Sufi Dancing
Sufi Dancing was a Pune One phenomenon, beginning probably in late 1976 and lasting through Jun 1981, when Osho left for the States, and possibly a month or two longer. It was led by Aneeta, and consisted of an hour and a half or so of energetic and/or soft heart-opening singing and dancing, every day even during camps, a prominent feature of Shree Rajneesh Ashram.
Osho asked her to lead Sufi Dancing almost immediately after she arrived in Pune, and so it happened, first in Radha Hall -- Buddha Hall had not yet been built -- then in Buddha Hall.
There were many songs from the Sufi tradition included in Aneeta's repertoire but that was far from all of it; songs came from every tradition, sometimes with modified words: Hindu, Christian, Jewish, Native American, pop music and some original sannyas-oriented songs. And most of the songs were choreographed: image right is one of many pages from Aneeta's notes giving directions for each song, simple moves with changing partners or in lines or circles, with a lot of gazing into each others' eyes.
The heart-opening-with-music mode was a big hit with sannyasins of the time; many with time to spare at 10am would wander in to share and connect in this way. Its counterpart in the evening was Music Group, run by Anubhava, Aneeta's life-partner. Anubhava would come sometimes to accompany Aneeta on guitar but more often that role would be played by Ramananda.
- see also
- Sufi Dancing in Poona (songbook with words and dance directions)
- Sufi Dance (1977 - 1978) (91-min music audio incl 23 songs)
- Sufi Dance (1980) I and II (87-min music audio incl 13 songs)
- Sufi Dance (1981) (45-min music audio incl 8 songs, mostly written by Anubhava)