BIG NEWS!!!

I am formally announcing Ballet 5:8 from the Chicago area will be offering classes at Master's Dance Academy here in Valparaiso, IN!! Amy and Julianna from Ballet 5:8 have joyfully adopted our studio and are offering classes starting soon! I have truly enjoyed getting the studio to where it is today and will forever be grateful for all our families and students! Ballet 5:8 is a great, nonprofit, Christian dance studio as well and we are only moving up here at MDA! 

Please consider registering today! Learn more here--  Ballet 5:8 Valpo Campus, Register Here!

Upcoming Events, Homework & Announcements, 4.19.16

Upcoming Events:

Tuesday, May 3rd - BAREFOOT DAY!! All dancers attend without ballet shoes! Also, if your dancer doesn't have convertible tights- have her wear shorts or leggings over her leotard and NO TIGHTS! :)

Saturday, May 21st - WORKSHOP DAY!!  Meet the NEW INSTRUCTOR for the FALL! See the email link to register!! Invite your friends!

Tuesday, May 31st - PARENT DAY!! Parents watch your dancer day! Attend your dancer's class and see what she has worked on this season of dance!

Announcements: 

You are welcome to bring your own TUTU or SKIRT for PARENT DAY!! I will also have dozens of cute tutus (mostly smaller sizes) available that evening dancers could wear if desired! 

Also MAY TUITION is due before May 3rd (barefoot day!)!! :) 

Summer & Fall session information with Ballet 5:8 to be announced soon! :) 

Homework:

Creative Movement -
>Review God is love, joy, good, strong, truth, and just.
>Continue to teach your child their body parts, shoulders, legs, hips, chin, ears, etc.- work on heels...and then walking in releve.
>fast and slow
>balance
>jumping with two feet
> Worship songs-- Here I am to Worship, Chris Tomlin and Great are you Lord by All Sons and Daughters

Pre-Ballet -
>Dancing Prayer
>Have them make pizza and butterflies (stretch legs out in a V while sitting for pizza & put feet together and move knees up and down for butterfly) - the dancers know the routine for each one!
>Saute (plie, jump, plie, straight- like a rocket!)
>Have them make several combinations of plie, releve, twirl, walk around, first position, tendu
> Worship songs-- Here I am to Worship, Chris Tomlin and Great are you Lord by All Sons and Daughters

Ballet -
>Dancing Prayer
>Stretching
>Ronde Jambe - make a D- forward and backward
>tendu - squish ladybug with toe and turn heel in
>chasse
>chaine turns (half circle)
>Worship Songs -- Joy by Rend Collective and Good Good Father by Housefires

Honesty, March 8th 2016

March 8, 2015

Don’t forget--- next week Amy and Julliana from Ballet 5:8 will be here at 5:30 for a PARENT FORUM during the 5:30 class. Please plan to attend with your questions!

Creative Movement (CM)- Today the dancers worked hard! I am so proud of them. Thanks to the grown-up they were able to stay focused and learn all about God and dance! In our class we masting one step concepts and adding a second step a times to give them a challenge! For example, march on the line (one step) and shake your shaker at the same time (2nd step challenge). This age group is just trying to learn the English language, understand where their bodies are in space, understand social skills and then also use those skills in the daily life.  It’s a big job for such a little one! Try to remember to encourage your young child when you see them working hard to master a daily living skill.  Here’s a hint for when you need your child to do something (put shoes on, get a toy, pick up something)  use their name first and then give them a command with as FEW words as possible. Try to use only 1-3 words when giving the command.  Also, here are a few dance skills to help them practice this week!

• START and STOP an activity with a given timing, such as use music to play the freeze game at home!
• Stand on one foot - balance!
• Gallop across the floor!
• Tip toes, or releve walking!

