Ballet

A Dream Realized

Katrina — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:06:19 -0400

When Juliana was 3 years old she saw her first Praise In Motion performance. She had just begun her first ballet class that year and when she soaked in that performance, she told us that she was going to dance on that stage. I assured her that she would dance on that stage because her recitals that year would be at the same theater. She promptly proclaimed that, no, she was going to dance with THEM on the stage. She recognized that she would have to be older, but was adamant and over the years she has never waivered in her determination! God has nurtured her dream and His gifts in her to bring her to today. She was invited to audition for Praise In Motion on May 2, 2009 despite being only 10 years old (requirements are that you be 12 or older). Today, she received the results and has indeed achieved her dream and been invited into Praise In Motion!!! Praise God for His wonderful gifts and for Juliana's desire to use those gifts to give back to God through dance!

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Dance Recitals

Wayne — Mon, 04 May 2009 09:10:48 -0400

Juliana's dance recitals are on Saturday, May 30, 2:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., at Meadowcreek. Admission is free. Each recital should last between one and a half and two hours.

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All-Female Staff

Wayne — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 08:38:43 -0400

This is just too funny! Read it all the way through. With all the misandry in our culture, I'm glad at least one woman has learned to appreciate our strengths.

The reality is, God made men and women to be different. We excel at different roles. This doesn't make one better than the other, per se, although one is certainly better than the other at some things and the other better than the one at different things. Denying our differences sets us up for failure, something our culture is beginning to reap big-time.

I must relate a counterexample. Praise In Motion is a dance ministry founded, led, populated, and performed entirely by women (and girls). Only the Tech Crew has men—and almost only men—for hopefully obvious reasons. In PIM, I am only dimly aware of the kind of <female dog>iness and fighting that the above TV company experienced, and it is amazingly minimal—almost nonexistent. One must be deep in the culture of PIM to notice anything at all. Also, those who tend to participate in such stereotypically female nonsense are also the ones who tend to weed themselves out of PIM, largely because their hearts are not right with the Lord.

These more than forty females come together with one common purpose: worship the Lord through dance. By keeping the Lord as their focus, their purpose, and their Master, these women successfully subjugate their sinful natures (not that being female is inherently sinful any more than being male is; we all have innate sin). They perfect their skills as they perfect their hearts. Every week, classes and rehearsals begin with a group devotion. They all bring their Bibles. They've done their homework. They spend lots of time in prayer. They love and support each other in times of need...and in the good times.

I don't propose that PIM is perfect by any means, but keeping the Lord as their Master and Counselor, these ladies truly bring honor and glory to Him. These forty-odd women subjugate their flesh to the Spirit and, in so doing, very successfully avoid all the hell the poor TV company owner endured with her modest staff of seven. One wonders how the TV company would have fared had they existed to glorify God rather than womanhood.

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Swan Lake

Wayne — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:51:54 -0500

Atlanta Dance Theatre presents...

Swan Lake

Two performances only!

March 28, 2009

Roswell Cultural Arts Center

Performance Times:
2:00 pm Saturday, 3/28/09 (Public/Scout Performances)
7:30 pm Saturday, 3/28/09 (Public/Scout Performances)

Atlanta Dance Theatre and Artistic Director Jonnie Kelley bring the family story and music new life, with premier choreography by Kristy Nilsson, gorgeous costumes from Europe, and the artistry of ADT's dancers...this show will dazzle you!

Ticket Prices:
~ Checks, Visa and MasterCard accepted ~
Students/Seniors/Scouts $ 10.00
Group (14 or more) Tickets: $14.00
Adult Tickets: $16.50
Plus 7% tax

Call: (404) 438-3028

Mail checks payable to:
Atlanta Dance Theatre
Attn: Ginger Brown
8560 Holcomb Bridge Road, Suite 118
Alpharetta, GA 30022

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PIM's Spring 2009 Concert

Wayne — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 13:44:13 -0500

"Rejoice", Praise In Motion's spring concert for 2009, is scheduled for April 18 (Kennesaw) and 25 (Suwanee), 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. each Saturday. Mark your calendars and come worship יהוה (the LORD) along with these professional-level dancers!

Also be sure to stop by PIM's new forum, register, and participate!

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Support Praise In Motion with GoodSearch

Wayne — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:12:09 -0500

An easy way to support Praise In Motion financially is to use GoodSearch as your search engine. GoodSearch uses the Yahoo engine, so it's a good one. Every time you use GoodSearch, a good percentage of the advertising income is given to PIM.

The legal name of PIM is Law Ministries (Lilburn, GA). Be sure to select this as your charity of choice before searching. (This charity will be saved on your computer as a "cookie", so it will be remembered thereafter.) You may also use the direct address (http://www.goodsearch.com/?charityid=886602) that has the charity ID included. Bookmark GoodSearch or even use it as your homepage. There are also browser toolbars to make it more convenient.

Please help PIM by using GoodSearch and by spreading the word to others to use GoodSearch as their search engine. Thank you!

(Ref. PIM's vision.)

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Gotta Dance!

Wayne — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 12:09:23 -0400

It seems dancers can't help but dance:

My genes can't stop me dancing
Jennifer Viegas
Discovery News

Wednesday, 22 February 2006

Dancing
Genes that govern aspects of social communication, human bonding and spirituality help to determine whether you'll make a good dancer, research suggests. Professional dancers are born with at least two special genes that give them a leg up on the rest of us, according to a new study.

Recent research also has suggested that intelligence, athletic ability and musical talent are linked to our genes and brain hard-wiring.

