Peace Dances home
Programme
About DUP
Berlin
Cambridge
Latvia
London
Norwich
Oxford
St. Neots
Weekend
DUP articles
Mentoring
Ralph & DUP
Our Dances
Feedback
Photos
DUP LINKS
Venue details
Contact
ARCHIVE
About Chanting
Taizé harmonies
Sacred Harmony
Photos sometimes say more than words - view some photos from peace dance residential weekends.
"Thanks for a good afternoon yesterday. It was amazing how you could get us to some fairly complicated dances and chants with such ease!
I did enjoy the atmosphere, the peace, the balance of energy, the tea break....
I look forward to more dancing with you and am planning to join you at Loudwater."
(Anthony O., London, Febr.'10)
"A big THANK YOU to you and Vitalija for a wonderful session at Subud House! The way you provided a mixture of higher energy dances and more meditative ones was just right for me. I do need that joyful stronger energy to loosen me up and help me connect with my own inner energy (which often gets submerged beneath the stresses of life). Also I find the partner dances wonderful for helping me to open up to other people at a deeper level." (Frances, Norwich, January 2010)
"Dear Ralph,
Thank you for coming to Norwich, it will be wonderful if you manage to get a regular group dancing here several times a year.
To start off with I wasn't too sure about whether I would like the session. Your style is very different from Glenda and Trevor's and I missed having a guitar accompaniment and the group was much smaller than I was used to but I was quickly able to let go of that and then I loved every minute. I particularly loved the dance you developed in which we were singing and dancing different parts simultaneously. It was beautiful and must be very special when there are more dancers. I can imagine 16 or 20 of us dancing it on the lawn in the summer." (Caroline, Norwich, January 2010) [Vitalija did not play guitar, because she has been unwell - Ralph]
"Thank you so much for the very special dance afternoon today. It was very meaningful to me. Not just any odd dances...
Love, Sabine" (Sabine G-B, London, January 2010)
"I got ecstatic just by watching you dance and sing!"
(Ricky, watching us dancing "in public" at the Mill Road Winter Fair Cambridge, 5th December '09)
"The last dance in Norwich was very beautifully and thoughtfully set up and there was enough space for everybody to feel comfortable and welcomed. It was a grounding and uplifting experience." (Sebastiana M, Norwich, Nov. '09)
"Dear Ralph and Vitalija, I enjoyed the weekend in Rickmansworth very much and found it very powerful. Somehow there was a strong feeling of Latvia energy there! And I felt a real sense of dedication in you both and among the dancers. It felt like the weekend was very healing for all of us and for the Earth. Thankyou for your hard work, the organising and the holding." (Matthew H-M, Bristol, October '09)
"Dear Ralph and all, my feedback for the weekend at Loudwater:
for me this weekend was about connecting to the group. We were a small group and I had met everyone before except for one person, and as we moved deeper into the dance the heart connection with everyone became deeper and deeper until even the cooking and washing up together felt like a joyful celebration!
Thank you Ralph, Vitalija and everyone. In Peace, Angela d B" (Cambridge, October 2009)
"Thank you all for a delightful weekend, totally satisfying at every level, I think you Ralph and Vitalija make an excellent well-balanced team which was shown by the synchronistic flow of the programme. Love & Light and Gratitude to all of you." (Ann M., London-Richmond, October 2009)
Peace Dancing with Ralph at Loudwater Farm, London-Rickmansworth, July 2009
"The dancing and singing that you created for us, at Richmond yesterday, Ralph, led me to that beautiful and undeniable feeling of peace and harmony within. It is when you see love in the eyes of another, and you give love to them, through the dancing, that your heart fills with love and gentleness. To see devotion in the heart of another, brings it out in ourselves. Yesterday, I felt that I was dancing with other lovers of God, (or the Universal Source - whatever name we choose to give it), and that we shared in the beauty of the Divine together. Is there any more beautiful feeling than the feeling of mystical love? I felt that in my being, when I walked home afterwards.
