I just love Modern Dance. I’m taking a continuing education series from Pastor Lynn Hayden this year, allowing me to build technique, enjoy playing with dance, and create a bit of choreography, too.
This series comes directly from Pastor Lynn’s class. I created the video to fulfill an assignment for her course. It’s playful and beautiful, will get your heart rate up and strengthen your quads and core.
Make sure to listen to your body and follow along at your own pace. This exercise came about 15 minutes into the class, when we were already warmed up.
I’d love to hear what you think. Did you enjoy it? Do you enjoy modern dance? What are you doing to build your technique and condition your body?
I’ve been thinking lately about what makes a dance “complete.” When is it ready to minister? How do you know? What activities are critical to have in place before we minister?
What prompted this was rewatching a dance I ministered at my church last year at Pentecost. There are some beautiful moments where I see the joy of the Lord on my face and see His beauty and anointing on the choreography. There are other moments when I can see uncertainty on my face and, honestly, I feel nervous watching. myself dance because I can see I was uncertain about the movements.
In contrast, I had a sense of completion after dancing to What Child is This? on Christmas Eve at the same church. I knew I had completed my assignment, and I had a sense that the congregation was blessed. I was fully present to the congregation and to the Lord as I danced.
The responses I received to both dances were quite different. I actually had someone come up to me after the dance at Pentecost and say, with a chuckle, “I liked your dance. It reminded of those hippies at Woodstock.” I’m not kidding. This was a new believer. I knew right then that my dance had not hit its mark with him. Another person asked, “Where did you learn to dance?” and still another, “What type of dance was that?”
I’m not saying the Pentecost dance was bad or even that it was without effect, simply that it was incomplete.
In contrast, on Christmas Eve, I could sense the congregation was moved and experienced joy when I danced, that they entered more fully into the Christmas story, having seen an embodiment of the incredible story of Christmas. I did not need to receive verbal feedback. I sensed the dance had done its work, or rather that the Lord had worked through it.
So, what makes one dance complete and another incomplete?
Here is what came to me, as I reflected:
The movements have become part of us. We are sufficiently rehearsed that the choreography is in our muscle memory. Or we have spent enough time in personal worship so that inspired movements come to us in the moment.
We have prayed over the lyrics and they have become part of us. When we move, we are connected with the words and the message of the song and so can lean into the movements as a way to communicate these.
We have prayed for the congregation, considered their needs, even received a word or picture from the Lord about what He might want to do through our dance.
We have released the results to the Lord. We don’t need to please or impress people or prove ourselves. Our hearts are focused on pleasing him and we give it our all, not worrying about what others will think. We are free now to dance for the joy of it, trusting Him to do as He pleases with our offering.
You can watch both dances here:
I’d love to hear from you.
Do you see these differences in the dances?
Can you add anything to my list?
Do you think that it’s possible for every dance we offer to be fully “complete” before we minister?
Our bodies are vessels of Jesus. Let’s not forget to tend to the vessel.
Today I’m going to be talking about something that is absolutely critical to our ability to dance with freedom and to have longevity with dancers.
It is an issue that affects our mood, our energy, our relationships, our finances.
And, sadly, it’s an area that the Body of Christ often neglects.
This is an issue that is close to my heart. I’ve had my own struggles in this area through which the Lord has brought healing wholeness.
I’m going to be sharing the importance of caring for our bodies, these amazing vessels in which Jesus dwells. I’m going to be talking about taking care of our health. Our bodies are His temple and He cares about the condition of them.
While music and dance go hand in hand, using the spoken word without music can be very powerful, especially to tell a story, bring a word from the Lord, or to teach through your dance.
If you find a portion of scripture that jumps off the page to you, you don’t have to find a song about that scripture to use it to minister. You can put the spoken word to movement. Likewise, if you find a poem or quote that you think would speak powerfully to others, embodying it with movement can really bring the word to life.
In the video below, I dance to a portion of poetry from A Bride Made Ready by Wesley Scott Amos that gave me a powerful picture of Christ’s relationship with His church and with me. Continue reading “Dancing to the Spoken Word”
Are you taking any dance classes right now? If not, I encourage you to, and if you don’t feel you can, I share a super affordable resource for improving your training at home.
As worship dancer said at a workshop I attended, Get training so that your body doesn’t get in the way of what your spirit wants to say.
Jocelyn Richard, my mentor, always encourages her students invest in their training, to take live classes in the studio. This week, I took a modern dance class where I met another sister who has been mentored by Jocelyn, Jennifer Oliver. We took the picture below for Jocelyn, to let her know we were together and were investing in our training. We wanted to make her proud.
I’ve been taking another modern dance class on Saturdays for the past couple of years. You’ve probably heard me share about how challenging this class is. The other students are way above my level, enough so that I often have to talk myself into going (Read my story about this class When is it Okay to Give Up? If you need encouragement.) Even though I often feel super clumsy in class, I can see a big difference in my technique. Pastor Lynn noticed it at the last conference I attended with her. There is nothing like being in a live class where you get stretched beyond your comfort level and receive correction.
