Could this be a first for us? An article on dance from the Tuscaloosa News. Where is this delightfully named town?<P>'Leap of faith: Christian ballet company dances for a higher purpose'. An article on Ballet Magnificat, a Christian ballet company. Dance is certainly a powerful influencer and pieces like 'Swansong' can produce a strong emotional reaction. But a choreographer like Christopher Bruce still says that the dance comes first. Here it seems it's the religion that comes first. This would make me rather nervous about attending unless I had heard a good report. What do others think?<P> <A HREF="http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/news/stories/001201n5.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/news/stories/001201n5.html</A>

Alabama. Main campus of the University of Alabama.

we have another thread about this company from quite a while ago. jeff salzberg asked about it. they have a website - quite a big one if i remember rightly.....just going lookingfor that thread in MISCELLANY.

here it is:
http://forum.criticaldance.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=11&t=000147

<font size = -2><center>(Edited by salzberg to fix link)</center></font>

<small>[ 08-11-2002, 11:42: Message edited by: salzberg ]</small>

I am not sure that this is any different from the great musical works that were written for religious purposes - Handel, Bach, Monteverdi (my favorite), etc. Religion can be part of the artist's life, an inspiration as well as a sunset can be.<P>In most the of religous music I don't agree with the philosophy it is celebrating, but I still very much enjoy the music. So dance for a religious purpose would not keep me from attending a performance.

I share your admiration for many religious musical works, Basheva. One of my favourite composers is Olivier Messaien, the 20th C. French composer. His primary inspirations were his religeon, his admiration for bird-song and his love for his wife. Most of his work is religious, but not exclusively. However, I would hazard a guess that his attitude was similar to that of Bruce - the quality of the music comes first. <P>That's my concern with this company - the Christianity seems to come first. But if they produce quality work, that's good enough for me.<P><BR>

i find your response kind of odd, stuart, knowing as i do that you have strong moral or ethical beliefs which you act to disseminate in your own life. <P>for example, your promotion of danceworks with a strong moral or political message, to me fits right in with this sort of religious approach. it is just that the beliefs these people have, are different to yours...<P>also i know you had a negative view or reluctance about seeing the universal ballet, because of concerns about underlying funding sources and their religious persuasion, so that complicates the matter still further....<P>it seems to me that people with deeply held moral, spirital beliefs will ideally live out their beliefs - their beliefs will be indistinguishable from their lives, in that they will act out their beliefs through their lives. <P>in this sense a deeply christian dancer, whether she dances for this company above or a non-church-affiliated one such as san francisco ballet, will dance her love of god and her love of life as a full expression of her religion, no matter what material she is dancing.<P>also in this sense, you act to share or spread YOUR own beliefs, via art work (and other ways).<P>i think the rest of us all do, too, but some are less conscious of it, and some are perhaps completely unaware of how their own philosophies inform and infuse their arts activities.<P>how would you describe your own position vis a vis political art, in this context? is it really so simple as the quality of the dance is more important than the quality of the message?

Though Grace's questions were not addressed to me - I will take the liberty of assessing how I feel about them, if I might......<P>I think that the quality of the art does have some impact. Mozart's Requiem, though I do not share his religious beliefs, is a marvelous work of art that has given me much pleasure, and I would pay to see performed at any opportunity.<P>I am not sure, how religious a man Mozart was, but I can say that no matter how deeply my religious beliefs are - and no matter how inspirational - NO ONE would ever want to hear anything I could compose. I have not the talent and people would be very foolish to listen to my music (there isn't any!!). Even if I had some talent to compose it would be far inferior to Mozart's and no matter how inspired I was by God, my lack of talent, is still a fact.<P>So, I think both views are correct. The religious inspiration can infuse art - but there must also be talent. It would never occur to me to eschew one because of the other.

A similar concept in the Bay Area:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B><A HREF="http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/342/living/Liturgical_ballet_troupes_enliven_Christmas_stories_through_dance+.shtml" TARGET=_blank>Liturgical, ballet troupes enliven Christmas stories through dance</B></A><P>By Karen Campbell, Boston Globe Correspondent<P>For area dance lovers, there are no more-magical entrees into the holiday spirit than ''The Nutcracker'' and the Boston Liturgical Dance Company's production of ''A Dancer's Christmas.'' But whereas ''The Nutcracker'' focuses on the glittery trappings of the season, ''A Dancer's Christmas'' is a personal, spiritual appeal to remember and celebrate the holiday's true meaning.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><B><A HREF="http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/342/living/Liturgical_ballet_troupes_enliven_Christmas_stories_through_dance+.shtml" TARGET=_blank>More</B></A><BR>

Yet another story:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><B><A HREF="http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/arts_culture/danc12122000.htm" TARGET=_blank>Ensemble captures true meaning of Christmas</A></B><P>by Theodore Bale, Boston Herald<P>In a stirring performance that conveys the birth and life of Jesus through graceful choreography, ``A Dancer's Christmas'' manages to provide a reality check about the true essence of Christmas without being preachy or overbearing.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><B><A HREF="http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/arts_culture/danc12122000.htm" TARGET=_blank>More</A></B>