Wikipedia's first sentence called it “form of spiritual meditative dance conducted in the company of a number of other dancers in a circle”. Today it says “spiritual practice that employs singing and dancing the sacred phrases of the world's religions”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2005 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2005
Dances of Universal Peace are a form of spiritual meditative dance conducted in the company of a number of other dancers in a circle. The dances draw on all the world’s spiritual traditions and are led by a teacher who plays guitar or drum accompaniment. Each dance usually has a chant which is sung as the dance is performed. The emphasis is on participation regardless of ability, the dances are almost never performed before an audience. Dancers of all levels of ability dance together and each dance it usually taught afresh at each performance. The practise of the dance is claimed to develop the participants' spiritual awareness, awareness of their own body and awareness of the presence of others. They were originally performed at camps and meetings with a distinctly new age and alternative feel but have increasingly come to be offered in schools, colleges, prisons, hospices, residential homes for those with special needs, and holistic health centres . The Dances of Universal Peace were first formulated in the late 1960's by Samuel L. Lewis (1896-1971), they were first performed in California but have developed into a global movement. The original dances were strongly influenced by the Sufi (see Sema and The Whirling Dervishes ) and Zen traditions but dances drawing on teachings of all main religious and spiritual traditions have been added since then. Dances drawing on the traditions of native peoples have also been included.1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16260460.
The opening as it stood in 2010 11 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The Dances of Universal Peace (DUP) are meditative, spiritual practices using the mantras of all world religions to promote peace.The DUP dances, of North American Sufic origin, combine chants from world faiths with dancing, whirling, and a variety of movement with singing.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 366926020.
The opening as it stood in 2015 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The Dances of Universal Peace (DUP) are a spiritual practice employing singing and dancing the sacred phrases of the world's religions.Their intention is to raise consciousness and promote peace between diverse religions according to one stated goal.The DUP are of North American Sufic origin.They combine chants from many world faiths with dancing, whirling, and a variety of movement with singing.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 628518776.
The opening as it stood in 2020
A 'Dances of Universal Peace ' session with the dance teacher and accompanying musicians in the centre and the dancers of all ages and abilities in circles around them.The Dances of Universal Peace ( DUP ) are a spiritual practice that employs singing and dancing the sacred phrases of the world's religions. Their intention is to raise consciousness and promote peace between diverse religions according to one stated goal. The DUP are of North American Sufic origin. They combine chants from many world faiths with dancing, whirling, and a variety of movement with singing.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 951666538.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
Quasi-religious spiritual practice A 'Dances of Universal Peace ' session with the dance teacher and accompanying musicians in the centre and the dancers of all ages and abilities in circles around them. The Dances of Universal Peace ( DUP ) are a spiritual practice that employs singing and dancing the sacred phrases of the world's religions. Their intention is to raise consciousness and promote peace between diverse religions according to one stated goal. The DUP are of North American Sufic origin. They combine chants from many world faiths with dancing, whirling, and a variety of movement with singing.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1138469055.
The opening as it stood in 2025
Quasi-religious spiritual practice A 'Dances of Universal Peace' session with the dance teacher and accompanying musicians in the centre and the dancers of all ages and abilities in circles around them. The Dances of Universal Peace ( DUP ) are a spiritual practice that employs singing and dancing the sacred phrases of the world's religions. Their intention is to raise consciousness and promote peace between diverse religions according to one stated goal. The DUP are of North American Sufic origin. They combine chants from many world faiths with dancing, whirling, and a variety of movement with singing.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1287203954. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “form of spiritual meditative dance conducted in the company of a number of other dancers in a circle”. Today it says “spiritual practice that employs singing and dancing the sacred phrases of the world's religions”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
form of spiritual meditative dance conducted in the company of a number of other dancers in a circle
Now
spiritual practice that employs singing and dancing the sacred phrases of the world's religions
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
