los bailes
I decided to title this blog “los bailes” (the dances) because for me, my month in Ecuador was defined by simplicity, fun and dance! This month things were light. Things were sunny, funny, and silly. This month I encountered God’s love and simplicity through four different dances… keep reading 🙂
Baños dance
One day while eating lunch in the center of town with my friend Nicole, we heard festive music! We walked outside the restaurant and encountered a random parade going on. It was SO happy. Reminded me of days that I used to dance in parades when I was little. We asked what the purpose of this parade was and the response was… people in Baños like to party! We knew it would be a good month!
dance in banos from Carlos Dalence on Vimeo.
Indigenous dance
During the third weekend that we were in Baños, we decided to take a trip to the jungle. The first stop we had on this trip was to an indigenous community called Kotococha. We were treated with a welcome dance from the community. We learned all about the indigenous population here in Ecuador and how it is imperative for them to keep their traditions of dance, art, cooking, and language alive.
MVI_4868 from Carlos Dalence on Vimeo.
Church dance
This month I was in charge of a dance/drama group in the church with my team.We were able to teach these middle/high school kids two dances and two dramas. This church really appreciates the arts as a way to worship God. During the last week here, the church group performed the pieces that they had been working so hard on throughout the month.
Here is the final performance of one of the dances!
church dance from genna dalence on Vimeo.
My dance
During this final performance at the church, I decided to tell the story of my walk with God through a solo dance of my own.
To preface the dance, I shared a little about myself. I said…
“Dance is a big part of my life, and I have been dancing since I was 5. I like to dance to worship God and tell stories. In this dance, I tell the story of my walk with Christ. When I was young, I was so excited about Christ. I was so hungry to know Him more. In the last few years, that excitement slowed a bit. I grew to have a lot more questions about God. I decided to do the world race to choose my faith despite my feelings. The name of the song I will dance to is “Still.” Right now God is teaching me how to STILL have faith even when I have doubts. God is teaching me how to be STILL and know that He is God (psalm 46:10). This is the story of my walk with God.”
Enjoy
Still from genna dalence on Vimeo.
To God be the glory!
