Spiritual Issues and Philosophy
Students will participate in, present, and teach dance that demonstrates a personal philosophy grounded in the gospel of Jesus Christ
Artifact 1.1
The majority of dance
classes I have taken have incorporated gospel principles and thoughts into the
lessons or at least within the class as a whole. I never had a dance class that
totally left out any sort of gospel connection. Every class either started with
a prayer and/or devotional or had more personal application throughout the
class period.
Two teachers that really
stand out to me in incorporating gospel principles are Pam Musil and Kathleen Sheffield.
I had the opportunity to
take Kinesiology from Pam and every day we learned about how the body was a
gift from God. Each lesson had spiritual ties and connections that related to
what we were learning about our bodies.
Kathleen was absolutely
amazing and my testimony definitely grew when I had class with her. Practically
every single movement we were taught had a spiritual application. As we were
going through different movement Kathleen would talk through different ways
that the movement was related to something spiritual and how our bodies truly
are gifts from God.
Artifact 1.2
Personal Treaties
Statements of Belief About Dance
Statements of Belief About Dance
I believe dance is a gift from God. It is a talent for
many and an enjoyable activity for others. We are to develop and share
the gifts and talents that God has given us. That is our gift back to
Him.
I believe testimony is a large component of dance. Dancers
can share their testimony with those watching and can also strengthen their own
testimony through dance. K. Newell Dayley said "Those who seek to follow
Christ are free to receive the enlightenment and pure joy that flows through
art centered in Him... art centered in Christ immerses us in joy!"
I believe dance is not limited to any one body type, age,
gender, race, religion, or financial situation. Everyone has the ability
to dance and can dance.
I believe dance can connect cultures. We learn to respect
and honor other countries by learning their dances. Every single person
is a child of God and dance is one way we can connect with those other children.
I believe we can come to know a person better by seeing them
dance. Not only is it how they physically dance, but how their spirit
dances.
I believe dance is a way to learn our history. We can feel
a connection to family and those of the same faith and culture through dance.
I believe dance can be fun, exciting, difficult, exhausting,
happy, sad, painful, and anything else (even mathematical). It is a way
to express emotion and simply enjoy moving in the body that God has given us.
Elder L. Tom Perry spoke about how the pioneers danced to keep their spirits
high even though they were going through some extremely difficult trials.
I believe dance is a way for an individual and groups to say
things that cannot be said with words. Sometimes there are no words for
what needs to be said.
I believe dance and music can speak volumes together.
There is such a sweet connection when the two are combined. Silence and
stillness are a part of music and dance as well.
I believe dance is an enjoyable form of exercise. God has
given us these amazing bodies. He has also given us dance as a way to
keep them in good physical condition.