Dance Leader Training and Development Programme 2024-2026

Guided by Christina Gulzar Lausevic and Jilani Cordelia Prescott

A two year course including four residential retreats in beautiful and comfortable venues

This programme is for mentored leaders of the Dances of Universal Peace, and also for those new to the path of Dance Leading. 

We invite you to embark on this deeply enriching and exciting journey with us, not only on your path as a Dance Leader, but also as an opportunity for profound personal development, spiritual growth and self-discovery. Jilani and Gulzar are currently the only mentors offering a Dance Leader training course in the UK. After running our highly successful course in 2017/18 and again in 2020/21 we are delighted to be able to offer this opportunity for a third time in 2024. 

YOUR GUIDES

Jilani Cordelia Prescott trained as a classical musician, and has over 30 years of teaching experience. Her main focus is now leading the Dances. She has led Dance and Sufi retreats, teacher trainings, and camps across the world. She is also a Sufi guide, and acts as the Facilitator on the Board of Trustees for the Sufi Ruhaniat International. Her passion is to work with people, enabling them to shine more fully as themselves, and to share their gifts with others.

Christina Gulzar Lausevic is a highly experienced teacher, having been a teacher and teacher educator in her first career. She is engaged in Dance Leading and developing Dance Leaders in many countries.  Trained as a Facilitator in personal and collective transformation, she founded Emergent Space with her partner, with whom she runs Retreats. Gulzar is passionate about how the Dances help people heal and awaken to their highest potential.

ASPECTS OF DANCE-LEADING TO BE STUDIED

  • Breath Practices
  • Voice Work
  • The Sacred Phrase
  • Leadership Skills
  • Developing Magnetism
  • Spiritual Walks 
  • Dance Repertoire
  • Musicianship
  • Confidence
  • The Dances as a Healing Practice
  • Energetic Holding Skills 
  • History and Background of the Dances 

WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THIS TRAINING PROGRAMME?

We will guide and support you on this journey every step of the way. Included in this 2 year training are: 

Four residential training retreats, including 16 nights full board accommodation. The retreats are held in comfortable and beautiful venues with expansive grounds. We will have sole use of these country houses for our own group. 
Between these live trainings, you will be supported in your unfolding development with regular group video conference calls (16 calls, or 24 hours in total). 


As a Dance Leader, you will: 

  • Find and develop your unique voice as an expression of your heart and soul
  • Expand your Dance repertoire and deepen in the spiritual traditions and practices of the world
  • Develop an understanding of the power of sacred mantra and the energetic and healing effects of sound 
  • Develop your musicianship and learn how to embody a greater sense of rhythm
  • Explore how different Dances support our grounding and expansion in different ways
  • Understand group harmonisation and how you can use this to support healing and transformation
  • Expand your energetic range so that you can embody different qualities, elements and polarities at will
  • Develop your capacity to speak to peoples’ hearts and open them with your words
  • Allow your gift to flow through you from a place of empowered surrender and magnetic presence
  • Discover practical marketing tools to help you to take your transmission of the Dances out into the world 
  • Explore how to adapt the Dances for various situations and needs, to support a wide range of communities

Many Dance Leaders, even those who have already completed a training, still feel held back in their leading, or in putting themselves out there in their communities. In this particular training, with its added focus on supporting you with personal development as well as leadership ability, we aim to help you from the start to discover and overcome potential obstacles to being a successful and magnetic Dance Leader. 
Both Jilani and Gulzar are trained and very experienced teachers and guides, and a particular skill they share is to see your gifts and to let these unfold joyfully and with ease. 

We will help you to be the best Dance Leader you can possibly be. 

PRACTICAL DETAILS

Residential Retreats in two beautiful country house retreat centres, in Northumberland and Cheshire, both easily accessible by air, rail and road. 

  • 4th – 8th November 2024 Wistaston Hall, Crewe (pictured above left and centre)
  • 10th – 14th April 2025 Shepherds Dene, Northumberland (pictured above right)
  • 16th – 20th October 2025 Wistaston Hall
  • 1st – 5th May 2026 Shepherds Dene

16 conference calls with the whole group via Zoom or similar interface 

APPLYING FOR A PLACE

The first step is to fill in the form to apply for a place by clicking on this link: https://forms.gle/LwJfHhN2vefzNZ5p8

Please also let us know when you have completed the form. If you are successful we will offer you a place and send you payment details.

