DANCING CHRISTIAN: NARRATIVE, EMBODIED ACTION, CHOREOGRAPHY IN AMERICAN EVANGELICAL AND EMERGENCE CHRISTIANITY A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE TEXAS WOMAN’S UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF DANCE COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES BY EMILY WRIGHT, BFA, MFA DENTON, TEXAS DECEMBER 2016 DEDICATION For my parents, Jay and Beverley, who first instilled my loves of dance and faith. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the many people and organizations that have contributed to this dissertation. Thank you to my committee chair, Dr. Rosemary Candelario, who provided invaluable support and investment in my project over many months. Thank you to my committee members, Dr. Linda Caldwell and Dr. Claire Sahlin, for their unique perspectives and the rich dialogue that ensued from their contributions. I am grateful for the support of the Department of Dance, the Graduate School, and the Student Travel Grant committee, whose support enabled me to attend conferences to present my research. I also extend thanks to Dr. Jennifer Phillips- Denny and the Texas Woman’s University Writing Center, who provided detailed feedback on my initial drafts and greatly strengthened my writing process. A special thank you to the members of my doctoral cohort: Ali Duffy, A’Keitha Carey, Melonie Murray, Merry Lynn Morris, and Anisha Rajesh. What a privilege it has been to share this journey with you. I would also like to thank my study participants: Kathy Thibodeaux and the members of Ballet Magnificat!, Randall Flinn and the members of Ad Deum Dance Company, Elizabeth Dishman of Dishman + Co. Choreography, and Karin Stevens of Karin Stevens Dance. Your investment made this project possible, and your thoughtful contributions deepened my understanding and appreciation of this topic. Thank you as iv well to my colleagues and students at Belhaven University, whose support and encouragement sustained me through the writing process. Finally, I would like to recognize my family. To my husband, Joshua, thank you for your encouragement, unfailing support, and technical expertise throughout this endeavor. To my sons, Benjamin and William, thank you for your understanding and patience. You have been my cheerleaders all along the way! v ABSTRACT EMILY WRIGHT DANCING CHRISTIAN: NARRATIVE, EMBODIED ACTION, CHOREOGRAPHY IN AMERICAN EVANGELICAL AND EMERGENCE CHRISTIANITY DECEMBER 2016 Dancing Christians occupy marginalized spaces on two fronts: within the context of American Christianity, dance is a denigrated faith practice with a contested history; within the context of Western concert dance, Christian dance is often viewed as technically and aesthetically substandard. The current literature on dance and Christianity is limited and tends to focus on amateur practices within the church worship service setting. This dissertation examines dancing Christians in the professional context to determine how faith informs dance practices and, conversely, how dance influences practices of faith. For this research, I developed a multisite, qualitative study of four professional dance companies. During a fourteen-month period, I conducted participant-observations and ethnographic interviews with artistic directors, choreographers, and company members who identify as evangelical and/or emergent Christians. In exploring the role of the body, I note that some dancing Christians communicate contradictory messages around the body, as in the case of one company which situates the body as a vehicle to be used in Christian service while simultaneously affirming the notion of body/mind wholeness as the ultimate end of Christian practice. Others frame the body as a starting vi point for audiences and dancers to share in a common resonance with the human experience. I contend that traditional devotional activities, such as prayer, Bible study, and singing, are embodied actions that dancing Christians use as a means to prime the body to experience Western concert dance as religious activity. Further, rather than demonstrating a unified aesthetic sensibility, my findings show that dancing Christians produce a diverse range of choreographic constructions, from story ballets framed as church services to postmodern works abstracted from individual spiritual journeys. I argue that dancing Christians frame professional dancing as religious practice in order to actualize individual and communal religious identities. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page DEDICATION ............................................................................................................ iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................ iv ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ vi LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................... xi Chapter I. INTRODUCTION: “DANCING CHRISTIAN” ...................................... 1 Christian Dance/Dancing Christian ...................................................... 3 Communities of Practice ....................................................................... 8 American Evangelicals as Communities of Practice ...................... 8 Foundations in Practice Theory .................................................... 11 Communities of Practice in Dance and Religious Studies............ 14 Overview of Chapters: Dancing a Christian Narrative/Body/Choreography ........................... 18 Overview of Methodology Chapter .............................................. 18 Overview of Data Chapters ........................................................... 19 Overview of Conclusion ............................................................... 23 II. A BRIEF HISTORY OF AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY: PROTESTANTISM, EVANGELICALISM, AND EMERGENCE ....... 24 Protestantism: The Roots of American Evangelicalism ..................... 26 The Birth of Fundamentalism ............................................................. 28 A Turning Tide: Emergence Christianity ........................................... 31 Dance in American Christian History ................................................. 33 Conclusion .......................................................................................... 37 III. METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO STUDYING DANCING CHRISTIANS .......................................................................................... 39 Positionality and Self-Reflexivity ...................................................... 42 Methodology ...................................................................................... 43 Qualitative Research Foundation .................................................. 44 viii Participant Recruitment and Preparation ...................................... 45 Research Questions ....................................................................... 52 Data Collection ............................................................................. 53 Data Analysis ................................................................................ 57 Conclusion ......................................................................................... 58 IV. DANCING CHRISTIAN STORIES: NARRATIVES FOR DANCE AND FAITH............................................................................................. 59 Testimony as Narrative Practice ........................................................ 62 Ad Deum Dance Company: Sacred Gift, Sacred Calling ............. 66 Ballet Magnificat!: Let Us Praise His Name With Dancing ......... 71 Dishman + Co. Choreography: Testimonies of Journey ............... 78 Karin Stevens Dance: Evolving Narratives of Faith ..................... 82 Dancing Christian Metanarratives and Metaphors ............................ 86 Re-scripting the Bible as Narrative Practice ...................................... 91 Conclusion: Dancing Christian Narratives ........................................ 94 V. DANCING CHRISTIAN BODIES: EMBODIED ACTIONS OF DANCE AND FAITH ............................................................................................ 97 The Body in Western Culture and Early Christianity ...................... 101 The Body in Contemporary American Christianity ......................... 105 Ballet Magnificat!: “Redeeming the Body” While Reifying Dualism ....................... 107 Dishman + Co. Choreography: Body as a Medium for Expression .............................................. 118 Ad Deum Dance Company: Practicing Sacrifice/Dancing Intercession .................................. 126 Karin Stevens Dance: Evolving Practices of Spirit ........................................................ 133 Conclusion: Embodied Christianity ................................................. 137 VI. DANCING CHRISTIAN MEANING: CHOREOGRAPHIC ANALYSES OF DANCES................................................................... 140 Choreographing Church in Ballet Magnificat!’s Most Incredible Christmas ............................................................... 142 Dancing in the Aisles .................................................................. 152 Constructing Choreographies of Struggle in Ad Deum’s Joyful Noise ...................................................................................... 154 Dishman + Co. Choreography’s Fold Rhapsody: A Journey of Faith ..........................................................................