/family or household

Videos from past gatherings at: http://www.youtube.com/kemilmeyer

for more information, call Kevin Meyer at 865/694-3906

If I Can’t Dance It’s Not My Revolution
Shake yourself into ecstatic truth!

By Bradford Keeney

http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/91/if-i-cant-dance-its-not-my-revolution.html

IN THE BEGINNING OF HUMAN CULTURE, PEOPLE KNEW HOW TO SHAKE THEIR BOOTIES AND IN DOING SO, THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE WERE REVEALED.

Then along came language, social hierarchy, overinflated beliefs and the mirages of under-standing. Whereas human beings embodied the most important truths in the beginning, it all went to hell when we stilled our bodies and fed too many words to our minds.

Look at the oldest library in the world – the rock art of southern Africa. What we see are images of people dancing themselves into ecstasy. Many generations later the elders of the oldest living culture on Earth today, the Kalahari Bushmen, still know that the electrified body inspired by heightened feelings – rather than anything remotely related to a calm and still presence – is the master key to being fully alive.

What is most important has little or nothing to do with words and linguistic understanding. As the Bushmen say, words can trick us into believing anything. With word trickery we may end up worshipping a pile of elephant dung or a heap of metal. Somewhere between the early cradle of civilization and the internet, our species made the colossal mistake of proclaiming that words, theories and understandings are the roads to salvation and happiness. If this is true or even partially true, it means we have been misled for over a thousand years. The word games have led us to posit one form of gender, race, culture, nation, or religion as superior to others – thereby justifying any and all acts of arrogant greed, war and destruction of life and planet.

Religions and philosophies can never deliver the truth we most deeply desire. Our born destiny is the same as the first humans – to release our bodies, our whole beings, into feeling and expressing the deepest joy and ecstasy. In other words, dancing ourselves into heaven, enlightenment, peace and love. If there is anything history teaches, it is that words and understandings aren’t giving us anything but more of the same bullshit. We need to start up the wild drumming and shake off the words and stuck thoughts.

If we don’t free ourselves to be ecstatically tuned and happy, we may continue going to hell while taking the planet down with us.

What does it mean to sound the revolution? Here’s a few teasers that provide some hints – remember, it can’t be said in words:

• You gotta go beyond dance: no choreography, let the body be free to move without purpose.
• Recognize that whatever the great mystery or god is, it hates all reasonable and tamed definitions.
• Meditation without wild ecstasy is a dead end.
• Don’t sit still when you are excited. Get up and move!
• The wisdom of the East is as ignorant as the wisdom of the West. Look where both have gotten us. Let’s consider the wisdom of Mother Africa, the ancestral culture that honored rhythms more than words.
• The revolution is through sounding it and allowing yourself to be fully shaken.
• The trouble with gurus is that they don’t have a rhythm, they don’t shake and they don’t wiggle their ass.
• This is the revolution: Shake everything up – your body, mind, heart, ideas, understandings and everyday routines. Shake yourself into ecstatic truth.

Bradford Keeney, PhD, chronicles the world’s healing practices in his 11-volume encyclopedia, Profiles of Healing. To learn more about the old ways of ecstatic shaking, visitshakingmedicine.com

Energy Share for Sunday
October 10, 2010




We are like jewelers.

At the start of any day, we have before us the beautiful beads of differing choices.

Choice by choice, moment by moment, I build the necklace of my day, 
stringing together the choices that form artful living. 

Will I be quiet today or outgoing, solitary or involved with friends, reflective or expressive? 
Will I write letters, make phone calls, pay bills, sweep floors or go for a good long walk?

Moving through my days with conscious grace, I connect to the web of life.
I, too, am a bead in a larger pattern.

Today, I choose to live by conscious design, nurturing myself and others in body, mind and spirit.

I ask for and receive guidance in my choices.

I cherish the pattern of my life.

Julia Cameron, Transitions: Prayers and Declarations for a Changing Life

People everywhere around the world are celebrating a day of unity that moves the spirit in ways which are fulfilling, sustainable, harmonious and supports all life. So today I share with you an energizing and joyful dance in the same spirit of connectedness - within ourselves and hand-in-hand with those around us. Let our days be filled with balance, peace, and celebration!  I gratefully acknowledge the boost from you and honor your awesome spirit.