Prices

Investment:  £3670

Reduced price for full payment received by 7th June 2024:  £3470

Supplement for a guaranteed single room on all retreats: please add £240

Subsidised price for people who have completed a training with us before: Deduct £200

Deposit to secure your place: £250 (non-refundable – this is less than what we need to pay the venues to book your place)

Absolute deadline for all payments: 26th September 2024

We prefer people to pay in full if they are able to do so, due to the high non-refundable deposits we have to pay to the venues.  If you need to set up an instalment plan, please contact us as soon as you can.  We will work to find a suitable arrangement for you and for us, taking into account our fixed expenses and costs.

Bursaries:  We hope to be able to offer some generous bursaries to those who would really need one in order to attend. Please contact us to discuss your needs.  And if anyone would like to donate to our bursary fund, to support someone else attending, it would help immensely – please let us know.

For more information, click on the links to contact Jilani or Gulzar

TESTIMONIALS

I really value and honour the visible and invisible work you’ve been doing, inviting me in a very sensitive way to explore some paths where I wouldn’t have been by myself. I felt really safe and joyful about the way you’ve been holding the group and all the training.Thank you. (Solène Garrin – France)

Your capacity of listening and channelling all the situations was impeccable. Keep going please! Congratulations!  (Juan Nuraddin – Spain)

I grew up so much! Thank you!!!!!  I’m so grateful…(Paloma – Belgium)

Jilani and Gulzar know what they are doing. You can trust them. (Sarah McCulloch – UK)

“Wow! No words! It was amazing”

“A very sensitive way to explore some paths where I wouldn’t have been by myself.”

“I would highly recommend this pair of very gifted and experienced dance leaders. Thank you so much.” 

“Beautiful holding of a very diverse group.”

“I have attended two training courses before, and on this one my heart has felt safe enough to open fully to feel joy and pain, and to connect with the Divine within.”

“Gulzar and Jilani create a safe, warm, heart-centred, non-judgemental space in which to overcome fears about leading dances.”

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Sufi Camp with Jilani, 25-31 August 2024

Come and immerse yourself in the beautiful Welsh countryside and ‘the Sacred Manuscript of Nature, the only book which can enlighten the reader’ (in the words of Hazrat Inayat Khan, the Sufi mystic). For these days we will live together close to the land and deepen our connection to Mother Earth through many different practices, culminating in a beautiful co-created ceremony to honour and bless the Earth.

In the afternoons there will be training sessions for dance leaders – circles where new or more experienced dancers, dance leaders and musicians can explore the dance leading journey, with guidance and supporting practices held by Jilani, who is a very experienced mentor and trainer of dance leaders.

Rissa and Sky of Yew Tree Camps have this to say about the site:

‘Meadow Ground overlooks the gorgeous Welsh Valleys and enjoys dramatic views and spectacular skies from its position on the hillside. The Stone Circle is a formation of English and Welsh stones, which came together serendipitously to create a deep and mystical place for the dances. We are immersed in nature amongst the hedgehogs, owls, buzzards, bluebells, orchids and new and old trees.

The land has been lovingly tended to and developed to create the beautiful and magical setting for these camps. We are blessed by the full range of weather that Wales provides; beautiful sunny days, misty rainy days and everything in between – it is therefore good to pack for all seasons!

We have various sheltered spaces for workshops, lovely compost loos (including a new accessible compost toilet) and a mains water supply for drinking, hand washing, cooking, and basic off-grid showering and bathing. We will maintain an open fire which marks the centre of our camping circle. 

Please ask us about alternative accommodation and any other access needs you may require. Our field may not be suitable for everyone as the ground is uneven in places, but we would love to accommodate you as much as we can. We have options available to help you attend more comfortably if you aren’t able to camp or don’t wish to. If you need to travel light, we can help with some basic supplies like tents or bedding, however these are limited. 

