Balletspeak

For those of you who have studied French, some of these terms should look a bit familiar!

Arabesque A pose on one leg with the other leg extended behind and the body forming a graceful curve.

Attitude A pose on one leg with the other leg lifted either backward or forward and bent at the knee.

Ballet d’action A ballet with a story.

Battement tendu jeté A movement in which the working leg is “thrown” into the air at a low height.

Character dancing A style of dancing derived from national, traditional or folk dances.

Corps de ballet A group of dancers that performs in support of soloists and leading dancers.

Demi-pointes “Half points.” When a dancer stands high on the balls of her feet.

Échappée “Escaped.” A movement of both legs simultaneously into an open position, performed on the floor or in the air.

Fondu “Melting.” A smooth sinking movement.

Grand plié A position in which the legs are bent until the thighs are horizontal to the floor.

Jambe Leg.

Pas de deux A dance for two people.

Pirouette “Spinning Top.” A complete turn of the body on one foot.

Rond de jambe A circular movement of the leg.

Sauté When a movement is performed with a jump.

Tour en l’air Turn in the air.

The days are often long, the sacrifices great and the physical toll grueling — but it’s to be expected. Life on the mission field is rarely a walk in the park.

Some rise early, face an entire day at school and then devote themselves to hours of practice and rehearsal before completing homework. Others give up time with friends in order to pursue ministry opportunities God places before them. And practically everyone endures aching, bleeding feet, back pain and sore ankles.

It’s all a part of the life of a missionary — a missionary ballerina, that is. If you’ve never heard of missionary ballerinas, you need look no further than two dance companies, Ballet Exaltation and Ballet Magnificat!, based in Birmingham, Ala., and Jackson, Miss., respectively. These troupes of highly trained teen and adult dancers travel primarily in the United States, with occasional international tours, to share the gospel of Christ through dance.

Ballet Exaltation

The more than 400 4- to 18-year-olds enrolled in Briarwood Ballet School in Birmingham clearly love to dance. But dance isn’t their first love. Even more than ballet, dancers at Briarwood love Jesus.

“God has put the desire to dance in my heart,” 15-year-old company member Meredith Busby says. “I dance to glorify Him and to show people what a joy it is to know Him.”

The objective in every dance class is to provide the finest classical ballet training while instilling in students a desire to use their gifts for God. “The 13- to 17-year-old girls in our nonprofessional company must have a Christian testimony and a commitment and lifestyle that is compatible with their faith. Their hearts have to be sold out to what we’re doing,” says Barbara Barker, founder of the school.

So what exactly is Ballet Exaltation doing? The repertoire of the company includes pieces of classical and contemporary Christian music along with hymns and spirituals. The dances are in the classical tradition and are performed in churches and schools in Alabama, neighboring states — and other countries.

In 1993, Ballet Exaltation danced in Russia and Kazakhstan. Then in 1996 the group performed in Spain. This year, the dancers planned to travel to Brazil in March.

“Missionaries invited us to these countries and arranged joint concerts with us and local, secular ballet companies. Through our music and dance, God formed a bridge for missionaries to areas of the culture they hadn’t been able to touch before,” Barbara says.

“In Russia and Kazakhstan, the girls gave testimonies through interpreters at the end of performances,” she continues. “And in Spain an evangelist closed the program. By the end, the gospel was presented through music, dance and language.”

Seventeen-year-old company member Brook Ogle first thought about going to Brazil when she read about Brio’s upcoming missions trip in the October 1998 issue. “I don’t remember ever having my heart broken for a nation like that before,” she says. “I prayed and said, ‘Lord, if You want me to go to Brazil to minister, then somehow work and get me there.’

“Soon after, I found out our company was invited to dance in Brazil. It was an incredible answer to my prayer. God started preparing me with a love for the Brazilian people before I even knew the company was going.”

Sacrifice of Love

To be able to share a stage with companies from around the world and to gain respect from dance enthusiasts in other nations, every girl in Ballet Exaltation must make practice a priority. The dancers in the company spend time at the studio every day after school and on Saturdays.

“I never have time to watch television,” Brook says. “I’m either dancing or doing homework. I don’t really have a lot of time to talk on the phone either.”

Company member Amanda Moore, 14, knows all too well about making sacrifices. “Last year I was so discouraged about not having time for anything other than ballet,” she says. “I was thinking about quitting dance so I could try out for cheerleading at school.

“I was at a new school and wanted to spend more time with new friends. Even though it’s been tough to give up things such as cheerleading, God led me along the right path and brought me to where I am now. There’s something in me that loves to dance! I know God has put me here for a reason.”

“There really is so much stress with our schedules,” Brook adds. “It would be easy to buckle underneath it. But God takes care of me and carries me through it. Sometimes after rehearsals on Saturdays, I’ll hang out with my friends. And many of my friends are ballerinas, so I get to see them often.”

Even though Meredith Busby is home-schooled, and therefore is not in a classroom from 8 a.m. till 3 p.m. like many of the other dancers, she still has a full schedule. “I can set my own pace with school since I’m home-schooled, but I also help teach ballet here at Briarwood for 4- and 5-year-olds and first and second graders,” she says.