Thanks so much for all you do as friends and healers, this energy share is dynamic and fulfilling because of your support and participation. Enjoy the previous posts.

Enjoy every moment and live the passionate life you intend it to be.

Aloha pumehana (with love, blessings, and affection),

Lydia

1. Lydia Smith-Lenardson, Moreno Valley, California, USA

2. Amy Manuel, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

3. Andy Cooper, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China

4. Annette Maxwell Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

5. Austin Ndego, Lagos, Nigeria

6. Brian Yeates, Dublin, Ireland

7. Carol Gent, Lancashire, England, UK

8. Denise Matthews, Nottinghamshire, UK

9. Donna Pfeiffer, Venice, Florida, USA

10. Dunni Olasehan, Lagos, Nigeria

11. Egon Russell, Adelaide, Alabama, USA

12. Eileen To, Middlesex, Alabama, UK

13. Eve Hale, Hampshire, England, UK

14. Grant Luckey, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

15. Gudrun Gudmundsdottir, San Diego, California, USA

16. Gurjinder Strom, Miami, Florida, USA

17. Heidi Fruhling, Ft. Collins, Colorado, USA

18. Hillary Bisaillon, Yorktown, Virginia, USA

19. Janet Evans, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, USA

20. Janet Henningsen, Indialantic, Florida, USA

21. Janet Kinge, Basingstoke, UK

22. Janice Trenair, Koroit, Victoria, Australia

23. Joan Anderson, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

24. Joseph Bennett, Ventura, California, USA

25. Judy Oliver, Silver Spring, MD, USA

26. Karen Saldanha, Corona, California, USA

27. Karen Sheppard, St. John's, Newfoundland/Labrador, Canada

28. Kim Lerman, North Highlands, California, USA

29. Kim McCluskey, Tucson, Arizona, USA

30. Kyle James, Bel Air, Maryland, USA

31. Lena Goon, Alberta, Canada

32. Linda Cromer, The Villages, Florida, USA

33. Linda Prucha, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

34. Lynda Truthseekir, Los Angeles, California

35. Lynn Wilson, Manchester, England, UK

36. Madhurima Bhatnagar, Fremont, California, USA

37. Maree Rogers, Hastings, Westernport Bay, Australia

38. Margaret McGuire, Cooma, New South Wales, Australia

39. Mari Hayama, Berkeley, California, USA

40. Mark Woit, Nuermberg, Bavaria

41. Matthew Leonard, Vermont, USA

42. Meelah Rasheed, Columbia, South Carolina, USA

43. Mirjam Kik, Oude Tonge, The Netherlands

44. Moira Congreve, England, UK

45. Monica Hernandez Estrada, Corona, California, USA

46. Natasha Adair, Olney Springs, Colorado, USA

47. Nathan Norton, Wentworth Falls, New South Wales, Australia

48. Nieema and Jan Thasing, Elkton, South Dakota, USA

49. Pamela Clements, Westminster, Colorado, USA

50. Patricia Blundon, Pembroke,Ontario

51. Pauline Leung, England, UK

52. Rebecca Cochran, Findlay, Ohio, USA

53. Rene Beauchemin, Alabama, Tomono, Canada

54. Rev. Patricia Lusher, Berlin, Vermont, USA

55. Rosemary Barton, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

56. Sandy Kolman, Belleville, Illinois, USA

57. Sheryl Morris, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

58. Silvia Weisz, Melbourne, Australia

59. Sister Mary Mebane, Santa Maria, California, USA

60. Steve and Karen Edwards, Gunnislake, Cornwall, England

61. Theresa Johnson, Salisbury, Maryland, USA

62. Tiffany Wardle Croydon, Surrey, England, UK

63. Velanthas, Manila, Philippines

64. Venkataramadas Vivekanand, Chennai, India

65. Vera Murrell, Friendsville, Tennessee, USA

66. Veronica Hansen, Sarina, Queensland, Australia

67. Violet Moreau, Pembroke,Ontario

68. Y.Nowshad, Kollam Kerala,India

69. Zachary Buchholz, Chicago, IL, USA

Intention Meditation from wherever You Are 

on 10.10.10 @ 10 AM


Create a focus on one image.