We have three cats who love the freedom of the field. Therefore we are not able to accommodate other peoples pets on the field. We also have an older cat and a small dog who live down at the house.’

This exciting new event is designed to be affordable, and please do enquire if you need further help to be able to attend. Conversely, if you find the price is reasonable or cheap for the value which is being offered, please consider offering a donation to subsidise those who are less well off.

Bring your own plate/bowl/mug and cutlery, plus everything you need for a vegetarian breakfast. You might also like to bring teas/coffees and delicious snacks to share. Our main meals will be suitable for vegetarians with vegan and gluten free options, and are included in the price you pay. We will all offer our karma yoga services in turn to chop wood and vegetables, wash up and clear away.

Places are limited so please book early to avoid disappointment! Contact Jilani with any questions prior to booking.

Click here for booking form

Light of Renewal, Light of Rebirth

A Day of Dances of Universal Peace at the Spring Equinox, 23 March 2024, with Jilani and Robert

Cilgerran Village Hall, High Street, Cilgerran, Cardigan, Wales SA43 2SQ

‘In between the pillars of the Day and the Night, we walk through the doorway from the Dark to the Light: the Light of Renewal, the Light of Rebirth – Light of the Earth!’

The Spring Equinox is the time of the transition from the dark of winter to the lighter half of the year. It is also the time of new birth, when daffodils bloom and the earth warms with hope for a new season of growth as tender green shoots begin to appear.

We will dance with our focus on our own tender shoots, and on how best to support and nourish our growth at this time, calling on the Light of Renewal, the Divine Light, to sustain us and guide us as we grow.

Jilani Cordelia and Robert Salik lead dance events and retreats around the UK, across Europe and beyond. Their workshops are always a safely held space to explore more of who you really are, supported and enchanted by beautiful live music and gentle, meditative movement. Both Jilani Cordelia and Robert Salik are dance leaders certified in the Leaders Guild of Dances of Universal Peace International. Jilani is also a dance mentor, and a guide in the Sufi Ruhaniat International. Jilani and Salik are delighted to be returning once again to Wales, to a land and a community very close to their hearts. We are looking forward to dancing with you!

£30 full day (£25 if paid before 16 February) £16 half day (ask if you’d need a concession)

Please bring vegetarian food to share for lunch. Teas will be provided. Tasty snacks are welcome too! 

Jilani will also lead a Sufi Zikr on Friday evening at 7.30pm, at a venue near Newport, for an additional donation 

(we suggest around £10, but according to your means). Numbers are limited so booking is essential.

If you would like to join us for the Zikr, please contact 

Dilwara: lucyjotucker@yahoo.co.uk 07890 248857 (WhatsApp best) or 01239 613641.

For bookings and practical information about the Saturday workshop including the venue, please contact 

Sally Davies: saldavies@hotmail.com or 07766 213606 

For information about the content of the workshops, please contact 

Jilani: jilanicordelia@gmail.com  or 07966 451534

  ‘You don’t need to have any experience of this type of group to enjoy it and feel uplifted…The movement and singing is spiritual and peaceful.’ – Lorraine

“Their events that I have experienced are really uplifting and thoughtful and make me feel like I’ve found a soul family.” – Claire

The Aramaic Prayer of Yeshua

A ceremony of Sound and Light, with Jilani

with thanks to Neil Douglas Klotz

Book before 17th March to receive the Early Bird discount!

Sunday 7 April  10am – 4pm

Om Yoga Works, Springfield Mills, Bagley Lane, Farsley, LS28 5LY

‘Abwoon d’Bashmaya’

‘Oh Thou, the Breathing Life of All, Creator of the Shimmering Sound that Touches Us! You Create All that Moves in Light…’ 

Simple Chants and Body Prayers, led by Jilani Cordelia Prescott, 

with live music from Jilani and Salik, on Viola, Guitar and Drum.  

All welcome! Everything will be taught on the day – no prior knowledge or experience necessary.

‘Who danceth not, knows not what is being done.’ (Hymn of Jesus)

Cost: £45 Early Bird if paid before 17th March, £60 thereafter

Please contact Jilani, and pay in advance to reserve your place.