With loving gratitude." (Ann H., London-Richmond, October 2009)
"It was such a pleasure to meet you that day!:) I arrived at Loudwater feeling exhausted and unwell. I ended up singing and dancing and leaving feeling really alive and connected to the spirit of humanity that we created together. It was great to meet a kindred spirit and combine love and light to nourish the mind, body and soul. Be well and I hope we meet again." (Sahera, Birmingham, after a dance session with Ralph in London-Rickmansworth, July '09)
"The best peace dance session I had - ever!" (Matthew H-M, Bristol, after a dance session with Ralph & Vitalija at the Dancing Heart Camp Latvia, July '09)
"I like your style of leading very much. My ambivalence with DUP on several past occasions has been that while I relish the idea of multifaith songs and dances
I've sometimes found the dance element slow and samey. And I haven't always been in an open state where I could
connect genuinely with people. This felt uncomfortable sometimes like trying or pretending.
I very much appreciated the variety in the dances you both introduce, and the way the energy is very celebrational, playful and ecstatic at times as well
as going into softer meditative places. This helps me get swept up and stay engaged. I also like the concise way you gave a context and meaning for some of the dances, without going on at any length. The inclusive way you are, as both individuals and together gave me a safe and sweet feeling which helped me to leave aside my critical tendencies and to feel embraced by the circle." (Stefan Freedman, international circle dance teacher - www.worldance.org, April '09 after dancing with us in Lewes)
"Thank you for a blissful weekend. I enjoyed every minute – dancing under the willow tree, singing Taize together before breakfast, Vitalija’s element circle ritual, cooking and sharing delicious food and the company of warm, open-hearted people. You and Vitalija are very special souls and I truly love dancing with you. Thank you!" (Sue Mira, Kent, April 2009)
"Thank you so much for leading the wonderful weekend at Loudwater!
It was such a heart-filling experience: singing and dancing in the spring sun-warmth of the beautiful garden, with the background sound of birdsong and the rushing little river; the powerful spirituality of the prayer-wheel ceremony; later in the barn the special intimacy of continuing our dances in the dark; the glorious, uplifting taize singing before breakfast; dancing in the medieval hall, including the ancient Latvian dance Vitalija led; and the closing session ending with the love-energy of hugs with people I'd become so close to in only 24 hours.
For me it worked better than ever with Vitalija leading some sessions/dances, and Ralph others - an ideal balance. The variety of settings, mentioned above, was also great. I also felt that the balance of starting some dances with minimal talking worked really well, while others had some helpful background explanation." (Simon, Manchester, April 2009)
"I want to thank you so much for the dancing yesterday. You truly embodied the spirit of the dances in a way which I have not previously seen; and it was, indeed 'light and deep.' I felt very happy to be there. All in all, an excellent afternoon.
Thanks also, Ralph, for creating a dance space in North London - and it is a lovely space, certainly.
It was a pleasure to see you again and to see how you have developed into such a wonderful sensitive Dance leader, Ralph, and a pleasure to meet you, Vitalija and also experience the lovely dances you taught so flowingly." (Shan, London - www.livingexcellently.co.uk, 1 March '09)
"Looking forward to more dancing in the light. I felt such a connection to the peace dance in the peace dance and since." (Sherab, Cambridge 2008)
"For me this was very beautiful and very worthy trip. I can only thank God that He has sent me exactly what I was searching for - a dynamic meditation, connected with dancing. I have been practising a static meditation, but as I feel, this spiritual practice helps more to establish this meditative state in the material life (because when you move, it's more difficult to keep your mind peaceful). So its like a middle step, like a bridge witch unites the spiritual and the material world. That's how I feel about the Dances now. ...
One of the most beautiful events of my life so far!" (Rasa V., Latvia, 2008)
"The Dance programme Ralph and Vitalija prepare for us is always deep. We always feel a subtle atmosphere of love, harmony and beauty. …. you always feel lightness, joy and light in the circle, bringing dancers to that special state, which one still can feel a long time after. Ralph’s and Vitalija’s energies are: fire, air and bubbling deep water." (Gunta Saule, Latvia, 2008)
"I like very much the peace and joy atmosphere of these dances and songs. It was very easy to participate although it was my first time. I like also very much the diversity of traditions from which these dances and songs are coming." Ludivine, May 2008
"I enjoyed the dances and chanting very much and would like to come again. ... Thankyou for making me feel welcome! Warmest wishes, Suryamani", May 2008
"Dear Ralph & Vitalija
thank you for coming to Richmond to lead the creation of such a beautiful approach of love, peace, community and upliftment - it was lovely to meet you both... many sweet and exciting blessings, Lindsay" (February 2008 after a peace dance afternoon)
"Hello Ralph & Vitalija,
I returned from your 'We are opening up in sweet surrender' weekend with such energy & an openness, that friends and work colleagues noticed with no prompting! Thank you for such a wonderful weekend." (Sallyann, November 2007, Liverpool)
".... We have a similarly gifted teacher, right here in our midst at Hartington Grove. Ralph Nimmann takes us in Taizé chants for three-quarters of an hour before meeting for worship every second Sunday. It is hard to think of any better way of coming to meeting with "hearts and mind prepared".
