The Word in the Wings
By: Kaya Prasad
This summer, The Word in the Wings will feature stories of how the work of Glorify Performing Arts addresses problems with the ways our culture often views the human body. To kick off this series, I interviewed Artistic and Executive Director Melody Stanert. In Part II of our conversation, Melody shares stories that reflect her heart behind creating honest portrayals of the life of faith.

The Word in the Wings
By: Kaya Prasad
This summer, The Word in the Wings will feature stories of how the work of Glorify Performing Arts addresses problems with the ways our culture often views the human body. In GPA’s work of creating professional, empowering, Spirit-inspired dance productions, we aim to value the body’s God-given capacities for meaning-making and beauty. We aim to protect the body from exploitation by the art and industry of dance, and we orient the body’s efforts toward the glory of God.To kick off this series, I interviewed Artistic and Executive Director Melody Stanert about her sense of purpose that drove her to found GPA and motivates her to create dance productions that inspire Christians in their faith. In Part I of our conversation, we discuss the power of relational storytelling and the difference between valuing and idolizing the body as dance artists.

The Word in the Wings
By: Kaya Prasad
As our 2021-22 performance season draws to a close, the company has taken some time to reflect over the ways God has been at work among us. Read on to reflect and revisit some of the fruit of this year!

The Word in the Wings
By: Kaya Prasad
One of my favorite things about storytelling through dance is the way dance layers together various elements to invite novel connections, generating new dimensions of meaning even for familiar ideas. Come Alive uses this layering capacity of dance to portray hope as certainty even in what we don’t yet see as reality.

The Word in the Wings
By: Kaya Prasad
As Glorify Dance Theatre prepares to perform Come Alive, I spoke with several of the dancers about how they portray their characters in connection with narratives about resurrection from Scripture. Emily, Audrey and Lindsey each share some biblical and personal inspiration for their artistic choices in how they embody the message of resurrection hope in this original ballet.

The Word in the Wings
By: Kaya Prasad
In May 2022, Glorify Dance Theatre performs Come Alive, an original ballet about two young women who experience trials and transformation in their faith through relationships in high school and college. The ballet brings together the stories of characters who search for meaning and purpose from different sources and suggests that God’s spirit is a life-source with the power to sustain and restore.

The Word in the Wings
By: Kaya Prasad
For several weeks this spring, a group of GPA dancers have worked with guest choreographer Stephanie Morales on a piece set to portions of “Spring” from the album “Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi, the Four Seasons” (2014). The piece explores ideas associated with the season of spring as well as seasons of renewal and refreshment in faith. Read on to learn more about Steph’s inspiration for the piece.

The Word in the Wings
By: Kaya Prasad
Artists at Glorify Performing Arts are inspired to create works of art that honor the Creator God, and we hope that these works in turn inspire audiences to walk faithfully with Jesus. From a Christian theological standpoint, what does it mean that we are inspired to create?

The Word in the Wings
By: Kaya Prasad
For many centuries, Christians have engaged with performing arts to speak, embody and witness the story of Holy Week. Walk This Road adopts and adapts this tradition of dramatizing Christ’s final week of earthly ministry. Using the medium of movement, this ballet focuses on the emotional experience of Jesus’s disciples, past and present, surrounding those events and their enduring significance.