You put your right foot in; you take your right foot out. You sing in Aramaic and boogie mystically about. That's (not quite) what the Dances of Universal Peace are all about, but the joy-filled events that take place under that moniker do involve getting together in a circle, dancing, singing, and following a leader. Only in this case, the leader is hoping to bring about world peace and inner bliss, not teach the hokey-pokey to 5-year-olds.

The premise of Dances of Universal Peace, if its name isn't explicit enough, is to unite people of different life experiences and religious backgrounds through shared ritual dance. No experience is required; participants are taught the simple movements and lyrics patiently. The words (sometimes in unfamiliar languages like Aramaic) are repeated slowly; spoken first, then sung. Several dances draw from a spiritual smorgasbord including Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Native American, Sikh, Native Middle Eastern, Zoroastrian, Celtic, Native African, and pagan, and comprise one gathering. The dots between different traditions are connected, sometimes literally by translating the source texts that different religions have in common.

Samuel L. Lewis, a Sufi teacher and Rinzai Zen master who studied various forms of religious mysticism, created the Dances of Universal Peace in the late 1960s. His two main mentors were the Indian mystic and musician Hazrat Inayat Khan, who brought Sufism to the U.S. in 1910, and Ruth St. Denis, the seminal modern dance figure who considered spirituality essential to her work. Lewis said St. Denis taught him to "draw music and dance right out of the cosmos, out of the heart of God."

Dance participants (reportedly 500,000 worldwide) can be found on nearly every continent. At least 40 groups meet regularly in the U.S., sometimes in places of worship, but also schools, prisons, hospices, rehab centers, and retirement communities. And over the next few months, events will take place in Florida, Idaho, North Carolina, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Oregon.

Before his death in 1971, Lewis created roughly 50 dances; today, it's closer to 500. A ten-fold increase in peace? Now that's what it's all about.

Photo: Dances of Universal Peace