With dancing added to the list, the evidence indicates that certain individuals are born with a predisposition to specific behaviours and talents, and that at least some of these qualities may represent evolved attributes.

"I think that dancing is an evolved trait," says Professor Richard Ebstein, who led the study, published in a recent issue of the PLoS Genetics journal.

"Animals have courtship dances and I think that human dancing represents the further development of a very ancient animal trait," says Ebstein, a psychology professor at Hebrew University's Scheinfeld Center for Genetic Studies.

"Also the fact that dancing is universal and existed in all human societies, even those communities of man separated geographically by tens of thousands of years [Aboriginal Australians, native Americans, Africans, Eurasians] attests to the very early origin of dance in our evolution as a species."

First, find your dancers

Ebstein, doctoral student Rachel Bachner-Melman and their colleagues examined the DNA of 85 currently performing dancers and their parents.

They then did the same thing for 91 competitive athletes and 872 people who neither regularly dance nor often participate in sports.

The scientists discovered that dancers tend to possess variants of two genes that are involved in the transmission of information between nerve cells.

One of the identified genes is a transporter of serotonin, a brain transmitter that contributes to spiritual experience.

The second is a receptor of the hormone vasopressin, which many studies suggest modulates social communication and human bonding.

"People are born to dance," says Ebstein. "They have [other] genes that partially contribute to musical talent, such as coordination, sense of rhythm. However, the genes we studied are more related to the emotional side of dancing - the need and ability to communicate with other people and a spiritual side to their natures that not only enable them to feel the music, but to communicate that feeling to others via dance."

Ebstein believes some adults may possess the special gene variants, but they perhaps never nurtured the related skills or recognised their hidden talent.

"Many of us surely have the ability, but for a hundred reasons never exploited that particular talent," he says.

Ebstein explained that the identified genes seem to be linked to every form of dancing, from tap to hula, since all usually involve social communication and connecting to music or rhythms.

Other factors to consider

Professor Irving Gottesman, a senior fellow in psychology at the University of Minnesota and an emeritus professor from the University of Virginia, is one of the world's leading experts on genes as they relate to human behaviour and psychology.

Gottesman emphasises previous research has shown that genes are only one part of "complex causality" systems that make us who we are.

For example, he confirms that intelligence can be in our genes, but that socioeconomic considerations, such as a quality education, can have a greater influence on a person's intellect.

Ebstein agrees that genes are not the whole story. He says those of us without a twinkle-toed predisposition can still become good dancers, since "it's not only a question of having the right genes, but also training and motivation, that make professional dancers".

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Decline of High Culture

Wayne — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:28:09 -0400

Granted, my perception is not typical, I'm sure, but it sure seems to me that high culture (for lack of a better term) is declining. Theater, art, ballet, literature, etc., all seem to be suffering more now than a few years ago--suffering from apathy or disinterest. I believe it's largely due to an overall decline in our civilization, fueled by ignorance and a piss-poor education system. What do you think?

With homeschooling on the rise, will high culture experience a resurgence of popularity? I wonder if homeschooling will be effectively destroyed before this happens. Of course, how few homeschoolers actually subscribe to a classical method, a style of education more prone to developing an appreciation and participation in high culture (in my opinion anyway)? As much as we may try to swim against the current, I think our culture is being destroyed, and high culture is going down with the ship.

What do you think about my observations and my hypothetical explanation? Is my perception skewed from reality? Even if my perceptions are reasonably accurate, is my explanation way off base? If both are reasonable, what might be the next level of causation?

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"The Gift" Is Coming

Wayne — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:21:42 -0400

Praise In Motion presents The Gift in November (15th & 22nd). The PIM dancers have been rehearsing it for a while now. I'm lucky enough to see just a little bit of these rehearsals. It's gonna be great! I hope you make the time to see at least one of their performances this fall.

If you know of any little girls (or boys!) who might be interested in ballet, bring 'em! They can get backstage tours and meet the dancers, and they'll be blessed by the message. You, too!

If you know nothing about ballet, that's okay, too. There's only a few things you need to watch for. Most importantly, notice God's message of love and redemption. Then, enjoy the phenomenal grace and strength exhibited by highly trained dancers. Every gesture and step is deliberate. Each movement speaks, telling a part of the story, developing the plot, and sharing emotions. The laws of physics are sometimes defied. The grace and fluidity of movement are among the most beautiful things you'll ever see, and to see them performed in worship of the Almighty is breathtaking. Surely, Praise In Motion offers a taste of what's to come when we're before the throne of the King!

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Dance Resumes

Wayne — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 08:32:47 -0400

The new dance year has begun. As I first stepped into En Pointe's (EP) studio yesterday afternoon, I was inundated with small tasks, queries, and greetings. It was pleasantly crowded, and I was a bit overwhelmed. Nevertheless, I was happy to be back.

Juliana, on the other hand, was ecstatic to be returning to dance, especially given her first class of the year was Beginning Pointe. She's been looking forward to pointe for a very long time. Juliana's schedule this year is quite full. She has 11.5 hours of dance classes each week, including jazz, modern, theatrical, choreography, worship, and lots of ballet and pointe.

The Lord was hard at work for EP even in the off season. The studio's printer/copier finally died. Of course, there was no money to replace it, but a replacement was needed right away. Unknown to us, the director had just thrown it away. Unknown to the director, we had just learned of a nearly new printer/copier that was available for free. We picked it up, performed a bit of surgery on it to make it work, and EP had its replacement. When we told the director of this great find, she told us how she had just thrown the old one away and had no idea how to replace it. Such beautiful orchestrations occur regularly at EP and PIM, the Lord being the Provider He is.

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