Dance is an art form that is beyond my comprehension (and if you've ever seen me dance, you'll know what I'm saying). I only caught the last 30 minutes or so of Thursday's So You Think You Can Dance episode – the top ten guys and the top ten girls were unveiled. Each group performed one piece and then they combined to perform one big piece at the end of the show. Sonya Tayeh choreographed the girls number. It was quite stunning to watch the girls perform nearly flawlessly all decked out in their colorful geisha-like outfits.
About the only dance terms I know are pirouette and plié. I don't think they did any of those. I wish I had the words to describe it … but I don't. And I think that is part of why the show captures my imagination so strongly.
It is a beauty that is foreign to me. It catches me off-guard … unlike American Idol.
I certainly enjoy American Idol, but as a musician, it's an art form that I get. The musical layers and textures and nuances make sense. I recognize when a groove shifts from a straight-time into a shuffle; I notice a iv-minor chord snuck into a progression; I appreciate the complexity of a melodic passage. None of it is foreign to me.
After the episode ended - with dance sequences still playing in my head - images of the church (even our church) started to form. I thought about the contagious Christ-Kingdom revolution we are aiming to live – one that dances, twirls, laughs and loves – a choreography and a beauty that is foreign to much of the world around us.
That must have been what it was like to encounter Jesus. He lived a dance no-one had ever seen before – spilling over with unimaginable wholeness and undreamed of life. Granted, our dance moves may still be simple pirouettes and pliés, but little glimpses of disarming beauty are emerging and people's imaginations (like our host school's administration) are being captured.
So you think you can dance? Just wait until you see His next number.
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