Praise Dancing
Here are some snippets of an interesting article I saw over at In The Faith.
At the St. James AME Church in East San Jose, Calif., young people worship by dancing — choreographed movements inspired by everything from ballet to the latest MTV videos.
It’s an alternative way of praying that helps bring kids into the faith, say church members. It’s also a national trend, said Karla Jenkins, co-coordinator of Christian Dance Fellowship USA, part of a network of thousands of Christian dance groups worldwide.
“Praise dancing is a ministry,” says 17-year-old Ariana Starks at a recent Saturday morning practice at St. James, where she shimmied her shoulders to vibrant gospel music. “Most young people go to church and find it boring. This is a way to attract people into the house of God who wouldn’t normally want to come.”
In recent years, dance clothing stores and mail-order catalogs have begun selling praise-dance garments and props. Praise-dance Web sites are popping up, churches are hosting praise-dance concerts and conferences, and dance studios are offering classes.
Dance worship, or dance ministry, involves prayer movement, sacred dance and liturgical dance. It has a wide range of interpretations depending on the church and the denomination.
“It’s a variety of 20 or 30 styles of dance from jazz to modern to tap, used for the purpose of glorifying God, evangelizing and ministering,” says Ruth Ann Mayer, who has written two books and launched her own Web site (www.christiandance.com) about praise dance. The difference between secular dance and praise dance, she says, is its intent.
“The Lord is using us through the art of dance to preach the word of God,” says Debra Crenshaw, founder of the Fremont-based Christian dance company Dance For His Glory. “It can be entertaining, and people can get enjoyment from it, like the purpose of secular dance. But that’s not our sole purpose.”
I find it difficult to accept dance as ministry. I see no solid Biblical basis for it (despite what this article says). I guess I just don’t see how “people can express prayer through movement when they can’t say it or sing it.” God doesn’t tell us to pray through movement. It seems to me this is just another way of taking the emphasis off the traditional church staples of preaching and prayer.
You can read the rest of the article here.
Comments (24) »
1. lois martin
January 12, 2006
11:42 PM
i wouild like to know more about praiedancing
2. mikbry24
January 13, 2006
8:29 AM
Personally, I’m not totally against this concept, but I think we should be very careful in doing something like this not to get caught up in the latest dance moves, suggestive movements, etc. I remember seeing the New Young Messiah a couple of times and a couple of times during that presentation, they had some “ballerina types” dressed in all white, long flowing outfits doing praise dance during some of the music. It was actually very moving and appropriate. That being said, that is the ONLY time I’ve seen what I would call appropriate praise dancing….not that it hasn’t occurred elsewhere.
3. Tim
January 13, 2006
8:52 AM
Do note that the article dealt particularly with dance in the worship service. I do not think dance in and of itself is evil, but I don’t think that it has a place in the worship service, and certainly does not replace prayer or singing, elements that are commanded in Scripture.
4. mikbry24
January 13, 2006
9:48 AM
I totally agree with you on this. The whole motivation about “attracting more people because church is boring” mentality is a wrong motivation that will cause us to do just about anything to get people to come. Adrian Rogers once said, “It is not our job to fill the pew; it is our job to fill the pulpit.” I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment.
Mike
5. Tim
January 13, 2006
9:50 AM
“It is not our job to fill the pew; it is our job to fill the pulpit.”
Now that’s a quote I’ll have to file away somewhere.
6. david's child
January 13, 2006
7:11 PM
oh my, what a great conversation!!!
to keep my comments brief, i will ditto the necessity to keep sacred dance, sacred and sincere. indeed, it is set apart from the motivations of much secular dance and is not well-purposed as entertainment.
