Classes for Children – Page 2 – Worship Dance Ministries

Devotions in Motion are Coming

Devotional Dances — From the dance to Psalm 17:8 Hide Me Under the Shadow of Your Wings

Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

He also said, “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Mathew 6:6

I have found that when preparing to dance in ministry or to teach a class, I need to also be dancing at home in private. When I dance in private, I connect with Jesus. He’s the source of all true creativity, healing, beauty, and power. If I want those things to flow from my dance in ministry, I need to spend time with Him in private.

I also find that there is a battle that goes on inside me in the morning. I know that when I offer my body in praise and worship (that means I move in my devotions) that I experience breakthrough in my life. But something inside me resists moving. I want to sit comfortably under my covers, read the bible, and pray quietly. Now, there are plenty of mornings when I do just that, and it’s a lovely time with God.

But there are many mornings when I know He is saying, “Amy, get on your knees,” or “Amy, you need to move. I want more from you.” I always receive from Him when I’m obedient to Him, and yet, I so often resist it.

So, it’s been really helpful to me to have a pattern of prayer and some simple movements to do early in the day that get me moving. I’ve developed these devotional dances over the years from some of my favorite verses and from choruses to some of my favorite worship choruses.

Based on the acronym ABIDE, they give me starting point to engage my body, and, by engaging my body, to engage my heart.

I have taught them to classes of children as a pattern for prayer to begin our class, preparing ourselves to worship from the heart.

I’m excited about this project because it is truly accessible to worshipers of all ages and skill levels. The movements come out of expressive sign and can be done first thing in the morning, before you are ready to move your whole body. They can be done in a small place, beside your bed, on your couch, in your prayer closet. Because they consist primarily of upper body movements done in a posture of prayer, you can do them when your family is still asleep without awakening them.

On the videos, I teach these five devotional dances, step-by-step, so you can do them with me. I also include live video footage of me teaching this to a class of children, so that you can see how it works to teach them to a group. You will be blessed by their hearts of worship.

When you purchase Devotions in Motion, the videos will be available to watch online or to download and keep on your own computer. I have my heart set on releasing a physical DVD, but that happen later.

What can you do if you are interested in these videos? If you aren’t already subscribed to my mailing list, make sure you subscribe right now, so that you’ll get an email as soon as it is available. Please also be praying for this project, that I’ll do it in the time and way that is pleasing to Him and that will benefit others.

Take a minute and share in the comments. I’d love to hear what you think. I’d also love to hear how dancing in your devotions makes a difference in your life.

The Course: Teaching Worship Dance to Children is Online now!

I’m thrilled to announce that the online course, Teaching Worship Dance to Children is open for enrollment now. Praise God. I released a preview version of the new videos for this course and got great feedback (see the testimonials below). I also got some great ideas for improving the class. I listened to your feedback and added more live videos, suggestions for classroom management, and shared my favorite places to purchase garments for children and patterns as well. So take a look:

In this online course, you’ll receive:

• Teaching Children who Love to Dance to Worship when they Dance: Five short videos (46 minutes total) with study notes with ideas you can to help children worship wholeheartedly when they dance. $20 value

• And a Child Shall Lead Them – Audio Class: Two one hour audio lessons with slides and study notes taught by Amy Tang and Jocelyn Richard titled, And a Child Shall Lead Them. In this class, you’ll learn how to set a foundation for worshipful children’s dance, how to use And a Child Shall Lead Them – Ten Worship Dance Lessons for Children in the classroom to help children keep the right heart attitude for worship, to build a vocabulary of worship, to dance the scriptures, and to dance with their faces. You’ll also hear tips on how to start a dance class in the community. $20 value

• And a Child Shall Lead Them – Ten Worship Dance Lessons for Children, e-Manual with supplementary video downloads – The e-book version of Amy’s worship dance curriculum, including the e-manual and 2 supplementary videos (27 minutes total), will be available for you to download immediately. (Already own it? There’s an option to purchase the course without the curriculum.) This is a digital version of the book and videos. $29 value

• Bonus Materials: $18 value

The Lord’s Prayer Video – This (6 minutes) video will teach you gesture for the Lord’s prayer along with everyday movements to help children (or adults) remember it and have fun with it. This devotional dance is also a fun activity for dance classes and workshop.

Tips to Keeping Your Classroom Running Smoothly So You Can Teach – Amy Tang shares tips on how to keep children engaged, focused, and happy in class. She shares from her own experience teaching worship dance class and teaching in public and private schools along with some tips from other experienced teachers.