Pre-Ballet (PB)

These little ones are ready for more of a challenge! It has been so delightful to watch the dancers that have just moved up from being with a ‘grown-up’ in class to now being independent!! They are catching on and learning social skills with the other students. I am so proud of them and of you parents that are letting go! I know its hard, but they are doing great! They are learning that they have different sides of their bodies and learning how to use one side first and then the other side. It’s so fun watching them interact with each other and learn! They are also learning how to take turns and let others go first. Please work on the following at home when you get some time! I know this age loves to dance on their own at home and when you see them doing those things on their own, just throw out a reminder from below:

• How do you MARCH again? That’s right, pick those knees up to your belly button.
• Find your tree trunk, send a branch out. (first position, tendu point)
• Open your doggie door (plie)
• Tip toe (releve walk)
• Show me a gallop (chasse)

Ballet, 6 years and up

I am so proud of these girls! They are working hard and learning so much! We are really enjoying the worship dance part of our class as well.  We are currently dancing to Great are you Lord by All Sons and Daughters.  They are welcome to put the song on this week and worship dance.  

We also had a devotional this evening about Honesty.

‘To worship God means that we must come before Him with an honest heart. No, we cannot actually see His face, but we can understand who He is, recognize His power, and acknowledge His sovereignty. True worship takes place in an honest heart.’ Girlfriends in God, An Honest Woman, March 8, 2016

The dancers can work on remembering placement of their arms, legs, trunk for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions of ballet. They can also work on their tendus and degages, along with working on their plies to gain strength and grace. Also, work on flexibility this week, stretching anytime they can and whenever they have a moment.

Welcome to our new students this week!

Remember-- next week at 5:30pm Amy and Julianna will be here from Ballet 5:8 to answer questions and have a PARENT FORUM, MEET & GREET. It will be during the 6 yrs and up class. See you then!

Registration for Spring NOW OPEN!

Feb. 1st- open to current students
Feb. 10th- open to new students

SPRING SESSION will be March 1st - May 31st, taking spring break off, 3/22.  It will be a simple curriculum working mainly on developing more technique, strength, flexibility, and spiritual growth.  We will NOT have our typical recital program at the end of the session, but we WILL have an in-class demonstration for parents on the last day of class. There will also be several exciting events happening with Ballet 5:8 over the next few months for your dancer to participate in as well which I share later.

*SPRING SCHEDULE

Tuesdays

9:30-10am  Creative Movement, 2-3 yrs. plus caregiver

10-10:45am Pre-Ballet, 4 yrs.

4:30-5:15pm Pre-Ballet 4-5 yrs.

5:30-6:30pm Ballet 6 yrs +

SPRING REGISTRATION

Register by visiting mastersdancevalpo.com and click on the PAYPAL link to pay for the first month of classes. CM - $35, PB- $40, Ballet-$45/month; you may also mail your payment with checks made out to Master’s Dance Academy, Inc. Email to the address below for the address. Please send any updates to your registration form to mastersdanceacademy@gmail.com.

*Class size limit is 10 students, when the limit is met your child will be placed on a wait list.  You will be contacted when a new class is opened. Times may vary from schedule above due to opening an additional class or classes. 

In preparation for the transition of joining with ballet58.org to teach 5 yrs and older dancers, we are having several events prior to September.

>PARENT FORUM with Amy and Julianna, on Tuesday, March 15th starting at 5:30pm at MDA. They will be available for questions and discussion regarding the upcoming transition to Ballet 5:8 (for 5 yrs. and older) and be available to meet and greet.

>Second, Ballet 5:8 will offer a workshop for the dancers in the spring. The date is yet to be determined. This workshop will allow the dancers and families to see what they could learn under Ballet 5:8’s instruction and have fun!

>Third, Ballet 5:8 will come to Valpo and do a performance for our community again this spring.

>Fourth, Ballet 5:8 will ask for a commitment for training by May 31st, to begin in September.

When you get an opportunity, please check out ballet58.org to read more!  

God makes all things new!

Announcements regarding our upcoming sessions and changes at the studio coming soon! 

Christmas and New Year's Break!

