About
About Divine Theater and Dance
This program was developed by the author Matthew Davis as exploration for the Fahs Collaborative based in the Meadville Lombard Theological School. In 2014 the Fahs Collaborative selected three fellows who, as the Collaborative's website says, "research and propose innovative solutions to challenges to faith formation and practices within religious education."
For more information of the the Fahs Collaborative click HERE.
The Program Template
First, a short explanation of the format of the template. I have created this template by combining three basic elements. The first is a basic format for an intergenerational worship or short children’s chapel. The intention of this element is to focus the template to the main goal of using theater, dance, or both as a method for spiritual practice. From this element I have used wording such as prelude, practice, and benediction. I have also gathered from this outline the important facet of the Chalice as a beginning and end to sacred and meditative time.
The second element I have incorporated is the basic flow of a dance class. I have used a very basic model for a dance class and generalized it very much. As see in the template I have used the terms, warmup, center and reverence. These are all derived from the structure of a formal dance class. In the structure of a dance class center includes many parts and is the bulk of the class, often refining technique learned in the warmup or barre sections. Reverence is the section in a class that dancers bow to thank both teacher and musician. I appreciate however, the duality of all the terms and their relation to the idea of these activities as a spiritual practice.
Finally I have used the element of an acting class structure. This structure also uses many of the key parts of the others including a warmup and a central exercise. The importance of this element can be found in the final section of the template that involves the discussion. All acting classes have this particular part and it should not be skipped over.
This template is just that. It can work for a 30-45 minute RE class period or be extended to one to two hour full workshop. Please feel free to adapt it for your needs and participants. And post your comments and experiences on the blog section.