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”

Dance Composition Tutorial

  • Need movement ideas?
  • Do you want to know what components make up a dance?
  • Do you want an unlimited source of ways to get more ideas to enhance your choreography?
  • Would you love to know the Do’s and Don’ts of choreography to save you lots of mistakes?

You will love the Dance Composition DVD by Dancing for Him. This DVD stimulated many creative ideas for me.  In the video above, I teach a few of the concepts from the DVD. Read on to hear more about the DVD and to purchase it. Continue reading “Dance Composition Tutorial”

What Every Worship Dancer Needs to Know about Worshiping with Flags

The Awakening Passion DVD contains teaching and an activation intended to drive out the enemy’s work in our lives, freeing us to experience the Father’s love so that our passions are awakened for what He desires to do in our lives. Pastor Lynn begins by teaching the biblical definition of a wave offering and the significance of colors in scripture and inviting us to experience the Father’s love. Then, we witness a live activation in which participants process under a tunnel of flags, receiving powerful ministry. The activation offers both an opportunity for us to receive ministry as well as an example of an activity we can use in our ministry. Continue reading “What Every Worship Dancer Needs to Know about Worshiping with Flags”

Children’s Ministry Curriculum Sale to fund Dance Conference Scholarships

kids praise dance lessonsIf 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

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

Build Your Worship Vocabulary for Flags

worship flags DVD cover

“There is so much more you can do with flags than to wave or twirl them in a certain way.” On the Perfume of Fire DVD, Pastor Lynn Hayden teaches how to use flags expressively to create worship words and worship phrases. She demonstrates group several group activities you can use in a ministry time or workshop. Then she finishes by teaching a worship dance with flags that you can use in ministry.

Read on to read three things I loved about this DVD and to see a 5 minute video teaching I created from the DVD’s teaching. (You can purchase it on my store. Continue reading “Build Your Worship Vocabulary for Flags”

How to use Processionals, Props and Pageantry

Worship Flags and props book
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Do you want to add beauty, glory and splendor to your worship presentations?

Would you like coaching in how to create a processional with flags and banners?

Would you like to see healing and deliverance ministered through your worship dances?

In Processionals, Props, and Pageantry, Lynn Hayden shares how, with prayer, planning, and practice we can create glorious ministry presentations that demonstrate the splendor and majesty of the Lord, blessing Him and ministering to others. Continue reading “How to use Processionals, Props and Pageantry”

Expand Your Worship Vocabulary with Expressive Sign

Using sign language in dance
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Do you want your dances to tell a story?

Do you want to build your worship vocabulary?

Using expressive sign in dances is one of my favorite ways to tell stories through dance. The woman who first introduced me to worship dance borrowed heavily from sign in her dance. It was mesmerizing to me to watch the expressive gestures combined with dance.

For years, my worship dances consisted almost exclusively of signs and gestures. These signs and gestures went a long way in helping me choreograph simple dances for myself and others.

When I found this DVD by Lynn Hayden of Dancing for Him, it greatly increased my expressive vocabulary. I especially love using expressive signs when I teach children and new dancers. The movements are simple for and memorable to the new dancer. In addition, they are powerful in telling stories and embodying the words of the songs to which we dance.

Also, I find that when I give others an expressive vocabulary, they begin to see expressive choreography when they hear songs. They begin quickly to adapt the signs themselves to create new gestures. So, their creativity expands.

This DVD filled my tool box for choreography and teaching. The Expressive Worship and Sign DVD gives the worship dancer a vocabulary to express their worship and to tell God’s stories. Pastor Lynn teaches over thirty signs for words that we often use in worship. Ten she goes on to tell how you can use those and/or modify them, making them bigger, embellishing them, and adding dance moves like the the pivot turn, the lunge, and the soutenu turn to add variety and to suit them to your dance. The purpose is not to speak in sign language but gain inspiration for movements that express our worship.