Think about one thought (your intention).

With perhaps some soothing music.

Unclutter your mind.

Relax into the meditation.

Create calm and self-centeredness.

Develop a contemplative mind.

Choose your intention space.

Practice meditating.

Be present and attentive to what is, with all of your senses.

Establish a connection with the object of your intention

Be Compassionate

State Your Intention

Believe

Were you able to join us for World Day of Prayer on September 9, 2010?  I hope you chose to be a part of our global connection to oneness and Divinity in a way that was meaningful for you. It was such a joyful experience!

We’re sending you this special message to share the highlights of the celebration. Please forward it to your friends and family. Let’s share the memories and stay present in the Divine flow of life!

What you are watching is the time-lapse of the Unity Village fountain restoration activities near the Rose Garden plaza in the central courtyard. The restoration fund raising campaign began in 2007, and thanks to generous donors and community support, the largest installation of fountains in the metropolitan Kansas City is flowing again!

I love this message post! I got my bachelor's in dance theatre at the University of Hawaii years ago and also performed with a Hawaiian dance school in Virginia (some of my hula sisters also performed with a belly dancing troupe). And I felt I could easily relate to the words, especially now being disabled in a wheelchair and my continuing commitment to self-discovery and the creative process.

Have a wonderful day!

Lydia

There is no word for Goodbye

We just say 'ma uriul' (Palauan) or 'a hui hou aku no' (Hawaiian)

That means 'until we meet again'

We never leave each other

When does your mouth say goodbye to your heart?

Day 89- Ecstatic Dance for Pleasure

http://101daysofpleasure.com/?p=597

I love to dance. When I have been down in the dumps, when I have been heart broken, when I have been high on love, when I need to go within- I dance. Ecstatic Dance has been incredibly healing for me and the dance community in Los Angeles has been a sanctuary. Dancing in this way is a form of prayer for me. I used to dance at least 2 times a week, sometimes 5. Since having my son (1 year and 5 months ago) I have been to dance a total of maybe 5 times.

Today is my partner’s birthday and his wish was to go to dance with me. We met on the dance floor, our bodies falling into each other, me surrendering completely and life has never been the same since. Today, I wanted the dance to be about pleasure. How could I move my body for the most pleasure? The music was already playing when we arrived. I started with stretching and massaging my body deeply. My partner approached me for a dance. Our bodies are now familiar to each other and we can fall in easily, but today I was struggling. It’s this struggle between my old life, when I wasn’t a mom, when i lived so freely. His body on mine did bring me back into the moment. I love contact dancing. It’s like a body to body massage. It feels amazing. I got back to being with myself. it was about an hour into the dance when they played this great tribal song that brought my body into a familiar movement. My hips wiggles, my wrists twirled, I spun in happiness. 

That was what I remembered, I used to Belly Dance, I even led a Drum and Dance troupe for awhile. I made a note to myself to find some Belly Dance classes. That would bring me pleasure. Unfortunately, that was the height of my ecstasy and I would come down with a big crash. It was like the dance just reminded me of what I was missing, or the life I no longer lead. It is time to get back to myself, but I left feeling unclear of what that is? I guess it all comes down to what it is that I really want out of life. I am a pleasure seeker, but I also seek stillness, meditation, going in. I invite myself into a deeper commitment of personal practice, a commitment to self-care, self-love and self-discovery.

Energy Share for Sunday
August 29, 2010

Now is the perfect time to share the blessings of giving and receiving - compassion, acceptance, forgiveness, abundance, and the power of divine grace within ourselves that is connected to all things in the universe.  When circumstances seem bleak and lacking, now is the time to share a larger expansive vision and truth of ourselves as spiritual beings having a physical existence.  That by remembering we are far more than the sum of our parts, that with our intention and creative ability we can release our limiting beliefs that bind us in pain, drama, fear, and anger.