Our studio is taking a break during the Christmas and New Year's season! Enjoy time with your family and the next session will be announced February 1st, 2016. Bless you this season!

Hiring!!

Please share the need! 

Hiring for the Winter session starting in January 2016!

Funflatables Fundraiser!

Tickets now on sale $6.00 each. Let us know in advance if you can, so we can be sure to have your tickets! Email at mastersdanceacademy@gmail.com or call Alyssa at 476-5595 to reserve yours today!

You may pick up tickets from the studio beginning Wednesday September 2nd, 9th & 16th from 10:30-11am or 5:00 to 5:30 pm OR Tuesdays September 8th and 15th from 4:00 to 7:00 pm! 

Community welcome, so feel free to invite friends and family! SALE ENDS 9/16!

Full for Fall 2015!

We are FULL for the Fall 2015!!

If you are still interested in enrolling in a class, contact Alyssa, Director, at mastersdanceacademy@gmail.com or call at 219-476-5595 and be added to our WAIT list for the Winter or Spring seasons!

We are always HIRING dance instructors that would like to impact children and agree with our mission statement!

 Email or contact Alyssa at the contact into above. Thanks!

Minds in Motion (MIMlearning.org) is integrated in our curriculum for all our dancers under 5 years.

FALL 2015 SCHEDULE 

Tuesdays, 4-5pm   -  Pre-Ballet (PB1) (Class 1), 4-5 yrs. 

Tuesdays, 5-6pm   -  Jazz/Ballet Combo (JB), 6 years and up

Tuesdays, 6-7pm   - Intermediate Ballet (IB), teacher placement

Wednesdays,  9:45-10:30am   -  Creative Movement (CM), 2-3 yrs + caregiver

Wednesdays, 4-5pm   -   Pre-Ballet (PB2) (Class 2), 4-5 yrs

 DRESS CODE information  can be found at discountdance.com, enter Teacher ID# 68186. 

Order your dancer's attire in time for the start of classes!

We are a nonprofit studio that stays open because of generous gifts from people like you! We have several ways to give in order to keep our tuition low, offer a scholarship fund, and pay our teachers. Please see the director for further information about giving!

Dance Camps Announced!

MDA Summer Dance Camps 2015

  Dance on Wednesdays in July 

Dance on Wednesdays in July!

Minds in Motion will be integrated into the elementary ballet classes this summer! 

Check out MIMlearning.org for more info!

Creative Movement, 2-3 yrs. + caregiver, 9:30-10:15am, Instructor Alyssa Chirch   $35

Pre-Ballet, 4-5 yrs & Dance with Me!+caregiver, 4-5pm, Instructor Alyssa Chirch $40

Beginning Ballet, 6 yrs and up, 5:30-6:30pm, Instructor Lauren Griffith $40

Intermediate Ballet, teacher placement required, 4-5pm, Heidi Maidl $40

If interested, please email your dancer's name and age to mastersdanceacademy@gmail.com

Register Now for Winter Session!

NOW REGISTERING!
New winter session is January 6th - February 28th. The focus will be technique during these 8 weeks. March 3rd begins the spring session with the last week of March being a spring break for all dancers. The end of the spring session and summer plans will be announced in the near future. See the register tab, schedule tab, and cost tab for more information.

Yankee Candle Fundraiser!

Start Christmas Shopping Now! 

This will help us to keep our prices low and affordable for anyone who loves to dance! Please consider helping us out by buying yourself and your loved ones Yankee Candles!! 

Click here to start shopping!

Welcome and fundraising!

Welcome to our new fall season of 2014!

We are so excited to have so many new students with us this season! We have several young ones in which this is their first 'classroom' experience and they are learning much about social skills, classroom expectations and taking turns. We also have several older students that are taking a big step to learning ballet or continuing their ballet education with us! We are a little crowded in the lobby between classes due to the class schedule, so we are changing the shoes area to 'inside' the class.  Your daughter will also learn how to 'check' herself in on an attendance sheet as she enters the class.  Please be patient with us as we work out some of the quirks and, shall I say, get through some 'growing pains'!?

