PUBLICATIONS

IN HIM WE MOVE
CREATIVE DANCING IN WORSHIP

Author Janet Randell ISBN No. 1-900507-83-8

There is something for everybody in this book, whether you are a total beginner, teacher, student or a trained dancer, wheelchair user, or have sight/learning difficulties. It is geared for individuals as well as groups, those working in the community and also for congregations of all Christian denominations. Janet Randell has drawn on her years of expertise as an international choreographer, teacher, lecturer, writer, founder and artistic director of The Cedar Dance Theatre Company and The Cedar Dance in Worship Group. The author has set out practical exercises and creative improvisations, encouraging and inspiring the reader to explore and move in their own way as well as providing a relaxed approach to understanding the steps of the dances that have been choreographed to suit all tastes and abilities.

There are twenty-five challenging dances based around the traditional Christian calendar, with accompanying biblical material for group and community work, based on themes for worship and reflection. There is a well-researched exploration of the historical, theological and biblical inspiration behind the use of dance in religion and the association of dance with periods of celebration and renewal. All dancers and aspiring movers will reap the benefit of this meticulously honed and creative book that reflects Janet Randell’s strong personal faith, and like much of her work, conveys a depth of expression rare in modern dance today.

Price (UK) £17.99 plus p&p £3.50
Available from your local bookshop.
Or online at Eisenbrauns $26.93
Alternatively, copies of In Him We Move can be obtained from:
Paternoster Publishing, P O Box 300, Kingstown Broadway, Carlisle, Cumbria CA3 OQS, Tel: 01228 512512 Fax: 01228 59 33 88, e-mail: mike.abbs@paternoster-publishing.com

Also by Janet Randell
In Him We Move Vol 2: Manual of Creative Dances for Worship.
email: janet_randell@lineone.net
Shortly available: digital teaching material with animated dances.

Review : Themelios (Spring 2001) by Sarah B Savage, Cambridge.
Volumes 1 and 2 of In Him We Move represent what is likely to be the most comprehensive practical guidance for dance in worship to date, based on the author’s immense experience as a freelance choreographer and director of the Cedar Dance Theatre Company. Volume 1, reviewed here, opens with some biblical background to dance in worship. Next in the first chapter is a historical survey of dancing in church, packed with information one is unlikely to come across in other historical surveys of liturgical dance. Important issues are raised in seed form: the relationship of the spiritual to the physical, the effect of neo-platonic dualism on the theology of the early church and its effect on our attitudes to the human body.

The second chapter gives practical advice on getting people moving in worship. Sensible warm-up exercises, complete with biblical imagery, are given for beginners. The basics of dance technique are presented with clear diagrams geared to the non-dancer, although these will be most fruitful in the hands of those with some prior dance training. Ideas for tailoring movement to people in wheelchairs or with other disabilities bring a truly inclusive dimension to this volume on dance in worship. The message of the book is clear: everyone can use their body in worship. The message is backed up with practical and scholarly advice for producing already choreographed dances on major Christian themes, along with preparatory improvisations. The choreography is geared to a range of levels of dance experience: beginners, intermediate, advanced, and those with special needs. Notes are given on the music for the dance, the spiritual and biblical inspiration behind the dance is described, and even a historical background for the various dance steps is provided. Those who want to go on to produce these dances will need to purchase Volume two: Manual of Creative Dances for Worship, with its clear diagrams and unique dance notation system for 25 dances on major Christian themes choreographed by Janet Randell.

In Volume 1, the generous array of photographs of the Cedar dances will inspire the reader with their simplicity and purity of line. These images give a sense of the timeless aesthetic of Cedar dances.

The two volumes provide almost everything that a person needs to get started in dance in worship at beginners level and are intended to be a springboard for development using this theological and spiritually inspirational choreography.

Review: The Universe (December 2001) by Greg Watts

DANCE AND PRAYER ARE THE PERFECT PARTNERS SAYS CHOREOGRAPHER
EXPRESS THE SPIRITUAL IN THE PHYSICAL

“Dance can become a door into the deepest spiritual realities,” suggests internationally acclaimed choreographer Janet Randell.

“Dance can express the stages of understanding that lie behind the words. Everything about dance for me can portray the uniqueness, the jewel-like quality of the Christian faith.”

Most of us, I suspect, pay little attention to dance, particularly when it comes to liturgy and prayer. We probably think of dance as something that happens at the Royal Ballet or at the local nightclub. But Janet, an Associate of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing and the founder of the Cedar Dance Theatre Company, believes passionately that dance can enrich our spiritual lives.

“Dance in this country is quite a minority art. In many ways, although films like Billy Elliot encourage people that movement is a natural thing to do,” she continues, “dance is something anyone can do. Even if you can only move an eyeball or a little finger, it’s what happens inside that’s important.”

She says that we need to remind ourselves of the long history of dance as an integral part of religion. “I think that in the West we have got a little carried away with Greek philosophy and neo-platonic ideas, and we’ve veered away from the Jewish concept of men and women being seen as body, mind and spirit.”

The Bible contains many references to dance and in Hebrew, there are many root forms of the word dance, she adds.

David danced when he brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, the Song of Songs refers to the lover, “bounding over the hills” and Jesus telling his disciples to leap for joy because of their trials.

Prayer
“If you go to a Jewish wedding or a funeral in Spain, the people move and express the spiritual through the physical. Many of the movements in the Catholic liturgy are based on the Jewish movements.”

Dance and prayer fit easily together, she claims. “If we just sit on our backsides in church and talk about these things rather than act them out, then our faith can be very cerebral. Benches were only really introduced in the Middle Ages. Before then, the insides of churches were (largely) empty space.

“Western Christians often look with nervous apprehension at Eastern and African countries where the body plays a far more prominent role in worship: prostrating Muslims, whirling dervishes, the devadasi (Indian temple dancers) are all remote from certain Western professed concepts of how God should be worshipped in prayer. The Puritan tradition, moreover, in which the body and movement are perceived to be potentially dangerous and sinful, is still very much kept alive today.”

She has brought together her ideas in the book, In Him We Move: Creative Dancing in Worship. “The root of the word liturgy means public service. In Roman times the liturgy might have been to build a boat. St Paul’s liturgy was to minister the Word of God.

“We have to understand what dance is about. It’s uplifting and therapeutic. At Christmas, we all sing, O Come Emmanuel. But the word ‘carol’ actually means to sing and dance.”

Dividing her time between London and north Wales, she is currently involved with the charity Woods, Hills and Tracks , which provides dance therapy and rural access for people with disabilities, and she is also coming to grips with digital and animated dance. Over the next year she plans to run courses and retreats in dance.