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Tuesday, March 2, 2010

School of Dance Studies Update

SODS Staff, Students, & Guest Artist

Just wanted to give a brief update on the School of Dance Studies which I staff at YWAM Montana.

Our students are working hard with many classes! They dance a total of 13 1/2 to 23 1/2 hours a week, depending on if they are in the dance being taught that week! And I dance 13 1/2 hours a week also--I never imagined I would be dancing this much and can't remember the last time I did (probably not even that much in high school). I can say I love it, but I battle soreness quite often, as many of our students do also. Though it is getting easier. Most days I wish for a massage! Our students will be having final exams in anatomy and composition the end of March as that is the end of the quarter! I cannot believe how quickly the first quarter flew!

I taught a class called Excellence Versus Perfectionism. This class was to walk our students through what each of these are and that perfectionism is an unrealistic expectation, but God calls us to live excellently and I defined what that means. Dancers can especially battle perfectionism, and this can show up in symptoms such as eating disorders, exercise disorders, and depression. It was great to see some of our students identify perfectionism in their own lives, the negative lies they were believing, and have God speak truth to them so they live more positively and to learn how to walk this out in School of Dance and in life. This was a real highlight for me--I love seeing students being freed and understanding God more in their lives!

SODS Staff Choreography Practice - I'm on the left.

Another of my favorite things in School of Dance is my small group and one-on-one mentoring! I have three girls Tiia from three countries in my small group. We talk about all aspects of school and their lives. There is a huge opportunity for discipleship and growth because of the intense environment in the dance school, things come to the surface that need to be rooted out and worked on...and they WANT to work on their relationship with God, their character, and to know God more deeply! Despite some inhibitions and room for growth, the students desire to reach a dying world and to use the tool of dance to do so!

Some things I do when not in classes or meeting with students...A LOT! Currently, I am working on getting flights for our guest artists coming in. We usually have one guest artist per month, come out for a week, to teach dance classes and set a dance on our students. In February we had Lotte Haschke from Germany, who led the School of Dance here for 07-09 schools. The dance she choreographed in collaboration with the students. It was to depict the unity of the body of Christ, how we are each different body parts-individual, but that we are to work together in unity, complementing and supporting one another in Christ. It was really powerful and beautiful. It was amazing to see how far the students have progressed in their dancing, growing in confidence and in synchronization - all of which are difficult things! And I love how God can speak to us and touch our hearts through a dance! He is so creative, to be the Author of the human body and the Creator of art!

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