Please bring vegetarian food to share for lunch.

For bookings or further information, contact Jilani on +44 7966 451534

or email jilanicordelia@gmail.com

Cultivating a Peaceful, Grateful Heart

11 & 12 May 2024, Saturday and Sunday

a Non-Residential Weekend Retreat with Sheikh Muiz Brinkerhoff, assisted by Jilani and Salik

Sufi Practice, Dances of Universal Peace, Zikr, and a variety of other Heart-Centered, Mindful Explorations of Breath and Body, Sound and Silence, Movement and Stillness.

In Hebden Bridge, in the beautiful Pennine hills of West Yorkshire

All are welcome, even those new to Sufi practice and the Dances of Universal Peace.

You may join for all or part of the weekend. Saturday, 10 am – 5 pm, Sunday 10 am – 4 pm

Nearby B&B and Hostel accommodation or campsites may be available. Book early to be sure.

£150/£130/£110, with a £20 discount for bookings received and paid before 1 April 2024.

Please bring food to share for two lunches.

We’ve kept the pricing deliberately low to help include those whose resources are limited. Please be generous as you self-select your price band. At the same time, if you can only attend part of the retreat, or if you are in financial hardship, please contact us. Money should not be an obstacle.

To book a place, or for more information, please contact Jilani

Khankah of the Heart, 11-14 January 2024

Last chance to book! Contact me today!

A Journey of Breath and Blessing with Shamsia Sandra Sunfire and Jilani Cordelia Prescott.

A residential retreat, including all meals, at Wistaston Hall Oblate Retreat Centre, Crewe.

The Khankah of the Heart is a vision of a Sufi community, a Khankah, based not in a building of bricks and mortar, but in the relationships between the deep and loving hearts of its members. All fervent seekers are welcome to join, whether new to this or having been walking the path for many years.  The core of this community will be the practices and teachings of Murshid Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti (Samuel Lewis) and the Sufi and Dance lineages that he birthed.  Dances of Universal Peace will be central to our group practice.  In our experience and understanding, the Dances of Universal Peace are rooted in the whole of S.A.M.’s teachings and practices including the Walks and that they will flourish more fully, firmly attached to their roots from which they can not be separated. 

This is a new venture initiated by Jilani Cordelia Prescott & Shamsia Sandra Sunfire. The Khankah of the Heart is envisioned to meet in different places at different times with different people guiding us through retreats.  We are living in the UK but retreats here will welcome those from other countries and future retreats could also be held in other countries.  This initial retreat will be 11th-14th January 2024, from supper on Thursday to after lunch on Sunday, at the Oblate Retreat Centre, Crewe, UK. Further details are on the attached flyer.  There is a hope to expand this to a week long annual retreat, with other online and in person gatherings keeping us in touch in between.  The retreats are envisioned to serve and nourish the Sufi community and friends, wherever we may call home, returning to our home in the heart, our Khankah of the Heart, where we can gather to “eat, dance and pray” together.  

We are guided by our teachers.

“One who has learned friendship has learned religion; the one who has learned friendship has attained spiritual knowledge. The one who has learned friendship need learn very little else; morals in Persian is friendship” (Hazrat Inayat Khan)

“…real meetings are mergings; they change the parties involved leaving them more fully themselves.” (Murshid SAM)

We follow in their footsteps, walking with them. 

As Mentors and Dance Leaders we strongly feel that in order for the  transmission of the Dances of Universal Peace to be healthy and complete, we need to provide opportunities for Dance Leaders and potential Dance Leaders, to deeply experience SAM’s Dances & Walks, teachings and practices. This can provide strong roots for DUP to grow and bloom anew, setting new seeds for future growth in our young people.

We are applying for grants to start an ongoing bursary fund to enable us to support those encountering financial difficulties to be able to join us.  This will be available to all including those who will in future serve and support our communities, the young people.  We recognise that these are challenging times and that financial challenges are becoming more widespread and that a bursary fund will help our community to be more supportive and inclusive. If you are experiencing abundance and feel inspired to support our bursary fund, please contact us.