even so, dance (in the form of worship as celebration, acts of obedience, etc.) is well documented in the Bible. Whether it be the well known celebratory dance of King David (2 Samuel 6:14-15), obedient marching around Jericho (Joshua 6:1-5, 20), or the intercessory raising of Moses hands (Exodus 17:11-13) dance (or movement, in general) has many biblical references — not to mention our command to praise in Psalm 149: “…Let them praise His name with the dance; Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp. FOR THE LORD TAKES PLEASURE IN HIS PEOPLE…” (verses 3-4)
Bottom line, moving or dancing in the Lord is about “rejoicing in our Maker.” God takes pleasure in our praise…He inhabits the praises of His people, afterall. And, believe it or not, He can use all artistic disciplines as a means of ministry (it’s not only about music and singing; they all go hand-in-hand.)
okay, for the sake of brevity, i digress. I’m just a bit passionate about it all. For those interested, www.dancingforhim.com has great resources in this regard and there is an apropos conference to be held soon, entitled “ONEaccord ~ a corporate worship training experience” in Tennessee (USA).
i hope the info. is helpful.
7. jamel
January 21, 2006
3:51 PM
I do not believe that enyone has stated or believes that praise dancing takes the place of prayer or worship. It enhances the worship experience. Young people must analyze the lyrics of gospel and Christian music and dance in ways that echo the words. It has a wonderful place in the worship service. For those who commented, but had yet to experience a true praise dance, not some bootleg attempt that did not uplift God, I encourage you to look objectively and experience a group of mature and focused individuals and then make a decision. You just might change your mind.
8. Natalie
January 21, 2006
11:15 PM
I would like to know where can I buy Praise Dancing videos of DVD’s in Florida.
9. chris
January 23, 2006
5:33 AM
I don’t know why the author stated that dancing is not mentioned in the Bible,read Exodus and other places in the Old Testament. I totally agree with some of the other comments.
It disturbs me that praise dancing is sometimes used as an intertainement ploy to “fill the pews”. That is not our duty as Christians. And getting your “moves” from the latest MTV videos is not appropriate for prasie dancing. THe Lord wants pure and sanctified worship, not some dance moves that are done for worldly purposes, desires, and entertainment.
Let’s remember WHO we were created for and WHY we were created. We were created for GOD and we were created in order to give HIM the utmost PRAISE and GLORY.
Sorry,but this won’t happen with MTV moves…By the way what is a Christian person doing watching MTV for dance moves anyway?
Kinda of makes you think…doesn’t it….Let’s remember to keep ourselves separate…Remember N.O.T.W. We as Christian are not supposed to be of THIS world!!!!!
10. Greg Chambers
March 14, 2006
2:40 AM
God is a Spirit and must be worshipped in Spirit an in truth.. by the Holy Spirit and not by the spirits of this world. and by the truth of God’s word. There is Spirit filled dancing lead by the Holyghost that is not taught by man just like speaking in tongues is as the spirit gives us the utterance and not by teaching of a man.
There is noting wrong with dancing in the Holy Spirit or in jubilee and thanksgiving, but to be taught how to dance before God is like being taught how to speak in tongues. Most of this dance is of the world and all of God’s word says.. Learn not the ways of the world..Jeremiah 10:2, Love not the world nor the things in the world. IJOhn 2:15, Come out from among them, then I wil receive you…So all worship is not acceptable by God unless it is different from the world…Lev10:1-10….The bible says be not conformed to the world, be not spotted like the world..so… If the word consistently sas Love NOT, Learn NOT, be NOT conformed to, be NOT spotted with, etc… then what part of NOT, does modern day churches Not understand? What spirit is telling them the oppsite of the word today, that it is ok to disobey the word to entice children? Oppsite means anti.. So what spirit is teaching an Anti-word doctrine today? Only a cult would to have taught children to learn how to do the “Twist” in the 60’s to win children to churches, or “The Charleston” in the 1920s to win the world to God. All of this is the falling away from following the word as the bible said will happen in the last days as Paul said some shall use seducing spirits to get people in and Jude said it will get worse as it will creep in over a long period of time.
So the bible teaches against worshipping and dancing like the world as in Lev 10:1-10, Exo 32, Numbers 25, Numbers22, IKings 18:21, Rom 12:1-3, IICor 6:14-18, and many more. Our parents pastors and their parents pastors preached what I havelisted today, only preachers have stopped preaching these scripures today, so what I saying used to be preached by all preachers, only men have changed but the word does not change.
