I love to dance. I believe it is scriptural
– when the Israelites crossed the Red Sea and escaped from Pharaoh, Miriam led
them in dance. When the psalmist speaks of praising God, they speak of singing
and dancing. Jeremiah prophesizes about times of hope and newness complete with
dance. At the core of our beings, dancing is related to a deep and inner joy. I
imagine it connects us to the elements of God’s unfathomable creativity within
us. Like corporate singing and communal prayer it unites us, beyond ourselves,
to persons in our midst.
I hate to admit,
that as a Christian minister, I do not always participate in corporate worship away
from home. For me, travel is often a
time of deep prayer and discovery. I journal,
read scripture, contemplate God’s abundance and unendingness by spending time
with ocean, sky, dessert and forest. I
stumble into churches to pray and to admire the beauty of architecture.
Occasionally, I stay for a choir or organ practice that I happen upon. Sometimes,
I return for a service.
On the
contrary, I rarely miss Zumba. One of the first things I do on vacation is open
my Zumba app to see if there are classes in my area. My desire to Zumba
everywhere is not because I am a
fitness nut. At a size 16 and someone who really enjoys food. I believe in
taking care of my body, but not that much. I would also never say Zumba means as much to
me as sharing in worship of God with community. But it is a close second. What
is it about Zumba that makes me never want to miss?
#1. Diverse Community – With God’s great vision, I believe
God is able to see and accept the differences in each of us. Like the church,
Zumba is an intentionally diverse age community. In any given class, children
to 90 year-olds dance together. In addition, Zumba is an extremely diverse
cultural community. The music spans across the globe: hip-hop, Bollywood, Latin,
Middle Eastern, 80’s rock. Often, I attend classes where people do not speak the
same language. Dance, like song, like art, like ritual, cuts across cultural
barriers joining us into one.
#2. Acceptance – I really don’t dance well. I’ve seen pictures. I look like a complete fool.
Most of the time, I am off beat and out
of place. But, no matter where I go, the
Zumba community seems to accept me as “one of them.” Perhaps, because the only
requirement to Zumba is that you have a desire to dance. Not that you are good
at dancing, not that you follow along by sitting, standing and bending at the
right time – but that you have a DESIRE to want to be there. No one judges you
because you have desire.
#3. Encouragement – Zumba is a tremendously positive environment.
Instructors sign off on their emails with “besos” (the Spanish word for
kisses). They spend time at the beginning and end of each class in humility
thanking their students for coming. They remind each class how beautiful they
are (I’ve seen the room from their vantage point; the DANCING is NOT what makes
the class beautiful).
#5. Admittance of flaws – I like my Zumba instructors imperfect.
Sure there are those out there that look like “models” but there are more out
there who look like me - with pinches of fat and imperfect hair. Zumba instructors
mess up. A lot. Then the laugh it off and keep on going. They admit fault and
they humbly rely on the rest of the class to catch them and correct them.
#6. Live participation – Rarely, do people attend Zumba out of
obligation or out of guilt. They are there because they want to be there. The
air is thick with intensity and intention. The energy is full and active
participation.
#7. Authenticity – Not all the music is “moral.” Not all
the dance moves are for the southern gentile, but they are real. They scream humanity. In a range of emotions – from
celebratory hops to anger punches, they are real. From the sensual salsa to guttural
hip hop – dancing forces you in to accepting and deal with the wide range of
emotions that exist within your human soul.
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