Every time I share about one of Lynn Hayden’s videos, I want to say, “This is my favorite video,” and I want to say that here. I have several favorites. This is one of several that impacts my dancing each time I teach and choreograph. Whether you are leading others or just wanting to enjoy adding more movement to your private worship, you will love this DVD and gain great benefit from it. You can learn more by clicking here, or just go ahead and purchase it. You’ll love it. Take a minute to watch the video below in which I teach a short exercise from the DVD.

Price: $26

 

Worshipful Stretching Routine for Praise Dancers

Stretching tutorial
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Do you want to be more flexible?

Do you want to improve your dancing?

Do you want to prevent injuries?

Do you want to worship while you do this?

The Stretch and Adoration DVD by Pastor Lynn Hayden will help you do all of these. It’s a wonderful tool for the praise dancer. I’m using this DVD twice weekly as part of my studies in the Dancing for Him teacher certification class. I love it.

Read my review below to learn more and enjoy this short stretching tutorial in which I demonstrate one of my many favorite stretching segments from the DVD: Continue reading “Worshipful Stretching Routine for Praise Dancers”

Modern Dance Exercise Tutorial

Do you need ideas for choreography? modern dance tutorial hip joint
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.

prophetic dance teaching DVD modern
Modern dance instruction DVD cover

Price: $26

Continue reading “Modern Dance Exercise Tutorial”

What Dance Ministry Leaders Need to Learn from the School Dance Team

dance team lessonsWelcome to part three of this blog series inspired by my local dance team’s stand out performance last weekend. If you haven’t read the first two posts, check them out before diving into this one:
Ten Things Worship Dancers can Learn from the School Dance Team and What I Wish Every Dance Team Member Knew.

As praise dancers, we can learn from the excellence with which these dancers present. As dancers who know Jesus, we have an important message to speak to them. As dance ministry leaders, if we want to reach youth and keep them dancing for Jesus (instead of giving their gifts and their selves away to the world), here are five things we need to heed:

  1. Young people want to dance. There were 250 students in this performance. Clearly there is a need and a desire  for dance leaders and teachers. If you have ever wondered if you are called to reach the youth at your church, take time to pray and listen for that call. There are young people out there who want to dance and are looking for an avenue to develop their gift. Will you help them?
  2. We need to invest in our own training. There are skilled young dancers out there. If we want a voice in their lives, we need to take the art of dance seriously and invest in our own training. This does not  mean we can not speak to them until we can outperform them with our technique. But we need to be growing, learning, and gaining skill. It is our anointing that ultimately will enable us to have an impact on their lives, but having skill gives us credibility as well as something to offer them.
  3. What you are doing matters. These kids are going to use dance for good or for evil. If we have the chance to plant seeds for righteous dancing, it could change the trajectory of their lives as well as all the lives they will impact through dance.
  4. Get boys into the act.  Women bring beauty, passion, gentleness and refined strength to dance. Men bring strength, humor, power. We are, together, made in the image of God. Dance is more complete, more impactful when you have both men and women dancing. I’m speaking to myself before I’m speaking to anyone else. I’m in my comfort zone with women and young girls. They think like I do, and they dance like I do. It’s comfortable for me to reach them. But this year I’m going to make it my goal to learn to dance with men, to learn from them with the intent that I can bring boys into dance.
  5. Give your dancers something awesome to wear. The kids I saw dancing must have had a ball changing from costume to costume. Their costumes were fun, beautiful, playful, sassy, exciting, and sometimes provocative, depending on the dance. Now, our standards are not the world’s standards, and we are going to teach our dancers to cover up. I said more about this in my earlier post. Even so, these kids, especially girls, want to look beautiful and feel special. In my children’s dance curriculum, I have a whole lesson on teaching kids the difference between empty (vain) dancing and full (worshipful) dancing. So I’m not talking about catering to their vanity. I’m talking about meeting their God-given desire to be lovely (for girls). You can choose modest garments that are also fun and flattering. Don’t ask them to dress in something that looks like a potato sack. Lucie Poirier says, in her book Dancing for the Endtime Harvest that we are to dance for “beauty and for glory.” For an excellent resource on praise dance garments, I highly recommend Jocelyn Richard’s e-book Garments of Glory.

Continue reading “What Dance Ministry Leaders Need to Learn from the School Dance Team”