The Dances of Universal Peace were established by the American visionary and peacemaker Samuel L. Lewis, under the guidance of his teacher, the North Indian master musician Hazrat Inayat Khan and the pioneer of American modern dance, Ruth St. Denis. Lewis was concerned with global understanding, agricultural exchange, and environmental preservation. His peace plan was simple: "Eat, dance, and pray together!" Carrying on his work, PeaceWorks International Center for the Dances of Universal Peace is a non-profit, worldwide network that promotes the experience of mutual respect between different cultures and traditions.

The Dances are simple, direct and accessible, circle-style dances. Dancers sing short songs from many world cultures and traditions. Each dance is easily taught and learned. Within ten minutes, concentric circles of 10 to 1,000 are moving, singing, sharing together. Themes included in the over 400 Dance repertoire are peace, inner and outer, and healing the earth and individuals and the world family.

Using dancing as a non-political tool for citizen diplomacy, the Dances have found their way into many of the world's wounded areas, including the heart of the Soviet Unition during perestroika and into Israel-Palestine during the September 1993 Peace Accord signing. The Dances have touched the hearts of many in Poland, the Czech Republics, and South Africa. Outreach projects include visits to refugee camps in Croatia by a dozen dancers and leader who live, work, and dance with refugees. Poles, Germans, Americans, Jews of many nations, and other Europeans danced together at Auschwitz to help heal and cleanse the injuries of its past. The list goes on. Inner city schools in New York and Portland, Oregon; prisons in Oregon, England, and New Zealand; sharings with native peoples in North and South America, Australia, New Zealand and Africa; public gatherings in 40 states and on all continents excepts Antarctica: all provide settings for unity, friendship and healing possible through the Dances of Universal Peace.

Imagine complete strangers gathering at the beginning of a Dance session, recognizing that they are from different cultures or races and have different ways of expressing themselves. This is often the scenario in which the Dances find themselves. After sharing an hour or two in a circle led by trained leaders, each person has experienced friendship and peace, beyond words, with people they may have never seen before and may never see again. It is a way to change the world from the inside out, one gathering, one person, on life at a time. The experience of peace remains as dancers travel home to families and neighborhoods, businesses and board meetings.