Meagan, our Front Desk Assistant, not only helps us with tuition payments and dance wear orders, but is also working on fundraising for the studio!  We have a growing list of studio needs, such as barres, flooring, supplies and a scholarship fund! The scholarship fund currently has 2 requests for tuition assistance and Meagan sent out an email today regarding a Yankee Candle fundraiser! We are asking all our dancers to participate! :) The catalogs should be available in the next two weeks and more information will be coming!  We also have an ongoing fundraiser of tutus for sale!! Please consider purchasing them for Christmas presents? Birthday presents? Or purchase all of them for a ballet-themed birthday party! These funds go directly to pay for a dancer to take classes!

Tutus for Sale! $10!

Also small ones for dolly! $5!

New items this FALL!

Barre Fit classes will be offered this FALL!  Great for teens, adults and seniors!

Increase strength, flexibility and balance! 

'Hipster' infants welcome! 

Let us know if you're interested!

Open House and Classes soon!  See the dates and bring a friend! :) 

No cost, no obligation!

Porter County Fair!

Today as we were setting up, a little curly-headed, bright-eyed girl walked by our booth with her grandmother, arms full of boxes and items, on their way to set up their booth with eyes all aglow as I was unpacking tutus and setting up dancing girl pictures at our booth!  Each time she passed our booth her eyes became more fixed and curious as to what our booth was about! A couple times later, she and her grandmother said--'hi!!' with much curiousity and I look forward to meeting them officially this week! I could see her in our next classes to teach girls from a young age they are royalty to the King of Kings and should 'dance for joy' before Him!!

Thanks to our wonderful sponsors we will be at the Porter County Fair in the vendor booth building all this week! The fair runs from July 16-26th, from noon - 9 or 10pm each day! If you arrive around noon the gate is open with FREE ADMISSION! Those helping me with the booth also get 2 free passes into the fair (the passes have to be given back once in the fair)! We are located right next to the VCA booth as they are family and I work for them as well! I am looking forward to meeting many new people and telling them all about our dance studio!

Offers this week:

ENTER TO WIN: will have an entry to WIN a FREE month of classes for new students! There will also be a 2nd way to win given at the booth. If there are plenty of entries, we may give away SEVERAL months of classes!! So send your friends out to sign up! Share this with ALL YOUR FACEBOOK FRIENDS, your church friends and any other parents you know or don't know yet out there!!

TUTUS: There are tutus FOR SALE for $10 each of various colors and doll tutus FOR SALE for $5 each. I can't wait to see all the fluffy tutus dancing around the fair and people asking---where did you get that?!! Then all these children running to our booth! :) So we will see. I would just love to see that!

OPEN HOUSE: An announcement about our Open House and Open Classes is offered at the booth this week!!  All are welcome to come to our OPEN HOUSE to try classes for FREE!

REGISTER FOR CLASSES: There will be pink folders that contain registration information and new students can register for classes at the fair!

DISCOUNT FOR CURRENT STUDENTS: Current students can have a 50% discount on next month's tuition (when paying monthly) if they refer someone and they sign up for at least a month of classes! Current students come out in your tutu and help your mom at the booth this week!

See you at the fair!

Summer Classes NOW Enrolling!

Summer sessions started! You can still join!!!

Benefits of taking summer classes:

~Increase technical ability
~Evaluations based on national dance standards
~Make new friends and have fun!!
~Increase the love of dance!!
~Wear socks with ballet slippers and leotard instead of tights!! A wrap skirt suggested. See Sam for details. 
~Convenient weekly sessions of one class per week

~wholesome, Christ-centered learning

~small class sizes

~affordable

Summer Session Fees:

Mommy and Me! for 2 yrs. and Dance with Me! for children with Autism or Down Syndrome are $40 for 4 weeks or $50 for 8 weeks.

