Penelope Salinger first encountered the Dances in 1975, while living in England, and fell deeply in love with this spiritual practice. Upon returning to the United States, she didn't know where to find the Dances again until she moved to Santa Barbara, where she met senior Dance leader Tasnim Fernandez at a Peacemakers retreat in 1983. She then began participating in every Dance event she could find and started leading the Dances herself in 1985. The idea for a local dance leadership group began in 1987, when Penelope Salinger and Bill Prothero met on the bus ride to a Dances of Universal Peace retreat at the Lama Foundation near Taos, New Mexico. Paula Vigneault, who started leading the Dances in Santa Barbara almost as soon as she arrived from Alaska in the mid-1980s, and Amira Susan Webster, from Ojai, also enthusiastically helped create the group. Michel Saint-Sulpice joined the group initially as a musician and then began leading the Dances as well.

Both Paula Vigneault and Bill Prothero have served as Treasurer for the Board of Directors of the International Network of the Dances of Universal Peace.

Collectively, our Dance leadership group has led the Dances in a number of venues and for a variety of events in Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo Counties.

We welcome volunteer help with publicity, set-up, clean-up, and planning. We also welcome musicians and drummers who want to learn the Dances.

Phone Penelope Salinger at (805) 898-1603 or email sbdances@gmail.com.