Suggestions for Buying or Making Garments and Props for Children – Amy Tang shares her favorite vendors for children’s praise dance garments and props, a couple of patterns for creating skirts for children, and a couple of simple tricks for dressing children beautifully without purchasing new garments.

•Access to the Teaching Worship Dance to Children Private Facebook Group – Here you’ll have the opportunity to build relationships with and learn from others who are teaching worship dance to children. I know I’m not the be-all-and-end-all when it comes to teaching worship dance to children. I’ve simply put what I’ve learned and what the Lord has given to me in a format to help others. You all have a wealth of wisdom and experience to share. While this page will give you access to me, it will, more importantly, give you access to each other. You can post ideas, suggestions, and questions, and resources. I will respond to questions asked and will look forward to you all answering as well. I think this could end up being one of the most valuable aspects of the course.

All the course materials can be watched online and accessed anywhere that you have wifi and can be dowloaded onto your computer, so you can keep them forever.

Read what others have said about Amy’s teaching materials for children:

God bless you and your amazing work! I am so glad I purchased the dance curriculum… what a powerful tool! And, might I add, Jocelyn is right, you have already done the work. I feel as if you are right here coaching alongside as I implement with my one worship dancer … she is 8 and has such a heart to dance for the Lord.. a true worshiper! More importantly… I am learning and being equipped as I study your course outline… Thank you, Amy! – Bobbi Andrade

Your teaching is so clear that anyone watching would be able to receive the tools they need to use your concepts. Your ideas were great. I love that you included some video as well. – Nanette

All the material sounds like great tools to use while working with children. I really felt the portion on Teaching children to dance devotionally is a SEED that will help them grow and instill in them a personal connection with HIM that will last a lifetime. Beautiful work! – Denise

It’s extremely helpful. It helped me learn how to “worship” and just not “dance” and how to teach same to children. – Merthene

Don’t change anything. I can tell that the lessons are always prepared in Love and of The Spirit to Worship The LORD. – J’Sue

The practical lesson ideas were so helpful for getting me started. I also love the various ways you’ve described that will help children dance for worship rather than just for fun. – Maria

These worship dance lessons are spelled out for you, she has professional photographs in this ebook for you. All the work is done, all you have to do is pray and get your children together and worship the Lord. — Jocelyn Richard, The Praise Dance Life

Purchase the Full Course: (You’ll receive an email with acccess to the course within 12 hours of making payment)

Price: $52

Purchase a hard copy of the manual with your course:

(You’ll receive an email with acccess to the course within 12 hours of making payment)

Price: $62 + shipping

Already own my children’s praise dance curriculum?

(You’ll receive an email with acccess to the course within 12 hours of making payment)

Purchase the rest of the course separately:

Price: $32

(does not include course e-manual or its supplementary video downloads)

Raising Up Young Dancers who Truly Worship

How do you help children who love to dance to truly worship when they dance?

How do you get through to their hearts to establish a mindset for ministry?

How do you help them get beyond their self consciousness to truly worship?

How do you help them use props with a purpose, to use them as tools and not as toys?

How do you strengthen their ability to lead and choreograph?

How do you encourage them to worship in private, so their dance flows from their own relationship with the Lord?

I’ve been asked these questions. I’ve asked them myself.

Answering these questions is my passion, and God has enabled me to teach worship dance to children in a way that touches their hearts and enables them to touch the Lord’s heart and the hearts of those before whom they dance.

Even though I’m talking about children and my lessons were written with children in mind, all of this applies to adults as well. So if you are leading a team of adults or teens, this will help you as well. All of the principles apply.

In this online course, you’ll receive five 5-7 minute videos with ideas you can to help children worship wholeheartedly when they dance.

This is a review version, so it will be available to you online through February 21. After that, I’ll take it down and combine it with other valuable resources for an online course.

So, take advantage of this window of time when the course is available for no charge. I hope it will bless you.

Praise Him with Dance

I had the complete joy recently to teach a six week dance class to students at Ecclesia Classes in Pasadena. We danced at Ecclesia’s Christmas party to Psalm 150, produced and sung by the Harrow Family on their album, A New Commandment.

We also had the privilege of inviting the community to worship with us through movement after we danced. After all, this Psalm is a call to worship.