11. Philippa
March 14, 2006
10:04 AM
Ah, this is nothing new. Under the ministry of the late, great David Watson (who died of cancer in 1984), St Michael-le-Belfrey Church in York blazed the trail in liturgical dance. That centre of Anglican renewal also led to a blossoming of the Christian arts, including the Riding Lights Theatre Company, going strong to this very day.
Sacred - including EXUBERANT - dance features sometimes in the Old Testament, and personally I have no problem with praise dance as a concept, any more than I have a problem with any other type of art form used to glorify God.
But I certainly agree that none of these things should ever REPLACE prayer and preaching. :)
12. jinnon
March 14, 2006
1:16 PM
God bless the praise dancer! one love=jesus christ
13. Daniele
May 19, 2006
6:12 PM
its good to praise dance as long as your glorifying God only. praise dancing is not for the world its for God. the bible says all things were created by him and for him. All I have to say is read Exodus 15:20 2samuel 6:14 Psalm 150:4 Isaiah 6:8
Tim, how are we going to fill the pulpit if theres no one in the pews first.
14. Chelsea Crutcher
May 27, 2006
4:50 PM
I read the first paragraph at the top of this page and it said “choreography inspired by ballet and THE LATEST MTV videos”. That really hit my SPIRIT wrong, first of all THE HOLY SPIRIT should be the only inspirtion in your dancing unto the LORD. Second we as the body of Christ should be setting the standard for the world. The world is looking to see the truth in the body of Christ and if they are look at us Daning and acting just like them, they’ll be confused. We are suppose to set our selves apart the Bible says we are a Paculiar people. If you’re looking to fill your Church by inviting things of the world in YOU ARE doing the WRONG thing. You should be looking to SAVE SOULS of the WORLD.
Chelsea Crutcher from Eden Prairie MN I’m only 13yrs. old and led by the HOLY SPIRIT!!!!
15. Daniele
May 30, 2006
5:16 PM
I don’t think that praise dancers should be watching MTV and getting dance moves from them, that crazy you will confuse people. God is not a God of confusion . we are not suppose to bring the world to the church we are supposed to take the church to the world so they can turn from there ways and follow Christ not the world .Our job as Christians is to compel men to come to Christ so how are we going to do that by telling them we get our moves from MTV isn’t that of the world. Be careful of what you are doing when it comes to souls. I hope people understand that Praise Dancing is a ministry you cant do it any kind of way its to Glorify the Lord not the world. DO NOT PLAY AROUND WHEN IT COMES TO THE LORD.
16. Graham Cooke
June 5, 2006
5:24 PM
This is an aswer to Natalie, post #8. Buy your worship dance videos at wwww.worshipsteps.com
17. Dancer
June 6, 2006
9:18 AM
This is for Chelsea and Daniele, in response to their comments #14 and #15 - sorry it’s a bit long.
Would you say, for example, that Christian musicians should not take inspiration from “secular” music styles? Very few people would, and, if this is your view, then it rules out virtually all Christian music, both traditional and modern, with the possible exception of ancient plainsong.
The same is true for dance. I cannot think of any form of dance that is being used within the Church that is not based on some form of dance found in the “world”. In fact, most of them are pretty much the same, which is actually fine.
What gives any form of art a value and purpose within the Kingdom of God is not the style, but the intent of the artist and the message that the art communicates. A seemingly abstract dance could be just that, it could be an offering of worship to a false god, or it could be worship to the one true God. It all depends on the motives of the dancer and, to some extent, the understanding of the audience.
Chelsea suggested that the Holy Spirit should be our only inspiration. If she (or anyone else) created a dance that was said to be solely inspired by the Holy Spirit, I can assure you it would draw on one or more recognisable dance styles which have been developed in a “secular” environment. As Christians ministering through the arts, I am completely convinced that we cannot practice our art in isolation. It’s just not possible.
