DANCE FOR THE LORD

Bible Verses about DancingDancing is mentioned often in the Bible and is used throughout the Old Testament as a means of worship and praise to God. As with other activities, dancing can also be used to worship the wrong idols and many Christians think poorly of dancing all together. God was pleased with dancing that worshipped him. Let's take a look at a few Bible verses about dancing and you can make a wise decision for yourself on how to use the gift of dance. Photo credit: GettyImages/rattodisabina

DANCE FOR THE LORD

And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn. As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart.

Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! ...

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn. As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart. And they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it. And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts ...

And the people of Benjamin did so and took their wives, according to their number, from the dancers whom they carried off. Then they went and returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the towns and lived in them.

As dancers, we have been given a special talent, and we can use movement to share the good news of Jesus Christ. All the various forms of art, including writing, singing, playing an instrument and dancing, can be used to glorify God. In recent years, churches have become more open and inviting toward different forms of worship, including dance.

Though dance in worship can look very different for everyone, all worship dance gives praise to the Father. In recent years, the amount of praise dancing taking place in churches has increased, and this has become a significant form of worship for everyday people and dancers alike.

When you are compelled to move, you are honoring the desire to worship God that He has placed in your heart. Our bodies are temples, and through the lens of Christ, we can use movement to worship and give praise to God our Father. Praise dancing can be as simple as swaying your body back and forth while listening to worship music, or it may involve larger, more choreographed movements. You may be called to dance for Him in whatever way your heart and body tell you to move.

Culture tells us that dancing for God can only look like praise dancing, but deep down, a relationship with God is personal and individual. If He has put a flame in your heart to praise and worship dance for Him, seek out opportunities to do so. Our God is abundantly good, gracious and overflowing with love. Through our talents, we can glorify and praise His name.

All in all, combining worship and dance is a beautiful way to glorify God. No matter your background, your affiliation or your generation, you can dance for God and use movement as a way to praise Him. Dance is universal and a beautiful way to express your joy and gratitude for the One who gave us these gifts and talents.

I danced in the morning when the world was begun,And I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun,And I came down from heaven and I danced on the earth:At Bethlehem I had my birth.

I see Christ as the incarnation of the piper who is calling us. He dances that shape and pattern which is at the heart of our reality. By Christ I mean not only Jesus; in other times and places, other planets, there may be other Lords of the Dance. But Jesus is the one I know of first and best. I sing of the dancing pattern in the life and words of Jesus.

Whether Jesus ever leaped in Galilee to the rhythm of a pipe or drum I do not know. We are told that David danced (and as an act of worship too), so it is not impossible. The fact that many Christians have regarded dancing as a bit ungodly (in a church, at any rate) does not mean that Jesus did.

Mat is enjoying a pleasant evening of drinking and dancing with the barmaids and getting teased a bit along the way. Mat tries to teach the musicians some of the songs from his memory, but they don't play nearly as well as he remembers. Talmanes is musing aloud on how he recover from the gambling losses he has with Mat. Betse Silvin comes over to pour wine and Mat starts a conversation with her. She fiddles with his scarf and sees his hanging scar and wonders why someone would try to hang him. Mat gets her to dance, which stops her chattering for a while. When they finish Mat checks to make sure Betse is not the "Daughter of the Nine Moons", since it was foretold that that is who he will marry.

Tsechus are festivals in honour of Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava), who brought Buddhism to Tibet and Bhutan. They are held in almost every district, attracting hundreds of Bhutanese people in a spirit of festivity, celebration and deep faith. They consist of mask dances performed by monks as well as lay people. They last during 3 to 5 days. In a swim of colour and noise, the gods and demons of buddhist mythology come to life. These masked dance festivals are also a unique opportunity for meeting people and socializing.

Judge sets the stage for one of the early numbers, introducing a parade of women in high cut white lace unitards (so top of the hip bone exposed) and white harem pants with the legs slit open. Mustangs charge through a forest on the CGI background, and the blousy lyrical dancers twirl lightly around before James Keegan, the current Lord of the Dance, makes his entrance.

Flatley graces the audience with his presence at the end, entering on an upstage platform in a glittering Liberace jacket. There is a brief break, wherein a tripartite Flatley dances with his three selves on screen to non-Irish rhythms. He returns to the stage in white tails with gold glitter, directing the dancers in a string of roll-offs and sauntering across the stage, hugging and kissing the female dancers.

Lauren Gallagher is a dance writer based in New York City. Formerly a dance critic for the San Francisco Examiner, she spent her childhood as a Rudolf Nureyev groupie and considers London her second home. She Tweets about ballet, books, cars, and life at: @snickersnacked.

I hope your recovery is coming on miraculously, I took the liberty of creating a dedication page to you on Instagram called @lordmichaelflatley and it has had a huge response filled with love for you.

If there is one thing I regret in my whole life and that would be not sitting in the audience at the Eurovision song contest in 1994. I would have loved to be in the crowd and discover this new and wonderful, adrenaline pumping dance that is truly beautiful and memorizing at the same time. Its unrelenting ability to force a river of feelings as it escalated to its final climax and the hidden battles that take place between dancing the the drums, truly a dance in its own way. I truly don't know what to say other than to thank you Michel Flatly for bringing this ancient dance to the spotlight and with unlimited imagination, enchant the whole world with a new line of music. I am truly saddened by the cancer news and so glad that you are recovering. I know you are iching to get back on stage, but like reality, life catches us up and new opportunities are always around the corner. I hope you see this message, there is so much more AI would like to say, but its 2am in the morning ... Wow...

Shiva, depicted in this copper-alloy sculpture, was especially popular and widely worshipped throughout southern India. Along with Brahma the Creator and Vishnu the Preserver, Shiva the Destroyer and Restorer makes up the triad of Hindu gods. He also serves as the patron god of yoga, recognized as the source of the cosmic dance that created the universe in endless rhythmic cycles.

In this work, Shiva dances in an aureole of flame that rises from a lotus pedestal, a symbol of primordial being and creation. The arched aureole and its three-tongued flames represent the universe and its ultimate destruction by fire. In his upper right hand Shiva holds the drum representing the primordial sound at the creation of the universe; the second right hand makes a gesture of reassurance. His upper left hand holds the flame of destruction. The lower one points to his left foot, refuge of the soul, and shows the path of salvation through Shiva's trampling of the demon that personifies ignorance. Shiva's body seems to rise and expand with his aureole. The force of his broad shoulders and proud countenance are echoed by the rhythmic explosion of his locks; among them the small figure of Ganges (left) represents the god's intimate connections with water, the force of life. Perfectly poised, this work manifests Shiva's divine unity with compelling grace and majesty. 041b061a72