There is great wisdom inherent in traditional dances and music that have been passed down from generation to generation for ages. Yet, with the rapid changes taking place in world cultures, hundreds of longstanding, traditional dances and the music that goes along with them, connected with specific ways of life, are now in danger of extinction.

I was born in an ancient village in Southwestern Spain. Dancing and singing was part of our daily lives. We danced for many celebrations passed down from immemorial times from before the Roman Empire. Often, we also sang and danced for no special reason at all. During the long winter nights neighbors would gather together to sing and dance around the fire place. As a child, without even having to think about it, I absorbed profound lessons about life transmitted in the lyrics of the songs and I learned how to generate life force in my body by the power of the dance.

The first big change in our traditional way of life happened when TV came in. We were all fascinated -almost hypnotized- by this magical box. Then, we all just watched TV and we did not gather to dance and sing any longer. When I visit the village now, most grandmothers have passed away, and most young people not even remember the traditional songs and dances anymore.

Aware that this same thing is happening all over the world, in 1994 I created Dances of the World Society (DWS), to collaborate with organizations and individuals that are also passionate about saving dance and music traditions in danger of extinction and the wisdom inherent in them.

One of the ways we do this at DWS is by producing documentaries and educational materials. We place special emphasis on documenting these traditions in their natural environment, and preserving them on film. Along with the spirit of the times, we belief in using the power of emerging technologies to preserve the primordial intelligence of world dance and music. An important aspect of our mission is to develop Interactive Video Archives.

Visit our Video Archives to enjoy watching world dance and music clips, adding your rates and comments.  We upload at leats a new video every week. You can also upload as many video clips as you like.  All you need to do is either upload them from your computer in .flv format or copy the urls from your favorite youtube.com videos, for instance, and summit them. Our interactive system will allow you to create groups around specific dance/music interest and connect with like minded people around the world.

We hope you will enjoy the series of podcasts we are creating. Some of them will be free audio-courses, some will be fascinating interviews. Please use the contact form to let us know what topics you are interested in. If you are an expert in your field, we would love to interview you. Get in touch.

We publish a monthly eZine to share information about world dance and music. Please click here if you would like to summit an article or become one of our regular columnists. Our eZine is free of charge. Click here to subscribe.

All of our free resources are under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives License. While you can’t change them in any way or use them commercially, you can take then and make them available to the users of your personal or organization's web site. All you need to do is give us credit and link back to us.

We are developing an Online School where you can learn at your own pace. Click here to look into the instructional and educational materials available to you. You can also take a poll to let us know what is your favorite format.