So, I taught the audience gestures to the song, “I Love You Lord,” and invited them to worship to the song with us. It was really moving to watch whole families moving in worship.

Enjoy this dance and let it draw you to praise our Jesus, our creator, redeemer and shepherd.

Please share in the comments about any dances you were able to share during the Christmas season and how they impacted those to whom you ministered.

Using Billow Cloths to add Power and Beauty to your dances

billow cloths in worship — Using billow cloths in a Pentecost ministry dance.

Have you ever seen those beautiful billow cloths and wondered how to use them?

Do you want some creative ideas for their use?

Would you like to learn the mechanics of using them in a step by step fashion?

The Billow Cloths DVD by Lynn Hayden of Dancing for Him ministries will teach you all of these things.

I have used the teaching from this video in dance workshops, in ministry presentations, and in classes I teach to children. Billow cloths add so much in each environment. The beauty of the moving fabric, the sound of the cloth moving the air, and even the feel of the moving air all work together to create a worship experience full of power and wonder.

Watch this 5 minute tutorial I teach a segment from the DVD with a partner and with a child and also give you a glimpse into how we used the billows in a powerful way in our ministry dance.

Continue reading “Using Billow Cloths to add Power and Beauty to your dances”

Children’s Ministry Curriculum Sale to fund Dance Conference Scholarships

If you have been wanting to purchase And A Child Shall Lead Them – Ten Worship Dance Lessons for Children, now is the best time.

From now until July 7, I’ve lowered the price by $10 and I’m setting all the profits aside for a scholarship fund for the Holy Visitation Dance Conference in Sherwood.

I want to give you an incentive to purchase it now, and I want to raise money for several dancers who want to attend this conference and need the Lord to provide the funds. You can help me be part of answering their prayer.

Price: $42

Use this book for your dance ministry team, kids’ church program, or your visual arts programs for children. With this book, children will discover:

• The Power of a Worshiping Child• How to Build a Vocabulary of Movement by borrowing from sign language to create gestures for 21 worship words

• How to Join the Worship of Heaven by putting Revelation 7 to motion

• The difference between empty worship and full worship that pleases the Lord and blesses others

• How to dance with their faces

• The Purpose of Dance in Worship

• How to use worship to stop the work of the enemy and advance the Kingdom of God.

This 41 page book contains 13 pages of color photos and contains two short videos to supplement the lessons.

You will receive:

* Manual with Ten creative and detailed lesson plans which you can use these immediately to teach children to worship the Lord using dance.

* Video: Building a Vocabulary of Movement: Contains teaching from Amy Tang on the power of using sign language to build a vocabulary of movement, live footage from worship dance class of Amy teaching Lesson 3: Using Sign Language to Tell God’s Stories, and a slideshow of the Visual Dictionary of worship gestures found in the manual. (length – 16 minutes)

* Video: Joining the Worship of Heaven – Revelation 7 Gestures: This video contains phenomenal worship gestures which you can borrow to set Revelation 7:12 in motion. It also contains teaching from Amy Tang on using Revelation as inspiration for worship dances and live footage of Amy teaching Lesson 8: Dancing the Scriptures, Joining in the Worship of Heaven from the manual. (length – 11 minutes)

The creative and detailed lesson plans contain clear descriptions of lesson objectives, materials needed, suggested worship songs, and scriptures supporting each lesson. Also included is a visual dictionary of worship words derived from sign language, and a list of suggested resources for teaching worship dance. Help children use visual arts to worship Jesus.

Click here for a preview of selected pages:

Testimonials:

Amy’s book is a wonderful tool for training children and adults in worship dance. The lessons are so creative. Amy gives you clear details on how you can conduct your class. The pictures showing her expressions of worship are beautiful as well. It is a very inspiring must have book. From the first lesson your dancers will have something they have movement they can use. I am just loving using this book! — Nanette Levons, The Glorious Praise Dancers

Modern Dance Exercise Tutorial

Do you need ideas for choreography?

Do you want to grow in your dance technique?

Do you want to make your dances more worshipful and emotive?

If so, the Modern Dance I DVD, by Dancing for Him, is a fantastic tool for you. Watch this short tutorial, teaching how to do the hip joint opener and read my review below. This exercise is based on the Modern Dance I DVD by Lynn Hayden of Dancing for Him, You can purchase that DVD, in my store.

