Emersion by David Jolley - The Beauty Of Dance As Art And Worship

Emersion by David Jolley, originally uploaded by she dances.

The medium of dance has been coming up more often for me lately as an art form. I'm married to a dancer so naturally it comes up a lot but, in a more than normal way dance has made it's way into my heart and mind quite frequently.

The TV show So You Think You Can Dance has created a venue for aspiring dancers across the nation to make their mark on the world of dance as they use their bodies to communicate a thought, idea, emotion, or scenario.

Dance has gotten a bad rap in our churches for years. It's been viewed in a negative light and unfortunately there is a good deal of dance out there that is very immoral. For this reason we've stripped it from our churches. My question then turns to the radio. There are a number of songs that are written out of immoral heart and have lyrics that should make us crawl under a rock and hide. Yet we use some of the same rhythms and chord progressions to create art that is pleasing to our God and king. We have used the medium of painting in our churches, one might think of the Jesus Painters ministry or the series "CANVAS" done by Louie Giglio and Andy Stanley some years back. There is quite a bit in modern art that is also displeasing to God. We still use the medium but direct it's focus toward heaven.

Dance communicates all sorts of things. It can be used to communicate light or darkness. As with the other mediums I've discussed, to see dance focused on drawing the watcher toward a better understanding of a truth about God is a beautiful, beautiful thing and I would go as far to say that it can't be experienced any other way.

In dance, the dancer must use their whole body, their facial expression, their emotion, their heart to direct others toward Christ in worship. It's amazing. It's my prayer that we would begin to see dance as a form of worship to be used in our services.

How has dance been used in your community? Has it been? How has it effected you?