Creative Movement (3-5 yrs) and Beginning Ballet are $60 for 6 weeks or $99 for 12 weeks. 

There will be 2, 6 week sessions starting June 10th and starting July 22nd. 

3 new exciting things!!

Dance with Me! Its a new class for children under 10 yrs. that have Autism or Down Syndrome.  A parent or caregiver is a part of this class and it will be begin on April 5th! Let us know if you would like to join us! 

It is Master's Dance Academy's ONE YEAR Birthday Celebration in the month of March!!! We are celebrating YOU as part of our dance academy!! We also praise God for this growth in just one year! See our facebook page for how we have grown!

Join us for our summer classes!! We have just added the Dance with Me! dance class as well, see above! Also we may add some morning Barre Fit classes if there is interest and a Worship Dance class for adults/teens if there is interest! Let us know!!

Join Class!

It's as simple as 1, 2, 3.....

1. Print the registration form. [see register tab]
2. Bring it to your class. [see classes tab]
3. Bring check [see cost tab]
 
Classes close for Spring on April 15th.

Interview with Sandy Arena

I had the privilege of interviewing Sandy Arena from The Life Ballet, NY.  I have met her in person once and talked with her several times on the phone. She and I share the same passion of dancing for the Lord, and she and her family have been called to perform a dance nationwide that speaks about choice and healing in the aftermath. This dance is very powerful because it comes from her heart, it is  her testimony to how God has healed her. Enjoy getting to know Sandy better and find her online and on facebook!  Maybe she and her dancers can come to your area!

What is your background in dance?

I have always loved movement since I was a child. I was never afforded formal gymnastics or dance lessons as a child, so I did what I could to fulfill this craving I had in my body to express myself through movement by dancing or doing walk-overs wherever I could!

In second grade, I founded a cheerleading team with my best friend and in high school I participated in the dance team and it’s kind of embarrassing now to think back because we had no training, but just this pure love of dance. What I lacked in technical training, I made up for in passion, I suppose. 

In addition to this festival, I remember going to a jazz class with this same friend at a dance studio in our town. The owner of the studio encouraged us to audition for dance parts in a production.  I was very slender, limber and like I said passionate, so I guess she thought we had a chance. That same day, my friend and I stopped at a convenient store on our way home. My father so happened to be there (he was separated from my mother at the time and I rarely saw him and when I did, it usually wasn’t pleasant). He yelled at me in front of the store because I had been wearing tights and a leotard accusing me of basically being a whore. I did not mean to dress inappropriately. My mind didn’t even go there. For me, it was like a basketball player driving home in his uniform. It just didn’t occur to me. It was if the devil was trying to squash something in my soul from the beginning.  

When I gave birth to my oldest daughter Alexis, I was determined to provide her with formal dance instruction and enrolled her in her in a preschool ballet class when she was just 2 years old at a place I had been teaching fitness.  Alexis was shy her first year of classes and her teacher Miss Linda allowed me to attend the classes with her! I learned all the basics of ballet alongside my three-year-old daughter! Alexis continued dancing at this recital school studying ballet, tap and jazz through age 10. I was then a “dance mom” enjoying every opportunity and performance my daughter was in. 

When Alexis was in fifth grade, we enrolled her in a professional ballet training center. A few years thereafter when she was 13 years old, she asked us to open a Christian ballet studio for her! Life in the training center for her had been grueling and unkind in many ways, emotionally and socially. So we said “yes” to her request and opened a ballet school for her called the Amanda Rose Belmont Dance for Joy Studio. Our ballet company was named Yahweh Ballet. We started in the basement of a Christian school in our area and within one year had approximately 100 students enrolled. Our other two children Annaliese and Caleb were ages two and four when we opened the school, and I was definitely in over my head. We had no idea it would take off like it did.  It was a journey of faith and the Lord completely equipped our family for this assignment for each victory and each challenge, bringing us closer to Him every moment. It wasn’t so much about the dance school, but about learning more about the character and heart of our Lord as we heeded to what seemed impossible at the time. With God by my side, I learned how to HIRE dance teachers, how to manage many people and how to make a business work the HARD way, through hands-on experience. 