Let us be grateful for the spiritual growth from lessons learned, relief in letting go, and move forward on the road to greater fulfillment.  Let us dance in celebration for living a passionate life of love and purpose.  And enjoy the previous posts on health and healing dance...

Aloha pumehana (with blessings, love and affection),

Lydia

1. Lydia Smith-Lenardson, Moreno Valley, California, USA

2. Amy Manuel, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

3. Andy Cooper, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China

4. Annette Maxwell Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

5. Austin Ndego, Lagos, Nigeria

6. Brian Yeates, Dublin, Ireland

7. Carol Gent, Lancashire, England, UK

8. Denise Matthews, Nottinghamshire, UK

9. Donna Pfeiffer, Venice, Florida, USA

10. Dunni Olasehan, Lagos, Nigeria

11. Egon Russell, Adelaide, Alabama, USA

12. Eileen To, Middlesex, Alabama, UK

13. Eve Hale, Hampshire, England, UK

14. Grant Luckey, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

15. Gudrun Gudmundsdottir, San Diego, California, USA

16. Gurjinder Strom, Miami, Florida, USA

17. Heidi Fruhling, Ft. Collins, Colorado, USA

18. Hillary Bisaillon, Yorktown, Virginia, USA

19. Janet Evans, Fort Walton Beach, Florida, USA

20. Janet Henningsen, Indialantic, Florida, USA

21. Janet Kinge, Basingstoke, UK

22. Joan Anderson, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

23. Joseph Bennett, Ventura, California, USA

24. Judy Oliver, Silver Spring, MD, USA

25. Karen Saldanha, Corona, California, USA

26. Karen Sheppard, St. John's, Newfoundland/Labrador, Canada

27. Kim Lerman, North Highlands, California, USA

28. Kim McCluskey, Tucson, Arizona, USA

29. Kyle James, Bel Air, Maryland, USA

30. Lena Goon, Alberta, Canada

31. Linda Cromer, The Villages, Florida, USA

32. Linda Prucha, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

33. Lynda Truthseekir, Los Angeles, California

34. Lynn Wilson, Manchester, England, UK

35. Madhurima Bhatnagar, Fremont, California, USA

36. Maree Rogers, Hastings, Westernport Bay, Australia

37. Margaret McGuire, Cooma, New South Wales, Australia

38. Mari Hayama, Berkeley, California, USA

39. Mark Woit, Nuermberg, Bavaria

40. Matthew Leonard, Lodi, New Jersey, USA

41. Meelah Rasheed, Columbia, South Carolina, USA

42. Mirjam Kik, Oude Tonge, The Netherlands

43. Moira Congreve, England, UK

44. Monica Hernandez Estrada, Corona, California, USA

45. Natasha Adair, Olney Springs, Colorado, USA

46. Nathan Norton, Wentworth Falls, New South Wales, Australia

47. Nieema and Jan Thasing, Elkton, South Dakota, USA

48. Pamela Clements, Westminster, Colorado, USA

49. Patricia Blundon, Pembroke,Ontario

50. Pauline Leung, England, UK

51. Rebecca Cochran, Findlay, Ohio, USA

52. Rene Beauchemin, Alabama, Tomono, Canada

53. Rev. Patricia Lusher, Berlin, Vermont, USA

54. Rosemary Barton, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

55. Sandy Kolman, Belleville, Illinois, USA

56. Sheryl Morris, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

57. Silvia Weisz, Melbourne, Australia

58. Sister Mary Mebane, Santa Maria, California, USA

59. Steve and Karen Edwards, Gunnislake, Cornwall, England

60. Theresa Johnson, Salisbury, Maryland, USA

61. Tiffany Wardle Croydon, Surrey, England, UK

62. Velanthas, Manila, Philippines

63. Venkataramadas Vivekanand, Chennai, India

64. Vera Murrell, Friendsville, Tennessee, USA

65. Veronica Hansen, Sarina, Queensland, Australia

66. Violet Moreau, Pembroke,Ontario

67. Y.Nowshad, Kollam Kerala,India

68. Zachary Buchholz, Chicago, IL, USA