We are committed to exploring sustainable ways to continue to gather as a Sufi Community, financially and based on caring for the Earth’s limited resources.  Although this venture has no history, no herstory, no theirstory, we nurture and pray for its future. 

Standing at the Door of the New Year

29 December 2023 – 1 January 2024

Jilani Cordelia is delighted to be back in France, in the Alps, to welcome the New Year with Dances of Universal Peace, Meditations, Celebrations, Live Music and Games.

The Dances of Universal Peace are sacred, healing dances. They draw inspiration from spiritual traditions from around the world. Through song and dance, they open us to inner peace, unity, joy. (No prior experience required, open to all.)

Through dances and various practices, Jilani Cordelia will invite us to look back at the past year with gratitude and forgiveness, and to look forward at the year to come with confidence and trust.

Info & reservation: +33 658 25 14 17

odiledouressamy@gmail.com

Participation: €80 before December 1st, €120 after.

Accommodation and meals extra.

Registration form on request

Accommodation: It is extra. Prices are set by Dhyan who runs “Home Shanti Home”: 20€ in your truck, 30€ for a room for 3/4 persons, 35€ for a room for 2 persons (25€ per person for a couple), 40€ in caravan or chalet for 2 persons, 50€ for a single room. These prices are per person and per night. Everyone brings sheets, pillowcases and towels.

Accommodation is limited. The first to register will be the first to be served, otherwise you will always have the option of staying outside and then joining our group.

Meals: Meals will be prepared by a cook and a cook’s assistant. Each meal will be 12€,except the festive New Year’s meal being 15€, this will make 75€ in total. Breakfasts remain your responsibility.

Registration: complete the Registration Form & make a money transfer of 30% of the total amount (participation & accommodation) to Association “Joie de l’Etre”, organizer of the event. On site, upon arrival, you will be asked for the balance in cash. If you cancel your deposit will be kept as compensation.

Opening to the Gift We Are

DANCES OF UNIVERSAL PEACE GATHERING IN SPAIN 

4-7 January 2024

with Jilani Cordelia Prescott & Gulzar Christina Lausevic

“You have no idea how hard I’ve looked for a gift to bring You. Nothing seemed right.

What’s the point of bringing gold to the gold mine, or water to the ocean.

Everything I came up with was like taking spices to the Orient.
It’s no good giving my heart and my soul because you already have these.

So I’ve brought you a mirror. Look at yourself and remember me.” (Rumi)

Dances of Universal Peace ✽ Word Circles ✽ Meditative Walks ✽ Chanting ✽ Breathing Mysticism ✽ Meditation ✽ Zikr ✽ Guiding opportunities or DUP Labs ✽ Training for Magnetism and Presence

The DANCES OF UNIVERSAL PEACE (DUP) are meditative circle dances that are currently danced all over the world, were inspired and given as a practice for inner peace and as a contribution to peace on Earth. They are an active form of meditation and facilitate the opening of the heart, reminding us and making manifest the Oneness, of which we are all a part, beyond our differences.

Chanting mantras and sacred phrases from different wisdom traditions and through simple and universal movements, we remember and vibrate values and qualities that return us to the harmony, peace and unity that, beyond the restlessness of the mind, are found naturally in the deepest part of us.

No previous dance or music experience is required, everyone is welcome!

This hostel is a historic building and recently renovated. Accommodation in rooms with 2, 4, 5 or 7 beds, with bathroom inside the room. For more information about the place: https://reaj.com/albergues/juvenil-argentina/

All prices include lodging, food and gathering expenses.

170€: Normal price
140€: Discounted price for vulnerable economies (if you need more discount ask us) 200€: Price with extra donation to financially support the organization and teachers. 

85€: Children price
Limited places. Registration deadline: 17th December 2023

1) Fill the registration form: https://forms.gle/mwZETwLYaS9LF7qx9

2) Write to Adriana Fatima to let her know you have filled the form.

– by phone/WhatsApp/Telegram al +34 663 10 12 72
– or by email a adrianachi522@gmail.com.

3) Adriana Fatima will write to you to confirm your place.

“Some people look for a beautiful place, others make a place beautiful”

(Hazrat Inayat Khan)