Dance Party Tibet

By Eric Anderson Catalyst

Send comments to: catalyst@wildcat.arizona.edu

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat

Last year on Oct. 4, "Earthdance," a global dance party for planetary peace in aid of Tibet, united 18 countries across the world. Through a coordinated cyber broadcast through the Web, this simultaneous dance party was the first dance event of its kind. Last year, money raised during Earthfest helped to build an orphanage in Tibet for homeless children whose parents have been jailed by the Chinese.

Stemming from the success of Earthdance '97 comes this year's event, which is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 10. This year's event will be bigger than last year's. Cameras will be broadcasting from the floors of dance clubs in more than 30 countries around the world, uniting in the aid of Tibet.

The climax of Earthdance '98 will be a simultaneous dance floor link-up where at a specific moment, every DJ in each country will play a specially created track celebrating world peace, at the same time, collectively unifying all dance floors and dancers.

Earthdance will also be live over the Internet on http://streetsound.pseudo.com. It will be a 12-hour Web cast, hooking up all the global parties through the Internet, featuring live interviews and videos from London, New York and Japan.

Originally conceived by Medicine Drum member Chris Decker, this ground-breaking event has evolved into a worldwide vision. All proceeds from Earthdance '98 will be donated to Tibet House Trust, the official agency for the His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Last year, more than $50,000 was raised through ticket sales for the event.

The participating countries this year, so far, include: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bolivia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Ecuador, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Spain, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, Sweden and the United States.