I ran the school until 2011 at which time our Alexis chose to make the school her own and her career, with me staying involved with a few key projects that are very close to my heart including my traveling show The Life Ballet. We closed Dance for Joy and Alexis re-opened as a private business called Mossa School of Dance (www.mossadance.com) and I then became the wind beneath her wings. It was then that I started taking ballet and conditioning classes at Mossa when I have time! 

Who says you can’t learn ballet at age 47 and in the company of my youngest daughter Annaliese, who was 8 years old at the time and with my oldest daughter Alexis as my teacher. I had a secret competition going with my younger daughter as we worked on our splits and plies together! Funny story was when my daughter Alexis scolded me in class for chewing gum and stopped the entire class to wait for me to throw my gum out.  

The whole story of Yahweh Ballet and this assignment from God can be read in my book Yahweh Ballet: Learning to Dance by Faith. I wrote this book as a way to inspire and encourage others to heed to the call of God no matter how seemingly impossible using our own journey with the dance school as example. The book is an easy read, and includes many beautiful dance photos from our shows and scriptures sharing lessons and principals of faith we learned along the way. The book can be purchased via my website at:   http://www.sandyarena.com/Buy.html

What are you most passionate about?
I am most passionate about serving the Lord and my family and about honoring the role of motherhood in all that I do! I am very certain of my purpose as a servant of God and a helper to my husband and our family.  This has to be the most satisfying and grounding feeling in the world, and one I would say took years to discover. When I finally heard the truth of this call for a woman’s life as it is laid out in the word of God, everything in my heart and life came together and clicked.  I try to funnel all of my interests and ministry callings through this vein whether it is homeschooling my children which I absolutely love to do or whether it is traveling with our show The Life Ballet which my whole family participates in! Motherhood and family is the greatest calling on a woman’s life and I truly try to highlight this through all of my work endeavors whether it is by way of cheerfully folding a load of laundry for the 5^th time in a day or whether it is sharing a blog post about the joys of being a wife and a mom!  I wouldn’t dance, or teach or perform unless I was doing it alongside and for my family. I wouldn’t do it, if it drew me away from them. I do it because it has become part of our lives and an effort that has drawn us closer together. Below is a picture of Sandy with her family and friends on a recent trip with The Life Ballet.

What Kind of Studio/Ministry Do You Have Now?

I am involved as a “visionary” kind of person in a lot of areas! I can best answer this question with the vision statement on my website Arts Illuminate. I chose this name as an umbrella name to the many things God has me involved in above and beyond dance including writing, dancing, teaching worship to children, photography, writing music, or performing with our traveling shows. Check it out if you get a chance at www.sandyarena.com or www.artsilluminate.com (they both go to the same place).

Here is the statement: Arts Illuminate was founded by Sandy Arena in 2013 as an umbrella organization to her family's work for the Kingdom including God's Girl Princess and Yahweh Ballet Worship Dance Classes, The Life Ballet Traveling Dance Production and Silent Dancers for Life. Arts Illuminate shares the healing light of Jesus Christ through photography and prophetic music by Sandy Arena, and visual, worship and performance arts focusing on the grace, love and mercy of Jesus Christ. "You will be a light to guide the nations. You will open the eyes of the blind. You will free the captives from prison, releasing those who sit in dark dungeons." Isaiah 42:7.

Tell us more about the Dance for Life/Silent Dancers Ministry.