The Modern Dance I DVD gives you an introductory modern dance class for the dancer with a heart to minister through dance. It was designed to give dancers a movement vocabulary, using the fundamentals of modern dance. Beginning with floor work, moving to stretching and abdominal exercises, and finishing with across the floor work, Pastor Lynn first teaches each exercise, carefully instructing on proper form and technique, and then invites the dancer to practice the exercises with along with her and a team of worship dancers. I have used this DVD over and over in the two years that I have owned it. It has inspired my worship dance choreography. I love modern because the movements are emotive (using contractions) and earthy (using flexed feet and parallel position in addition to pointed feet and a turned out position) and fun. Because the DVD provides an introduction to modern dance, I find it provides a great model for the technique portions of my worship dance classes with children. Modern dance seems more accessible to the new dancer and to children than ballet. The parallel feet positions are easier for most children to imitate than the turned out position (and from there, I teach the turned out position.) It seems easier for children to learn to turn out after they have learned the parallel position. In addition, my older students are drawn to modern dance’s emotive and fun movements. For the worship dancer who wants to express his or her heart to the Lord and to tell stories of God’s work in their lives, and for the emerging dance teacher, this DVD is a powerful and effective tool. Click the image below for more information or buy now to order immediately You will love this DVD and gain great benefit from it.

: Modern dance instruction DVD cover

Price: $26

Continue reading “Modern Dance Exercise Tutorial”

What I Wish Every Dance Team Member Knew

If you read my previous post, Ten Things Worship Dancers Can Learn from the School Dance Team you know how inspired I was by the talent, energy, and commitment at our local high school’s dance performance this past weekend. At the same time, I was also grieved at times and felt convicted that, as a praise dance ministry leader, I (and you) have a message that those girls need to hear. What grieved me the most was how sexual several of their garments and choreography were and how bold they were about this. Now, I didn’t expect to see circle skirts and palazzo pants at a public school dance team performance. While what is appropriate for the stage and studio is not always appropriate for the sanctuary, the converse is also true. I expected to see bodies. But what chagrined me was how outright seductive many the costumes and much of the choreography was. It was not just immodest, it was exploitative. During one dance, I wanted to search out the girls’ dads and say, “Are you okay? I’m so sorry you have to see your daughter doing this.” I don’t think the girls fully realized what their clothing and movements were saying. You could tell they were having so much fun and felt beautiful. I want those girls to know that they are worth more than that, to tell them to respect their own bodies and not offer them to everyone. I want them to know that the King wants them for His daughters. He wants more for them than that. Here’s what they need to hear from adults they respect: Continue reading “What I Wish Every Dance Team Member Knew”

Add Variety to your Choreography by Varying Stage Positions

This exercise, inspired by the Divine Choreography DVD by Dancing for Him is a great exercise to use with your team or dance class to see how something as simple as varying your position on the stage can add interest and variety to your choreography. Continue reading “Add Variety to your Choreography by Varying Stage Positions”

Dance the Scriptures

I’m loving the “Dance Dance Dance!” DVD and book by Lynn Hayden. I used the lesson from the DVD to teach this lesson in my worship dance class with children last week. You can purchase and/or DVD here.

The DVD has several parts: In it, Pastor Lynn unpacks the meaning of the word dance as it appears in the Old and New Testament. We learn that the bible is full of words that imply dancing, dancing in a circle, moving the body in a beat or rhythm, being stirred in rapid movement, and going around in a circle. Then she goes on to teach about Hebrew words found in the Old Testament and Greek words in the New Testament that imply movement. For each word, we learn how the Hebrew or Greek word is translated into English. These words are called the “locator words,” and they are the words we see in our Bible. Then, Pastor Lynn gives an amplified definition of the word, in which we see how much movement is implied by it. Next, a group of dancers embody scriptures where each of these words can be found. In the last section of the video, Pastor Lynn teaches a dance choreographed to “Psalm 23.”

The DVD is full of biblical and practical tools. It will equip you to teach others that there is so much more to dance in the bible than Miriam’s dance and David dancing before the Lord. When the bible says to “rejoice,” it means more than just “be happy.” The word gull or gil means to spin around under the influence of any violent emotion, to be joyful, to rejoice, to cry out, or to exalt. I have used the exercises in the DVD at dance workshops to get women and children bringing the scriptures to life. I love what different groups of people will choreograph to scripture. Do one word study each week at dance team practice to build a biblical foundation for dance for the team as well as to build their movement vocabulary.

Category: Classes for Children