“I love teaching ballet!” she continues. “It’s fun to teach younger girls and help them develop a love for ballet, too. I’d actually like to pursue teaching ballet more than I would becoming a professional ballerina.”

Brook and Amanda, on the other hand, both say they’re considering careers as ballerinas. “I’d love to dance or be a doctor, but it’s really not up to me,” Amanda says. “I want to do whatever God wants me to do.”

Should Brook, Amanda or any other members of Ballet Exaltation choose to join a professional Christian ballet company in the next several years, Ballet Magnificat! is most likely the first place they would check out.

Ballet Magnificat!
Anastasia Kuprina, 19, began dancing in her hometown of Moscow when she was 9 years old. She left Russia last summer to study ballet with Ballet Magnificat! in Mississippi.

“About four years ago, my mom became a Christian because one of her students told her about Jesus,” Anastasia says. “Then a week later, my dad became a Christian, and a week later I did, too. Then two weeks later, my grandmother accepted Jesus into her heart.

“One day an American dancer came to our church,” she continues. “My mom asked her to find out about dance companies in America. We prayed, and my mom told me we’d take the very first letter we received to be God’s will for me. The first letter was from Ballet Magnificat!, and they offered to pay for everything. It was amazing!”

A professional dancer, Anastasia is in a three-year training period with Ballet Magnificat! After this, she can audition for a position in the traveling company. Eventually, Anastasia hopes to return to Russia to start a Christian ballet company of her own.

“We don’t have any Christian ballet companies in Russia,” she says. “I want to start a company like this one because I don’t really enjoy secular ballet anymore. It’s empty. Christian ballet is much different. I really enjoy glorifying the Lord through all the gifts He’s given me.”

Glory to God in the Highest
Christian ballet companies were nonexistent in the United States, too, before Kathy Thibodeaux founded Ballet Magnificat! in 1986. After winning the Silver Medal in the II USA International Ballet Competition and dancing as a principal dancer for the Jackson Ballet Company, doors opened left and right for Kathy in the world of secular ballet. But she couldn’t make herself go through them. Instead, Kathy took a step of faith in another direction and followed the dream for Ballet Magnificat! that God had placed on her heart.

“The vision we have is definitely different from that of a secular ballet company’s,” she says. “The dancers in other companies are typically out there to glorify themselves. That’s what dancers are taught from a young age — to be perfect in their body and technique. We strive for excellence in Ballet Magnificat! for God’s glory.”

The touring company performs about 90 times a year in churches and auditoriums. Sometimes it’s part of a worship service, and at other times it serves as an outreach to the community.

“We do a little bit of everything to share the gospel,” Kathy says. “We give testimonies, and at the end of a program we make ourselves available to people to talk or pray with them. We have a piece called Savior, which is the gospel story. In it, we depict Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection.”

Kathy is amazed to see God work. “When He is lifted up, He will draw all men to himself. That’s what we’ve seen. Mostly, it seems the Lord uses us as an encouragement, a refreshment to the body of Christ.”

Come On, Give It a Try!

If you’ve been dancing for a while and think you may want to consider a career in ballet, Kathy encourages you to earnestly seek God’s will because there are few Christian companies to join. While God does call some Christian dancers to a secular environment to be a light in the darkness, Kathy says it’s very difficult, and the decision should be made with a lot of prayer.

For those of you who have never thought about placing your feet into a pair of ballet slippers but would like to give it a try now, there’s still hope for a professional life of dance. Kathy says one member of her company didn’t start dancing until she was 14 or 15, and a man in Ballet Magnificat! didn’t start until his late 20s!

And if any of you are having fun in ballet classes but aren’t sure if it’s something you want to do for life, check out the Summer Dance Intensive program offered by Ballet Magnificat! Anyone who’s at least 12 years old and has had at least four years of dance training can register for a two- or four-week session that includes dance instruction as well as time for daily chapel. Write to Ballet Magnificat! at 5406 I-55 North, Jackson, MS 39211 for more information.

In the Studio With Brook

Ballerinas usually jog in place before class, just to get our muscles warm. Then when class begins, we start with simple things such as knee bends and touching our feet. This helps our body and brain work together.

As the class progresses, things become more difficult and complicated; the exercises we do at this point condition and tone just the right muscles. Good conditioning and tone keeps our technique clean for when we’re actually dancing on stage. Lots of times throughout practice, we’ll do the splits or grab our leg and pull it over our head — all sorts of contortionist acts!

Part of the grace of ballet is that it’s made to look easy, but it’s actually extremely difficult. Injuries are very common. We deal with stress fractures, tendinitis, shin splints and injuries in our knees, hips, back and feet.

If you could see our feet right now! There’s a podiatrist who said the first time he saw a dancer’s feet, he almost passed out. Our toenails are strange colors, and there are blisters and blood blisters and calluses and corns — all amounting to a lot of pain!

Our shoes tear a lot and are very hard on our feet. We can tape them or put a little bit of padding in them, but we also have to be able to feel the floor. Ballet doesn’t get much credit for being as strenuous as it is.