Hip Hop Dance

 

Hip Hop Dance

Last Friday, we went to Mosaic Community Center to learn hip hop dance. The coach was Ms. Eva Lee. She taught us about the skills of hip hop and the drills of hip hop. The song we used was “Awesome God.”

 

First, we do the warm ups. We did some stretching on our legs, hands and bodies. Then she gave the starting exercise like doing some step-over and some movement on our hands. Next, we moved on to the song, Awesome God. The steps are like this:

 

1.      Wave, facing away from audience.

2.      Face audience and clap.

3.      Move to the side, make arms like shooting arrow.

4.      Box step.

5.      Walk in a circle for one round.

6.      Kick and punch 4 times.

7.      Step and pump twice.

8.      Jump to the left.

9.      Jump to the righ.t

10.  Jump to the left twice.

11.  Slide to the left.

12.  Slide to the right.

13.  Slide to the right, left, and right.

14.  Slide with arms wide open.

15.  Freestyle.

16.  Hop and clap.

17.  End with arms crossed.

 

We practiced for several times then we got the moves and performed. We did it very nicely. Ms. Eva the congratulated us for performing so well.

 

Later, Ms. Christine taught us about the meaning of dancing in the bible. Dancing means to move or seem to move up and down or about in a quick or lively manner. There are many forms of dancing.

For example, a child joyfully jumping around, moving in a lively and spirited manner when receiving a present, is dancing. This is similar to David's dancing when bringing the ark into Jerusalem (1 Ch. 15:29). Usually, though, when we talk about dancing, we mean a social event where a couple rhythmically moves to music, such as occurs at a school dance or night club. There are several examples of dancing in the Bible:

 

Some people danced alone, some danced with the same gender in celebration, some danced for joy, and some danced to praise God. Solomon says, "There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven --- a time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear 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" (Ec. 3:1-4).

 

In the New Testament, we also read about dancing. Dancing figuratively represents one's joyful response to the gospel, which the Jews lacked (Matt. 11:17; Lk. 7:32). There was dancing in celebration of the prodigal son's return (Lk. 15:25), figuratively illustrating the joy when a person repents.

 

There are four principles we can apply to dancing. We are to glorify God in our bodies, and exalt Christ (1 Cor. 6:19-20; Phil. 1:20).If a dance inappropriately displaying our bodies, or includes movements unbecoming a Christian, it brings shame upon God. We shouldn’t involve ourselves with such dances. We are to do things that are honorable and respectable in the sight of all men (Rom. 12:17; Phil. 4:8), obeying God in everything we do (Acts 4:19; 5:29).We must determine whether dancing in a particular fashion is honorable in our day and age. For example: If our community deems a particular dance inappropriate, we shouldn't involve ourselves in the dance.

 

We shouldn't engage in lustful and licentious (sensual) behaviors (Rom. 6:12; 1 Jn. 2:16; 2 Cor. 12:20-21; Jude 1:4)."Lust" is a strong desire to sin. "Licentious" is unbridled lust --- excess, absence of restraint, indecency, and wantonness. Dancing in a lustful or licentious fashion, as was the case with Herodias' daughter, is sinful (Matthew 14:6 and Mark 6:22). We shouldn't engage in questionable behaviors (Rom. 14:23; 1 Th. 5:21-22).We must be absolutely certain a particular dance is lawful before engaging in the behavior. If there is any question about participating in the dance, we should avoid it.

 

After the lesson, we now know that dancing is also popular in the bible. Lastly, I would like to thank Ms. Eva for teaching us about hip hop dance.