A direct-to-DVD documentary film filmed and directed by John Veltri, photographed and produced by Marguerite Lorimer, The Planetary Dance is the story of an annual global event: people gathering in communities all over the world to heal relationships, and bring contemporary issues and concerns into the context of spiritual life.

The Planetary Dance, led in Marin County, California for the past 26 years by world-famous dancer-choreographer Anna Halprin, is a collaboration of poets, storytellers, singers, dancers, musicians, and people of all ages, abilities and walks of life. In 2007 people from 36 communities, in 30 countries, on six continents will participate by performing a ritual prayer for peace among peoples and for the Earth. The Dance will begin at dawn on the foggy shores of western New Zealand. It will then spread from community to community around the world. With the rise of the sun the next day, it will eventually reach the western coast of northern California. After a traditional opening ceremony on the top of Mt Tamalpais, the Planetary Dancers of Marin County will congregate in a nearby meadow to participate in the centerpiece of the daylong event: the Earth Run. This ritual a time when the members of the community declare who or what they will be running, dancing or walking for - and why - and then dance their prayer with others in the circumference of a large circle.

The original ritual that has evolved into the Planetary Dance began in 1981. A killer - who later became known as the Trailside Killer - had murdered several women on Mount Tamalpais, in Marin County, California. The entire Bay Area had become paralyzed with fear. Anna Halprin and a community of artists gathered on Mt Tamalpais in Marin County and created a healing ritual that was so powerful that it freed the people from fear. Two days after the first Planetary Dance, the killer was captured. Every year since then, the ceremony has adapted the Dance to the needs and issues of the community. During the past twenty-six years themes have included the healing of AIDS, cancer, violence against women, children, environmental stewardship and the creation of global peace.