KILAUEA — A celebration of 50 years of Sufi Dancing is happening Sunday on two acres alongside the Kilauea River in a “Eat, Love, Pray” event open to the community.
The whirling and spinning dance style is a form of active meditation that originated among the Sufis. It’s a dance of loose parameters that can be learned on the go and is designed to connect the dancer with the divine.
“We’re celebrating 50 orbits around the sun since the first public dance by doing some original dances in a beautiful outdoor environment,” said organizer Steve Backinoff, who picked up leading the dances in 2005 on Kauai.
He learned about Sufi Dancing in Tempe, Arizona in 1974 when a friend drove him to a dance in the desert outside of Mesa.
“I had no idea what it was going to be,” he said. “It was a gorgeous clear night, there were 30 people in a circle holding hands with a guitar player and a dance leader in the center of the circle.”
Backinoff learned on the fly as the leader taught everyone a simple prayer chant and movements to go with the words and tune. The dance shifted into different phases, sometimes with only the women singing, sometimes everyone clasped hands and at times the leader told everyone to sing quietly or loudly.
“There were a lot of repetitions and our voices found harmonies,” Backinoff said. “I felt a deep sense of peace and connection with the other people who I had not met formally and was amazed that we made such wonderful choral music with no practice.”
Songs and dances come from traditions and are all poetic and uplifting and Backinoff shared the experience as he traveled for the next decade until he reached Kauai for the first time in 1989.
The first Kauai Sufi Dance Backinoff attended was at the invitation of a neighbor and was hosted at the Dry Cave in Haena.
“The dance circle was probably 50 people. The place was sacred and magic. The music and dance leading was exquisite,” he said. “These dances were led here on Kauai for 20-plus years by Mark and Sharee Anderson.”
Backinoff took over leading the dances in 2005 when the Andersons stopped.
Now, 50 years after creator Samuel Lewis taught the dances to students in his San Francisco garage, there are hundreds of iterations in existence created by students.
The Kauai celebration of Sufi Dancing is set from 4-6 p.m. Sunday at the Riversong Sanctuary in Kilauea.
Attendees can come and take part in the dances or relax under tents or in the meadow. Guests should bring instruments and expect “terrestrial and interplanetary miracles”, as well as surprise guests Backinoff said.
Carpool shuttles will run between 2:45 and 3:45 p.m. from Kapahi Park on Kawaihau Road to the sanctuary.
More info: 346-2587 or email sbackinoff24@gmail.com.