I am very passionate about social justice issues and speaking out against abortion, as well as ministering healing through the arts to people suffering in the aftermath of abortion. Abortion is the greatest tragedy in our modern history this country has faced with 56 million lives lost since abortion was legalized in the United States in 1973. One in three women by age 45 has had an abortion. There are many hurting people after this choice, and I was one of them for many years suffering in the silence of shame. There are so many ways this issue needs to be battled, but one of the ways God has given to me is to share my own personal abortion testimony through our show The Life Ballet with the purpose of telling others this is not the choice to make in the midst of unplanned pregnancy, and also that there is healing and forgiveness after abortion for the millions who have made this choice. We travel with this production around the country and even performed it once in Canada. There is great power in the arts to minister truth and healing. We dedicate our show to all the children who never had the chance to dance. More information about The Life Ballet show can be found at www.thelifeballet.org.

We began dancing in front of abortion clinics in the summer of 2013 after an online friend sent me a simple message one day that said “Bless you as you dance to end abortion.” She is very involved in the prayer movement at abortion clinics. She was alluding to The Life Ballet in her message, but in some way the words jumped off the page to me in vision, and I saw us dancing in silence and intercession in front of clinics. I saw this as a growing movement that would involve people who love movement all over the country. When we move, we are worshipping and praying and interceding. It was very scary at first to do this. I had no idea what to expect. But like everything else, the Lord has been with us all the way. Now it is one of our favorite things to do and it is so powerful. We dance for an hour and wear t-shirts to unify our efforts. People stop and notice when they see dancers. Our efforts gain attention from passerbys, but more importantly God responds to our movement prayers. More information can be found at: Click Here.

 Is this something we could do in our area? 

Yes please! It is our hope and desire that others would join us in this effort. Our vision is to set up teams with a unifying vision! There is power in movement and in unity! We have Silent Dancers t-shirts and products available on our merchandise store - http://teamstore.gtmsportswear.com/thelifeballet. Unifying through clothing grabs visual attention and is teambuilding. 

Those interested in participating should email me at sandyarena@thelifeballet.org.

In raising our children to honor God as dancers, what are some important things we need to teach them as parents and dance teachers?

Know that what God has put in you to express yourself is powerful. Dance is a gift. Movement is a gift. It tells a story. It ministers healing. It turns our mourning into dancing (Psalm 30). It brings forth prayer, worship and praise (Psalm 149). It celebrates. It is cleansing to the body and freeing to the spirit. It touches those who watch it deeply. It touches those who are engaged in it deeply, as well. Be thankful to the Lord for this gift and know as you dance for Him that you are pioneering a method of communication that has been lost in the church. It is time that it is returned to the church as the powerful form of expression, prayer and praise that God created it to be.

Be kind to the dancer. The body is the “paint” or the “canvas”. It is the “instrument”. It is the song. To dance in front of others can be a vulnerable activity. Strive for excellence, but know perfection is impossible and kills the soul. A less than perfect move with expression can be more powerful than the most perfectly executed dance move done with a flat face. Dance for an audience of One (our Lord), no matter what kind of dance God has called you to do whether you are a prima ballerina on the grandest stages in the world, or whether you are dancing in front of an abortion clinic to raise awareness of the injustice of abortion. 

Be kind to each other when dancing together. Respect your teachers. Respect the Lord. Respect your body in what you wear and in what you eat. It is a physical pursuit and is challenging. Take care of your instrument – the body God gave you!   If you are attacked or criticized for modesty issues or movement issues, examine your heart – like the situation that happened with my father! That hurt my feelings so deeply and made me never want to dance again. It filled me with shame, not conviction. The thought that what I was wearing was not appropriate had not crossed my mind, because like Adam and Eve in the garden before the fall of sin, I didn’t even notice what I was wearing. Had my father suggested to me in a different, LOVING tone, I would have responded. Remember this if you feel it is your place to correct. Most likely, it’s not your place. 

Remember, above all else, to put on LOVE when representing Jesus and HE will show you the way!  

Open Classes--1st class of each month!

The first Tuesday and Saturday of every month is OPEN CLASS time, in which you and/or your child can try a class for free and no obligation! We look forward to meeting you!