Having said that, few of us have the time or resources to take as many live classes as we would like to. We are mothers with kids at home, or we work full time, or we are busy with our own dance ministries. And live classes are expensive. They’re worth it, but you still have to have the money in the bank to write the check. So, most of us don’t take as many classes as we’d like.
Last October, I felt led to take a sabbatical from my blog and email community for a season. That decision came after a soul searching conversation with my friend Marlita Hill, who has a way of helping draw out from me my heart concerns as well as hopes. You can read more about that conversation here.
Now, I’m standing at the other end of that sabbatical and it’s time to share the gifts that came out of that time with the hope that it will encourage you.
I’m on sabbatical from posting to my blog*, but want to continue giving you access to valuable resources that will help you with your dance ministry. *If you would like to know why, click here.
Here are ten of my favorite blog posts from the last four years. I pray each one encourages and equips you as you dance for Him:
This week at our house church, a new friend shared with me the story of his falling out with God, with Christianity.
My friend serves in law enforcement. He encounters people in crisis on a daily basis. He often encounters people suffering under mental illness. It was in response to their suffering that my friend had his falling out with God.
You see, when he came into contact with these suffering people, my friend would pray for them, but he said he never saw any hope for them. And so, his faith, which had been integral to his life, became simply something he participates in for the sake of his family, and because it was part of his upbringing and culture. But, for him, it has no bearing on his day-to-day life.
I felt the weight of his story and have been praying for this friend. He entered situations for work where people were suffering greatly and the God he knew seemed irrelevant and powerless to help.
Is Christianity irrelevant and powerful? Is Christ? People want to know. I recently heard these words of an atheist, “If God is all powerful, He cannot be all loving. If He is all loving, He must not be all powerful, because there is too much suffering in the world for there to be a God who is both all powerful and all loving”
In Psalm 62:11 and 12, the Psalmist writes:
One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: “Power belongs to you, God, 12 and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”
This God is the One who stepped into history and suffered with us. He suffered for us, that the power of sin and death might be broken.
The God of scripture, the Father of Jesus, is both able and willing to intervene. But sometimes He is hidden from people’s view – by the darkness in the world, by our limited faith, even by theologies that do not recognize that His power is available today.
I’ve been praying for this friend this week. This is my prayer for him, adapted from Ephesians 1:18, emphasis mine:
I pray that He would give him a Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God, that the eyes of his heart may be enlightened so that he may know the hope to which He has called him, the riches of His inheritance, and the very great power for us who believe.
The LORD wants us to knowHis hope, riches, and power. The dictionary defines know as to “be aware of through observation, inquiry, or information” and “have developed a relationship with (someone) through meeting and spending time with them; be familiar or friendly with.”
People need to observe and encounter the Lord at work in order to know Him. As dancers we can help them both observe and encounter this God. We can be a living picture of His character and nature. Of course, this needs to go beyond the sanctuary and dance floor and out into our lives and theirs, for them to truly know Him. Nonetheless we have the chance to paint a living picture and to usher in the presence of this God as we worship through movement.
I shared a dance this past weekend that reveals the character and deeds of this strong and loving God we know. The words to this song, written by a friend of mine, Douglas C. Eltzroth, speaks about the authority, gentleness, and nearness of this God we know.
I praying it reveals some of who He is that you may know Him better.
Please take a moment to share in the comments if the words of this song spoke to you. Or, share how you have experienced the power and the love of this God yourself.
When choreographing, should a dance leader look to hear team for inspiration and confirmation about choreography?
Or, does seeking the opinions of others muddy a leader’s connection with God and what He specifically wants to say through her dance?
Does God primarily reveal His Word for the dance through the anointed, appointed leader?
Or, is it important to listen to and gain ideas from a group of Spirit-filled dancers, so that we can more fully understand what God is trying to say?
At the Unlocking Movement that Speaks prophetic movement workshop this past Saturday in Pasadena, these questions simmered among us and left me with some questions for the Lord, “How do you want this done, Lord? How do you speak? How do you want me to best listen?”
I was blessed to participate in the When the Spirit Moves Dance Concert at Victory Baptist Church this past Sunday. It was an awesome evening and such an honor to be a part of. Thanks to Valerie Toliver and her team from Highest Praise Dance who organized the evening with excellence, the perfect blend of order that comes from careful planning, and freedom that comes from humbly being open to the Spirit of God. You made space for Him, and He came and blessed all who were there.
I want to share with you four ways where I saw His fingerprints on the event and to share the video of the dance we shared.
Is it okay to dance without music?
Are you taking any dance classes right now? If not, I encourage you to, and if you don’t feel you can, I share a super affordable resource for improving your training at home. 
Last October, I felt led to take a sabbatical from my blog and email community for a season. That decision came after a soul searching conversation with my friend Marlita Hill, who has a way of helping draw out from me my heart concerns as well as hopes. You can read more about that conversation 
This God is the One who stepped into history and suffered with us. He suffered for us, that the power of sin and death might be broken.
The LORD wants us to know 
