Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer
JERUSALEM: THE New City, the Praise Academy of Dance's 2005 concert last Friday at Little Theatre, Tom Redcam Drive, St., Andrew, highlights both how far dancing in the church has come and how much further it has to go. As is indicated in chairperson Velma Johnson's message, it is a season of ministry in dance.
That was evident throughout the production and acted as both the strong and weak points of the production.
For years, dancing for praise was simply a woman (or women) in a white dress, moving between prostration and doing gospel hands (a version of jazz hands, with the fingers spread and pointing upward but without the shaking) to show their awe.
It is easy to understand why such movements were selected; by focusing on the hand rather than the body and continuously looking upward, there was no chance of confusing dance for praise with just dancing.
Yet, buoyed by scripture that refers to dancing, troupes like Praise Academy have pushed the envelope. However, because of the emphasis on praise, one thing has remained; music is often given priority over the dance itself, allowing the dance to often become nothing more than a pretty translation of the song. As such, with pieces such as the third movement, 'Come Lord Jesus', it was clear that the riveting, energetic song 'Behold He Comes' was given prominence over the dance.
However, Praise Academy's attempt to tell of the New Jerusalem through dance, a little drama and song shows a commitment to the strength of dance as a worthwhile form of communication. 'Jerusalem: The New City' features seven parts containing 23 dances. It begins with the promise of the New Jerusalem. Then it urges the recognition of sin and repentance. It then moved through Timothy and Revelations to depict the end of the world, judgement day and the creation of the New Jerusalem.
The third movement, 'Come Lord', was the clearest indication of how far praise dance has come, in part spurred by the changes in the music. The segment included two pieces done to Papa San's 'Put on the Armour' and 'Step Pon Di Enemy'. Both were refreshingly energetic pieces, though the second featured more interesting choreography. Geared as they were toward praise, the dances had to go beyond relying on the lazy cushioning of popular moves. They benefited well from that.
In its attempt to strengthen the dances through citing scripture and adding drama, the production ended up too long and was occasionally repetitive. In some cases, the scripture reading and dancing could simply have been combined rather than being done consecutively, in a similar manner to which 'Movement to Ephesians' transpired.
Several of the pieces were little more than meaningless movement to a song for which the dance relies on meaning. This has become a standard part of not just praise dance, but much of the dancing from younger troupes. Occasionally, however, as in 'Walk in Jerusalem', the production glided beyond the tendency to get stuck in repetitive, unimaginative moves.
The troupe has been generally striving toward increasing the strength of its dancers and experimenting with its choreography. It has married those goals with commendable use of lighting and some often eye-catching costuming.
Nonetheless, the troupe clearly continues to work within the confines of what the church believes is acceptable modes of dance. Yet, it still manages to show that dance can be an important part of praise; it simply needs to take the step to realise that the music should not be the complete message.
