Dancing for the King and for the Kingdom
The Unity in Motion DVD is for the dance ministry leader who wants to take his or her congregation beyond being spectators to invite them to participate in movement. Pastor Lynn gives practical instruction for leading in a way that makes it inviting and easy for a congregation to follow. The exercises are also great to help a dance team learn to dance in unity and create spontaneous, unified movements.
The Expressive Worship and Dance DVD presents and teaches a beautiful group dance that can be used for ministry and for personal devotion. You can take this dance and use it exactly as it is to create a ministry piece. Or you can take and adapt parts of it to fit your context. You can even use it as a solo or simply dance it in your own devotions, an invitation to the Lord to soften your heart and form His heart in you.
Not only do you learn a complete dance from this DVD, you get many ideas for how to take your own choreography and adapt it for a group, making it full of variety so you can minister.
Pastor Lynn shows how she takes a motif, which is illustrated in the chorus of the song and shown in the solo choreography, and creates many variations on this. In doing so, she creates a group dance that contains powerful variety. By adding group shapes, unison movement, by varying stage position and group formations, and by using cannon in the choreography, the original movements are adapted to add interest and impact to the dance. Here, I teach the solo part to the chorus: Continue reading “Create a Powerful Group Dance from a Simple Solo”
This is the fourth of a five part series on dealing with team related issues. If you haven’t read the previous issues. Make sure to do that.
All of the questions so far have related to team leaders. Today’s question is from a team member. It’s a question many people can relate to, whether on a dance team or in a small group. The details may differ, but the heart of the question is the same:
How do you deal with team members who dominate discussions?
How should you respond when someone rides roughshod over your questions or ideas?
Should you speak up during practice? If you don’t, will your ideas ever be heard?
I drew heavily from Lynn Hayden’s book, Team Terrificus in answering this question. I highly encourage you to get it, if you don’t have it.
Here’s her specific dilemma:
Do you want to dance in a way that speaks?
Do you want to speak to the Lord more intimately when you dance?
If a picture says a thousand words, a dance can say so much more. Sometimes we need help unlocking movement that truly speaks.
I’m full of joyful anticipation for the Worship in Motion praise dance workshop on January 31 in Pasadena, CA. If you live anywhere near me, I hope you will come. I’m so thankful to say the workshop is filling up quickly.
After spending Saturday afternoon with Marlita Hill, who will be teaching at the workshop, I felt like our vision and the gifts God has given us will truly come together to help dancers speak powerfully through their movement.
Marlita will be teaching on choreography, speaking to these questions/concerns:
How do I get started?
I only know a few movements, and I want to know more.
How can I get my dance to connect more deeply with the music?
Can I dance powerfully if I don’t have much experience?
And I will be teaching on how to dance devotionally, so that before we speak for the Lord, we speak to Him, though movement. She’ll be speaking to these concerns:
I want to deepen my connection with God when I dance.
I want to dance spontaneously with greater freedom and confidence.
So, if you resonate with any of these questions/concerns/desires, join us. Click this button to learn more and to register.
Don’t despise the days of small beginnings.
I choreographed the dance below three years ago and it is dear to me.
Warning: There is a huge garment problem right at the beginning. Don’t let that hinder you from being blessed by this dance.
In fact, in a way, that garment snafu is part of my point in posting this video. There are many things I could critique about this dance regarding the garments, the group choreography, even or especially, our hair. But it this dance is dear to me, and it still moves me.
Watch it, and you’ll see what I mean.
Continue reading “Begin Where You Are and Resist Criticizing”
Do you ever get a worship song just days before you need to dance to it?
Would your worship leader like you to dance more often in praise and worship than you feel your team can prepare for?
Do your team members need a chance to spread their wings and lead?
If so, you will love learning how to use what Lynn Hayden calls “planned spontaneity” to choreograph a powerful and unique dance in a very short time.
In the video that follows, I explain how I planned out a worship dance for a team of five or more dancers – planning out the props, colors, formations, and basic flow – that, with leadership from different team members, they could implement with just these simple instructions. Continue reading “Choreographing a Dance on Short Notice”
I’m excited to share a resource for worship dancers that I love and I think you will.
The activities on this DVD will:
• help build leadership skills
• add variety and interest to group movement, and
• stimulate your creativity and the creativity of those on your team.
In the Creative Worship DVD, Lynn Hayden explains and demonstrates a multitude of activities that can be used in praise and worship dance with groups to add variety with spontaneity. Below is a tutorial of one of my many favorite activities from the DVD: Continue reading “Add Variety, Creativity and Unity to Your Choreography”
This is the DVD for which everyone has been asking. If you’ve always wanted choreography ideas, dance patterns to put with any music or dances to follow and learn, this is the DVD you need!
The Praise, Worship and Flags DVD contains four already choreographed dances for a group or a solo dancer with easy to follow instructions. Three of the four dances could be done with any 4-4 timed music. The first are praise dance steps and the last two are flag combinations. The second dance is a very expressive dance combined with ballet set to a Will Bozeman song.
To learn more about the DVD and watch a 5 minute teaching from the DVD with choreography you can use, read on. Continue reading “Choreographed Dances You Can Use”
“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”
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.