Daniele was concerned about confusion. If someone went to see Ballet Magnificat (a large professional Christian ballet company, with a powerful ministry), would they be “confused” because the style of dance was very similar to the American Ballet Theatre or any number of other ballet companies worldwide? I doubt that completely, even though the dance steps and movements will be the same. But I can assure you that Ballet Magnificat’s work is anointed and inspired by the Holy Spirit after much prayer and seeking the Lord from all involved in that company.
Dance has worth in the Kingdom because we can use this art form (that has existed in one form or another for thousands of years) to express and communicate Christian concepts. It’s just crazy to suggest that we can create something called “Christian dance” that is different to “secular dance” (I would challenge anyone to do that).
If you’re dancing ballet, then you’ll be inspired by the overall ballet scene. Likewise with hip-hop, you’ll draw inspiration from others working in that area, including from what you see on MTV.
This relates to Chelsea’s suggestion that we’re somehow bringing the world in by using dance that’s similar to what is found in the world. I think that’s completely the wrong approach and is confusing the medium and the message. Would you expect to play the piano differently in “Christian” and “secular” situations? Of course not - the principles of music are universal. Likewise with dance.
Of course, there are things in all types of “secular” dance that aren’t relevant to dancing for the Lord. But that doesn’t mean the whole style or concept is worthless. I am primarily a modern dancer, and the way I dance is the way I’ve been taught (I can’t dance any other way), and I dance the same way in both Christian and secular situations. Obviously the focus and intent of my dancing is different in a Christian situation, but there’s very little to differentiate the way the two in terms of the movements.
Don’t condemn me for that - it just means that I’m a trained dancer. The technical training I’ve received in a Christian environment is basically the same as what I’ve received in a “secular” environment.
(But I am aware that with hip-hop or MTV style dancing, there’s a lot of sexual content. But even with this, it is possible to separate out that message from the medium of street dance and use this style in a way that does communicate a Christian message).
In comment #13, Daniele helpfully says that God has created all things. Amen! That’s completely the right idea. My understanding is that in the Hebrew (biblical) language, there are no words for secular or religious. The concepts don’t exist.
So what we should be looking to do is dance for the Lord, using any style of dance that is suitable for expressing the message we want to convey. It’s my firm belief, gained over 20 years involvement in dance ministry, that this is possible with numerous styles of dance, including ballet, modern/contemporary, jazz, hip-hop/MTV/street, folk, even some ethnic styles.
I hope this helps and hasn’t upset anyone.
18. Sean
June 6, 2006
2:52 PM
You can also get praise & worship dance videos at www.gospeldancer.com. They have a variety of videos from different dance groups.
19. Keren Baptiste
June 6, 2006
8:51 PM
To all those who have no idea what praise dancing is, I am a praise dancer here to clarify. Many of you all have said that dance should not be done in church/ worship service and that it has no biblical background, WRONG!!!!! To all those who have no idea what praise dancing is, I am a praise dancer here to clarify. Many of you all have said that dance should not be done in church/ worship service and that it has no biblical background, WRONG!!!!!
20. Keren Baptiste
June 6, 2006
8:53 PM
To all those who have no idea what praise dancing is, I am a praise dancer here to clarify. Many of you all have said that dance should not be done in church/ worship service and that it has no biblical background, WRONG!!!!! To all those who have no idea what praise dancing is, I am a praise dancer here to clarify. Many of you all have said that dance should not be done in church/ worship service and that it has no biblical background, WRONG!!!!! In 2 Samuel 6:14 it illustrates how David (one of the greatest kings in history and a man who was after God’s own heart) danced before the Lord with all his might. Ecclesiastes 3:4 speaks of a time to dance. In Jeremiah 31 God speaks to Israel telling them that they are His people and their sorrow will fade and they will pick up their tambourines and dance. Psalms 149:3 “Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp.” Psalms 150:4 “Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.” I could go on and on because there are many many more scriptures on dance. If you are going to be against something, please do your research. On the other hand, I do agree that praise dancing movements should not be the latest mtv dance moves. They should be inspired by the Holy Spirit. Praise dance is sacred and should be kept so. When I praise dance, I minister not perform. That is the difference between sacred dance and secular dance. Secular dance is done to perform for an audience, sacred dance is done to bring praise and worship to God as He wants us to do. Praise dancers are there to help bring the congregation into worship, to do this, they themselves must first be in worship. It is very important that people who want to start praise dancing and those who already do so, must first learn everything there is to learn about sacred dance and its background, how it should be done and what should be worn. In Exodus 28, it speaks of Holy garments which should be worn when ministering. The praise dancer should take note of this. For example, it speaks of an ephod that was made for Aaron. Praise dancers should be fully covered when dancing, an ephod is supposed to be worn on top of a leotard. Personally, God is using my life and the gifts He’s given me to touch people and to minister to them and myself through dance. It is a Holy ministry that should be taken seriously, before one can form their opinions on this, thorough research should be done.
