Divine Light Dance Ensemble

During the celebration of Guru Maharaj Ji's 14th birthday party at Prem Nagar ashram, he related a dream he had about Krishna and the love and devotion of the gopis. The dream was a play which tells a story of the pain of separation from the Lord and the joy of reunion. Premies begged Guru Maharaj Ji to let them perform for him the dance he had dreamed.

On their return to the States, premies organized Divine Light Dance Ensemble and began work on the Krishna Lila. Seven months later, at Guru Puja '72, Maharaj Ji saw the dance performed for the first time. After changes had been made in it by him, the troupe took Krishna Lila on a tour which included a performance at the United Nations, and ended in New Delhi at the Hans Jayanti celebration before hundreds of thousands of premies.

Following this performance, Guru Maharaj Ji again helped the dancers to perfect the choreography of Krishna Lila. The next showing of the dance was held to a Standing Room Only audience at Kresge Auditorium in Boston and received a standing ovation at the finale.

The Krishna Lila has been performed at every Divine Light festival for the past two years, including Millennium '73 in the Houston Astrodome. Yet the premies in the dance company know that until now, the world still has not seen an exact portrayal of Guru Maharaj Ji's dream. That is one reason why now more than ever they are working intensively for long hours trying to perfect that service. Today the entire troupe of musicians, dancers and technical staff live together in Philadelphia. They all have jobs during the day, but return home to practice their dance and music five nights a week. Dedication to the art of dance is second only to their devotion to Guru Maharaj Ji.

Recently, a well-known artist management firm has taken an interest in the company and is now in the process of setting up a national tour for the summer of 1975. Several new productions are being worked on for the tour: The Buddha Play, which tells a story from the life of this past Perfect Master; The Marriage of Heaven and Earth; and the most ambitious project of all, The Tibetan Wheel of Life, which through dance will represent and connect the four elements of earth, air, fire and water with the practical aspects of the Knowledge, the four techniques of meditation.

Ricardo Delgado, who dances the part of Krishna and is the spokesman for the ensemble, explained that through the meditation which was revealed by Guru Maharaj Ji, the members of the company have discovered the roots of dance as a sacred art: "We now know that dance is the tool we have been given and, with grace, we can use it to crack open the minds and free the hearts of all who see it. Krishna Lila not only has the power to cross the barriers of language and culture, but the vibrations that people receive from it can completely transcend the levels of intellectual understanding. The expressions of love and devotion portrayed in this dance can be understood universally."

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