...could I encourage everyone to think seriously about coming? Ralph is wonderfully patient and takes great care to make sure that everyone feels included. I am sure that, like Lizzie, Ralph could get even the most hardened non-singer to surprise themselves. In the words of the Quaker hymn, "How can I keep from singing?"
July 2006, Jan Arriens [about the Taizé harmony chanting 2nd and 4th Sunday morning]
".. I wish you every success on your path. Your heart and soul are in excellent shape! - just watch out for the behavioural patterns and look into what is driving them!
I have learned and grown much from your teachings over recent years, Ralph
and from the love, community spirit and spirituality which you model so well." Mike
"Dear Ralph -
April 13th 2003
With regards to the DUP weekend just finished at
Rickmansworth: thank you for a fantastic couple of days. I found it very moving and inspiring. The site was lovely especially with the sun and the river. Your leadership was sensitive and caring.
The dancing and chanting seem to let me express something which I've been wanting to express for years but I which I seldom could before, so I'm very grateful."
Peter
"The best session of this week" (an 82 year old lady after participating in a Taizé harmony chanting at the International Subud Gathering, August '02)
"I enjoyed last night's peace chanting & dancing - I didn't know what to expect but it was nice to feel so accepted and to mix with a bunch of gentle folk... I am very happy that there is a local 'movement' along these lines - I thought with the demise of The Cambridge Centre it had disappeared, so thank you for doing so much to keep it alive!" (March 2001)
One participant even cancelled a trip to Bali (seriously!) after attending our Cambridge peace dance group. "I so enjoyed the evening, even though at times it was a little challenging - I just kept surrendering. I had little idea that I could experince such an event just round the corner from me in Cambridge and not in Devon or Bali! Thank you for holding the space the way that you do..." (January 2001)
[A Chanting experience from a singer and voice teacher:] "... I felt more able to strip away and let go of the conditioning of "having to be perfect and getting it right". I found myself deeply immersed in the centredness of the sounds and the engaging with others in the group at a level that connects us all to the Divine, I experienced a transcendence. With reflection I am highly aware that this was reached via my willingness to let go and not by feeling I had to sing. My whole being sighted with relief!" (Dec 2000)
"I am writing this message to thank you for bringing to me the wonderful experience of your chanting and dancing group. It is one of the most powerful and beautiful experiences I have had in the whole of my life. I am so pleased and grateful..." (April 2000)
"Thanks for the chanting group last night. I do find I get an immense amount out of it. It is odd feeling so connected with people I don't know! but I suppose it is something about joint purpose or community: the spiritual part."
"Dear Ralph, Thank you for last night. It was a lovely evening."
"Thanks again for the chanting yesterday, it's so revitalizing! I don't know if it helps but today it seems that my conversations through telephone are deeper, more conscious, kind of joyful exchange, whatever the subjects could be!"
"I'm thrilled to be coming to the chanting group, because is one of the things I've wanted to do for years.... Towards the end of last evening I began to feel very strongly that now, finally, was the time to find and free my voice, because most of what I had previously, got in the way of my full vocal self-expression, had now been released.... I do very much appreciate the passion & enthusiasm you bring to what you do, & the very open-hearted & vulnerable way in which you're willing to do it."
"Although I didn't feel the effect strait away, I've realized since I've been home that the chanting tonight did me loads and loads of good. I feel recharged for tomorrow."
"Thanks for bringing so much song and dance and joy to Cambridge and to me..."
Read about the adventures & feedback while "Dancing in the Street" in Cambridge, Dec. 2001
You want to know more about the events? Why not come to our next group? See the programme
View Stats Rainbow Network Cambridge -
- View Stats 'Rainbow Dance Cambridge'