21. Robin
June 6, 2006
11:14 PM
I guess I just don’t understand how watching someone praise dancing will minister to the congregation and guide them into worship.
Any insights would be helpful.
22. Melanie
June 7, 2006
9:17 AM
This is an interesting post. I participated in a “worship dance” in highschool so this post caught my eye. The dance which I participated in was accompanied by a scripture reading from Revelation four talking about being before the throne of God. It was an interesting cross between drama and interpretive dance which had been correographed by another student who was a dancer. I really enjoyed participating in the dance and allowing my mind to really meditate on what it will be like to be before His throne.
However, I agree with many of the other comments. In these dances we must be careful that they are only performed out of worship to God and that the correography which accompanies them is performed in a manner that is not suggestive. We also should never allow this to replace prayer or the preaching and reading of God’s Word.
Personally, I think that teaching believers to grow in their prayer life, dig deeper into the Word, and grow as a community of believers going into all the world to proclaim the Gospel is the utmost importance. Dance then, it would seem, is not wrong in and of itself, but we must evaluate its importance in the Church.
I believe that especially for the teens in the Church today, we need to be spending our time helping them build a Biblical theology of God - that they may know and love Him above all else. Christ needs to be central. Too often we sell our young people short by assuming that they need other means to excite their hearts for God. As the Church and as those whom God has appointed to lead these young people, let us come together to encourage our young people to walk in Spirit and truth.
To dance or not to dance? A trivial issue. Let’s glorify God in whatever we choose.
23. Melanie
June 7, 2006
9:18 AM
This is an interesting post. I participated in a “worship dance” in highschool so this post caught my eye. The dance which I participated in was accompanied by a scripture reading from Revelation four talking about being before the throne of God. It was an interesting cross between drama and interpretive dance which had been correographed by another student who was a dancer. I really enjoyed participating in the dance and allowing my mind to really meditate on what it will be like to be before His throne.
However, I agree with many of the other comments. In these dances we must be careful that they are only performed out of worship to God and that the correography which accompanies them is performed in a manner that is not suggestive. We also should never allow this to replace prayer or the preaching and reading of God’s Word.
Personally, I think that teaching believers to grow in their prayer life, dig deeper into the Word, and grow as a community of believers going into all the world to proclaim the Gospel is the utmost importance. Dance then, it would seem, is not wrong in and of itself, but we must evaluate its importance in the Church.
I believe that especially for the teens in the Church today, we need to be spending our time helping them build a Biblical theology of God - that they may know and love Him above all else. Christ needs to be central. Too often we sell our young people short by assuming that they need other means to excite their hearts for God. As the Church and as those whom God has appointed to lead these young people, let us come together to encourage our young people to walk in Spirit and truth.
To dance or not to dance? A trivial issue. Let’s glorify God in whatever we choose.
24. Tim Challies
June 7, 2006
9:40 AM
It has been two years since I posted this. I suppose my thoughts may have changed a little bit (not that I said a lot about what I thought when I posted it). I would say that dance can be a perfectly good way of honoring God, but I don’t think it should be part of a worship service. So dance in school productions and even dance for a vocation if you are so-gifted. But don’t dance during church services.