Khalilah Ramirez: Dancing for Peace
Khalilah Ramirez is a dancer, author, and artist based in San José. She founded the Dance of Peace, a movement based in building inner peace, and has performed at local events, community centers, churches, and schools. She shares her story of how she curated the Dance of Peace, and the impact of her San José childhood on her worldview and movement-based art.
What was it like growing up here in San José?
Before San José, I was actually born in Louisiana. I remember it a little bit; going to school there and how the kids were different than in San José. When I moved here at the age of nine, I saw people of Latin descent and Asian descent for the first time. It was awesome because Louisiana is just African American people, Native American people, and European or Caucasian people — that’s all they had there at the time. It’s changed since then, but when I got here, I heard languages other than English being spoken for the first time and it absolutely blew my mind. I knew that a part of life had been sorely missing and I found that right away, like, “Wow, these kids are speaking to each other in something that is not English!”
Things were different then, you know. There was no internet to find out stuff like that. So, growing up here in San José was very diverse. It was one of the most wonderfully diverse places that I had ever been in my short little life! People were so open, so willing to share. So many people I grew up with were born here, at O’Connor Hospital, at Kaiser Santa Teresa, at Kaiser Santa Clara, they were born here. They knew all about the things that make San José great, and I grew up in that environment. It was really wonderful to just explore, and watch it change over time. When I was growing up, riding the light rail through downtown was [different, it was] not the downtown that we see today.
What have been some changes you’ve seen in San José since you’ve been here?
San José has this thing now where we’re building up. If you go right now to Campbell, to Willow Glen, to Saratoga, to Cupertino, and you see their downtowns — you won’t see one single building over four stories tall. All of San José used to be like that.
While growing up here, how did you gravitate towards dance and art?
It’s funny. San José was always a place of art. I always had friends who drew or painted, but for me, I never grew up in dance. I used to read. I was huge on being a bookworm and learning that way. My parents were kind of strict so I didn’t get to go out a lot. I had to read to find out about the world around me and I had to talk to my friends in San José who were out there and we would explore a little bit. I did a lot of reading. It wasn’t until I was an adult in my thirties that I started doing dance. So that’s why I do what I do, too. I know that you don’t have to start dancing when you’re five. I never started until I reached adulthood.
I was spared — in my eyes — of the competitiveness of that scene. I got to learn freely and I got to love dance and grow at my own pace without the pressure of being compared to other dancers, or without the pressure of being the “best.” I’m a peace dancer, y’know? After that, I started getting tutors and going to classes and getting a formal dance education, but it was only after I started doing it on my own. And San José had contributed to that in a way that — in San José, anything is possible. That is our mindset. It’s not like that in Louisiana. It’s not like that in other places. In San José, you can do anything, you can be anything; all you have to do is be willing to learn, and practice, and do and be that thing, and own that thing. It’s part of the culture here: create. Creating is what we’re all about, and I don’t think there would be a Dance of Peace if it wasn’t for San José. I certainly wouldn’t have done that in my little hometown in Louisiana, where everybody’s watching.
How did the Dance of Peace come about?
I was going through a time of searching– not knowing my purpose, not knowing why life was unfolding as it was. I tried to take control harder and harder — “I’m ambitious, I’m driven, this is how I see myself, this is what I wanna be.” But all the work that I was doing, all my efforts, didn’t fill up a place inside that needed to be more and to do something that helped other people. So I just had to take it to the universe, How can I really make an impact in these ways that would make people happy?
People are stressed so I kept getting shown this kind of “Dance of Peace” by the universe, and I would see myself dancing. I would see myself interacting with people in these wonderful ways with friendliness. I would see myself going all over San José and all over the Bay Area and the nation, and the world, doing this dance of peace. I saw that and I was like, “No… no… I can’t do that…” At first, I was very resistant to what I was seeing and feeling and being shown, even though it was this beautiful vision. I had this thing inside of me, like a lot of us do, to remain anonymous. I don’t want to be in the public eye. I don’t wanna be a person who someone looks at and actually questions their sanity — I don’t want that person to be me. That’s what I had inside of me and the universe kept showing me that.
After a few years, it was actually harder not to do it. It actually hurt me more not to do it, knowing that I had this dream inside of me that I was saying “no” to because I didn’t want to be seen in a certain light. Finally I was able to step out and just say“You know what, I’m gonna try it.” And it evolved from there. It does have a mission, and that is, peace in every heart. Peace in every heart. When I’m out there dancing, I’m thinking about that energy of peace; I’m channeling that energy of peace. It comes from a source that’s already there, it’s already inside of us. It’s just up to us to share it, to put it out there in a way that is accessible to people, that they can see.
