Groups of dancers in the San Francisco Bay Area and elsewhere around the planet have been rehearsing and engaging in public Flash Mobs. They show up, unannounced, start the music on a portable system, and begin dancing. They have been building toward a February 14 Valentine’s Day action called One Billion Rising, which is set to take place in at least 190 countries.

How the massive action got rolling was in the simplest of ways.

“Eve Ensler, the author of the play ‘The Vagina Monologues,’ read a United Nations statistic that one of three women would be the victim of violence," explained Valerie Richman of Petaluma, California, “so she got the idea of a billion women and those who love them standing up to strike, rise, and dance to end violence."

One billion women are raped, beaten or sexually abused during their lifetimes. This huge global gathering is a way to give artistic expression to that anger and grief -- and to transform it into unifying, uplifting and healing public events that break the chain of violence against women and girls.

“Strike | Dance | Rise!” is the theme of this 15th anniversary of an annual V-Day that Ensler and others have organized in many different languages around the globe. “The ‘V’ in V-Day stands for Valentine’s Day, Victory over Violence, and Vaginas,” explained supporter Trisha Almond.

“Dancing is an expression of the power we don’t always feel we have,” added Diana Ellis, who supports “a vision of how men and women can work together in simple artistic ways to fight violence against the one billion. Like the large number, the problem of solving sexual violence can feel hopeless. But a billion minus one, minus one, minus one .... eventually equals zero.”

Several weeks ago, some 400 dancers converged on downtown San Francisco. “OneBillionRising.org is a dancing revolution against the world-wide violence against women and girls on a daily basis,” reported Suzette Burrous, a mid-wife who participant in the event.

“I joined this movement because I strongly support the work of VDay.org," she said. "Having performed in the ‘The Vagina Monologues’ seven times in the past, I was extremely excited to be part of another global movement to protect and enhance the lives of women of the world.”

Two days before the San Francisco action, La Tierra community’s barn in the countryside of Sonoma County, where Burrous lives, heated up with an exciting dance rehearsal.

AnnMarie Ginella, the lead dancer from the city of Sebastopol, and a widow in her 50s with four sons, expected only a handful of people to attend the rehearsal. But over a dozen came, including three men and an animated five-year-old girl with her mother and grandparents, who smiled as the child watched carefully and learned the steps. By the time of the Feb. 3 public rehearsal in Sebastopol’s plaza, some 30 dancers had joined, witnessed by many onlookers at the weekly farmers’ market.

Dominican University in San Rafael, just north of San Francisco, will be the site of Marin County’s Feb. 14 action. Sister Patricia Dougherty, chair of Dominican’s history department, sent out an invitation to faculty and staff to join the social justice effort which will begin with a morning dance prayer performed by international women and directed by dance teacher Taira Restar. The day will climax with a "Noise at Noon" march that will flow from the campus into downtown San Rafael.

A group of six Petaluma dancers, including a mother/daughter pair, spoke to a communication class at the university about their experience in a flash mob. “The Flash Mobs have been fun,” noted Ronda Black. “You go in and dance without permission. When we went to a mall, a security guard came up and asked ‘Who is your leader?’ We responded that we don’t have a leader.”

“Violence is like climate change,” added Connie Madden. “People do not want to look at it. We need to shine a light on the violence and change what we do. Instead of the growing cultural clashes around the world, we need to find ways to come together as one human race, rather than warring tribes.”

A song was written for One Billion Rising, called "Breaking the Chain," along with choreography by Debbie Allen.

"On my knees I pray. I’m not afraid any more. I will walk through that door,” are words that open the dance. They continue:

“We are mothers. We are teachers. We are beautiful creatures. I raise my hands to the sky....This is my body. My body is holy. In the middle of this madness, I know there is a better world. Break the rules. It’s time to break the chain."

“We can talk and talk and talk,” noted male dancer Dean LaCoe in the Sebastopol barn. “When you add music and dance, it goes to your heart.”

Watching the dynamic women and their male allies dance, at times I thought about my mother, Alice Miller Bliss. Her life was difficult, raising five children and dealing with a military husband who could be violent. I was not the only person in the barn whose memories were evoked by the dancing. Tears could be seen on some of the dancers’ faces.

And in some places, like nearby Santa Rosa, the February 14 action is being organized together with the Spanish speaking community.

“Undocumented Spanish speaking women who experience violence and oppression are in a doubly difficult situation in our country, as they face deportation and being separated from their children if they report to the police. We will dance to 'Romper Las Cadenas' as well as 'Break the Chains,'" wrote Julie Rachanna Chasen.

“I am rising because I know, deep in my bones, that the systematic degradation and violation of women that is happening all over the world is linked to every other form of exploitation and oppression,” Chasen added. “It's about power, be it power over the earth, power over immigrants, or gays, power over anyone and anything that seems vulnerable, including other countries. As women and girls all over the world rise up in song and dance, with self-respect and love in our hearts, we will be part of a shift in consciousness on our planet that will lead us toward a more caring world.”

For more information and to get involved, visit One Billion Rising. For material on the global movement to end violence against women and children visit www.VDay.org.

Shepherd Bliss teaches college, runs an organic farm and has contributed to two dozen books. He can be reached at 3sb@comcast.net.