Breaking Barriers: Arts for Peace!

"In China the dance troop engagements concluded," Thomas Warfield recalled, "so I decided to travel and see China on my own. I boarded a train and set out. Though I spoke Cantonese, I could not speak Mandarin so signs meant nothing. After a long ride the train stopped though nothing was in sight but a small girl digging in the sand. As I stepped down, she literally shook, shivered and backed away. Suddenly she stopped making circles in the sand with her stick. Her eyes fixed frightened on me... she stood statue-like. No doubt I was the first black person she had ever seen and she did not know what to do. She had not realized there were people on this planet very different from herself."

Circles in Sand "Slowly - maybe over thirty minutes - I made my way to the stick, kneeled, and slowly began to make circles in the sand," Warfield continued. "Before long the little Chinese girl found another stick, settled on a nearby spot and drew sand circles once more. We were quiet, but somehow I felt we connected deeply as our hands moved the sticks in rhythm. She drew, then I drew - her line, then mine. Before I knew it, another train stopped and I determined that I must leave. So I put down my stick, looked at the little girl and waved as I boarded the train."

Eventually Warfield realized this encounter was the most meaningful connection he experienced in life to that point. "It surpassed language, race, age, gender, class -all the cultural issues that separate. Yet, I connected powerfully."

Who is Thomas Warfield? His mother's a minister and his father a conductor. He's the nephew of internationally renowned singers William Warfield and Leontyne Price. He made a name in dance...

Warfield's career spans 14 years with the Opera Theatre of Rochester, and performances with the New York City Opera and Metropolitan Opera afforded him the experience of working with many of the world's leading artists, including directors Franco Zefferelli and Spike Lee, composers John Adams and Marvin Hamlisch, scientist Carl Sagan, singers Placido Domingo and Beverly Sills.

As a professional dancer, singer, pianist, actor, composer, choreographer, music & theatre director, teacher, producer and poet, Mr. Warfield has traveled to dozens of cities throughout the U.S. as well as Hong Kong, London, Tokyo, Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, Athens, Taiwan, Bangkok, Seoul, Stockholm, mainland China and Macau - where he was associate director and guest artist for a Chinese dance company, and decorated as an honorary citizen of Macau. For 2 years, Thomas was dance captain and performer with the Viva Musical Circus in Japan - a goodwill collaboration between American, Japanese and Russian (Moscow Circus) artists.

PeaceArt helps define peace "Art's about creativity captured through love and understanding," says Warfield. "The arts connect to people as I connected to that young Chinese girl - Arts soar above barriers that keep us apart - language, race, age, gender and class." Warfield founded and now directs PeaceArt International, a non profit organization. Artists of all genres participate to build peace and community through "individual and collective creativity in the arts."

Poetry Circles for Peace Thomas Warfield uses his talent to create a circle for peace. He decided to begin with a poetry project - He invited people to contribute two lines of poetry for A Global Poem In Praise of Peace. Soon his mailbox was flooded with mail from around the world, from all kinds of people. Mother Teresa told Warfield she could not write a poem, but she jotted down her thoughts. Warfield says her ideas are absolutely powerful. He had poems from President Jimmy Carter, soldiers in Nicaragua and Leonard Bernstein amongst others. He is currently compiling these poems to publish as a book.

Legacy circles As I listened to Warfield today, I asked, "What am I doing to create peace and understanding with people different from me?" What would I include in two lines of poetry? Here's a rough start...

Build brand new brain dendrites... oh move your feet to butterfly, brush color, write, act, make melody of...
Love, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, hospitality...

What's your life legacy for generations coming? What two lines would you create? Create your two line poem and I'll add it here....

Thanks, Galba Bright of Tune Up your EQ for taking the challenge to write the two line poem, "As for me, from my heart, 'A vision without passion is merely an idea. Developing people and transforming organisations is my powerful purpose.'"

Galba, thanks... you make a great difference for people in Jamaica and beyond!

Al of 7P Productions shares a quote that moves his life forward...

"Only love creates something out of nothing." Al we're glad you shared this quote since it shows that love is the core of creativity.