Jerusalema Dance Breaks coming to Natick this summer!

Through the generosity of the Natick Cultural Council, I will be creating Jerusalema Dance Breaks in Natick. One will happen at Camp Arrowhead during the summer and the other will be in collaboration with Common Street Spiritual Center to celebrate South African Heritage Day, a day that celebrates South Africa’s roots, their rich, vibrant, and diverse cultures. South Africa is called the ”Rainbow Nation” due to its color and diversity, and this is why Heritage Day exists. Details to follow.

What does the song Jerusalema mean by Master KG and what language?

What is Jerusalema?

Jerusalema is an upbeat gospel-influenced house songt by South African DJ and record producer Master KG featuring South African vocalist Nomcebo. Although it has religious-leaning lyrics, “Jerusalema” is an upbeat disco-house track containing deep, spiritual, gospel lyrics. Lyrically, “it speaks about Jerusalem being the home of many religious believers”. 

Jerusalema ikhaya lami (Jerusalem is my home)
Ngilondoloze (Guard me)
Uhambe nami (Walk with me)
Zungangishiyi lana (Do not leave me here)
Jerusalema ikhaya lami (Jerusalem is my home)
Ngilondoloze (Guard me)
Uhambe nami (Walk with me)
Zungangishiyi lana (Do not leave me here)

What Language was used to sing Jerusalema song?

Jerusalema was sung in the South African Zulu Language.

What is the Jerusalema Challenge?

Simply put, the Jerusalema challenge is a dance which is attributed to Fenómenos do Semba, a group in Angola, south-west Africa, who recorded themselves dancing to the song while eating and without dropping their plates. This helped the song go viral online. The #JerusalemaChallenge, spawned dance videos from across many countries, including the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, Italy, Romania, Spain, France, Jamaica, Canada, the United States, Sri Lanka and Israel, in particular in Jerusalem itself. In Germany, workers paid tribute to Berlin’s Tegel Airport by dancing to Jerusalema on the tarmac and in the now-shuttered terminal. The Swedish elementary school Baraskolan engaged all students to do the #jerusalemachallenge Baraskolan Jerusalema Challenge The Swiss Federal Office of Police challenged the Irish Garda Síochána to the Jerusalema dance challenge, which they accepted. The video was well received in the two countries with the Swiss police flying the Irish flag at their headquarters for the day.

The Origian Dance Challenge

Jerusalema Dance Tutorial

Jerusalema Dance Steps Breakdown

This is the video that just made me so happy to watch during lockdown. It just felt so much bigger than what could be contained on the screen

Then this one:

And just one more that gave me so much joy:

How To Be and Give Peace

What is the meaning of “BE THE PEACE” to you?  Has it changed since we last met? Be the Peace means that I am peace and people perceive me as peace and I emit peace. I know that even a tiny bit of peace can cause a ripple effect and although I may never see this peace, I have no idea what this ripple will actually do and I can only hope that it will be the change/the peace movement. Like the butterfly effect that a tiny movement of a butterfly wing will cause an avalanche of movement in the future. I do not think the meaning has changed except that it has deepened and widened in perspective.

‘You may never know what results come of your actions but if you do nothing there will be no results’. ~Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi said, “My life is my message.” What does that message bring to mind to you? All I want to do is give people peace through movement. I want my form of yoga/mindful movement to be something that people seek out and they can feel peace through a deeper exploration of their own selves within the yoga. To be truly at peace we must be at peace within ourselves. 

My mind often repeats the lyrics to one of my favorite yoga songs by Wade Imre Morissette (yes, Alanis’s brother) called Om Narayana

Joy on the inside and peace on the outside,
Loving on the inside and laughing on the outside,
Kissing on the inside and healing on the outside,
Flowing on the inside and thriving on the outside,
Clearing on the inside and accepting the outside,
Shining on the inside and shining on the outside.

Are Gandhi’s message and the message of BE THE PEACE aligned in some way for you? Being the peace in my life’s message is given through my yoga and I hope through my writing. I want to be seen as a writer and I want people to read what I write. I want to write books that show that peace is so multi-faceted that it is possible to find the angle of peace that suits you and for you to live that way of being. I imagine that peace is a multi-sided dice cube and you can roll it and whatever word/synonym of peace that pops up will be how you express peace at that moment. Mindfulness and peace are completely intertwined.

Affection Amicability Amity Armistice Calmness Caliber Character Closeness Commitment  Community Composure Consciousness  Contentment  Cooperation Courage

Ease Empathy Equanimity Friendliness  Friendship  Good Vibes Good Will Harmony Hope Integrity  Intimacy

Kindness (Loving Kindness) Kinship Love Neutrality Pacifism Patience Peace Peacefulness Quiet

Reconciliation Respect Serenity Self-Possession Sociability  Society Stillness Sympathy  Tranquility Understanding  Unity  Zeal

Facets of Peace

Two more words/phrases that mean a lot to me: Ubuntu & MWE

UBUNTU

I am, because you are

The word ubuntu is part of a Zulu phrase which literally means that a person is a person through other people. … Ubuntu is a nebulous concept of common humanity, oneness: humanity, you and me both…MWE. Dan Siegel coined the term “MWE” which I love. It is the me; it is the we; it is the me in we; it is the we in me. It is a sense of a sense of internal consistency about who I am across time and across multiple social identities (e.g., race/ethnicity, profession, culture, gender, religion). This integrated identity serves as an internal framework for making choices and provides a stable base from which one can act in the world. Ubuntu is peace. MWE is peace.

‘Be aware that patience is not the art of waiting. It is the metaphysics of knowing that resting calmly will deliver.’ ~ Guru Singh