They’re gonna think their own things, they’re gonna feel their own things, and some people might feel resistance to it like I did in the beginning. It’s definitely gonna cause a response within and the goal is peace in every heart, and we all have potential for that. When we have peace inside, we can start to create peace in our world. We can start that dialogue that says, it is possible — despite any circumstances that we may see, we know that peace is the way. We know that’s what we want our children to thrive in, we know that that’s what we want ourselves to thrive in. Our world is gonna grow in these ways, and we’ve been down the path of destruction. I think we’re a little bored of it. I think we’re a little tired of it. I think the violence is getting slightly old, I think people are like, “I’m over it!” So we need more and more ways to work at peace, more and more outlets– and it’s endless.
How have people reacted to the Dance of Peace?
I remember when I first started, I definitely had expectations. I had to let go, and let it be what it is. If I’m really channeling peace, peace has no expectations. Peace is it’s own source of joy and life in these certain ways, so some of the reactions I get are really positive. I got super spoiled from people who are so loving and so friendly and so grateful — literally strangers coming up and saying, “Thank you for doing this, thank you for doing something that we can all see that lifts our spirits.”
Then of course you have the other side of the coin where people actually think it’s improper for a woman to be seeking attention in these ways or actually get really angry because when they see happiness, it offends them. Only a fool would be happy in the circumstances that we’re in, but we choose the circumstances that we focus on. All these problems that we have as a society are real, but so is our ability to create anything we want. It’s just as real as the problems. What are we choosing to focus on? I am surprised sometimes by people who get hung up on technique, it actually offends them to freestyle and mix styles — they take it really personally. It’s funny to see the different reactions that it causes.
Some people laugh, and if the Dance of Peace makes someone laugh, my job is done. Laughter is a beautiful medicine, it massages the internal organs; it’s very good for us. If people are laughing, that’s perfect! [laughs] That’s a release. So, I get a lot of various reactions, of curiosity, or you know, the shyness comes out of people. I’m always surprised at that– people are really shy. They would rather ignore something sometimes, than acknowledge something that makes them feel uncomfortable, or even that makes them feel emotional, on any level. They would rather walk away from that and pretend that it’s not in front of their eyes. They would rather not see it.
How do you see the Dance of Peace growing? Do you envision classes or a school?
That’s a big part of it! Actually it is a class, and I want everyone to come. We’ve been doing the class for about two years now at San José Peace and Justice Center. The other ways that it’s growing is a book called The Peace Dancer, it’s a children’s book. I’m working on a book for adults to explore these concepts of peace within their own minds. I present peace in a way that is all the things that peace really is to me — it’s practical, it’s magical, it’s an everyday thing we can work on to interact with each other and ourselves better. It’s a tool to end the mental conflicts daily, and the mental conflict is real. I’m working on a book for adults for that. I’d love to see the children’s book be a part of regular curriculum.
One of my visions for the Dance of Peace is to have lots of people that do the Dance of Peace. If we had a peace dancer on every street, it would change our world in a beautiful way. Part of my original vision for it was to have so many people that it shakes the ground! And that everybody knows, “You know what I’m gonna do today? I’m gonna go do some dance of peace today because I feel like I need to contribute in a way that everybody knows that they can contribute in this way.” To never have to try to keep it for myself, but to have everybody know that it’s open to everybody everywhere. All you have to do is feel that, and it’s a practice. So I see it growing by going everywhere, and just getting to meet more and more people. It’s a column on Silicon Valley DeBug, and I write about my experiences — my beautiful experiences out there; or challenging experiences — whatever the case may be — I write about it. I write about my personal perspective, the things people say — it’s fascinating.
How do you see peace growing in San José?
Actually, San José is ahead of the curb when it comes to peace. The only thing that we as a city need to work on is a little bit more inclusivity. We’re pretty exclusive here, and pretty affluent here. We have so much of the best of everything, that it almost blinds us. We’re almost blind to those who maybe don’t have as much. I’ve seen people disenfranchise citizens; they are almost invisible — it’s almost as if they don’t exist. I would love for San José to be the city that says, “If you’re in San José, you’re one of us. It doesn’t matter if you’re up here or down here — can we just acknowledge each other?” And I would love for peace to be the method to eliminate a lot of the fears that we have for our disenfranchised citizens.
If we could be strong as a city — different factions of the city, not like us against Google or like us against people that are coming in from different countries to take our jobs — forget that. It’s us now. If you’re here, you’re on our side. San José can rise above every other city in the Bay Area, or in the nation, by being one. And I believe in that more than anything, I believe that more and more people in San José are starting to be like, “Yeah, y’know what, this is our city, let’s make it awesome.”
Do you have any words of wisdom for people who are artists or dancers ?
Go for it. Really super go for it. When I started doing the Dance of Peace, I used to spend my days calling people, calling places, and asking if I could do the Dance of Peace at their establishment. I would hear back, “Oh yeah, we’ll get back to you, email us at this address. Call me in six weeks and I’ll let you know.” No. Go do it. Don’t wait for anything. We have no time to wait, especially when it comes to urgent matters. Things that I consider urgent like peace, art, collaborating with others — those things are important. It can’t wait. Don’t wait for anything.
