Chara Christian Dance Company expresses faith and worship through alternative medium

Emily Ball, president of Chara Christian Dance Company 2008-2009

Chara Christian Dance Company 2007-2008. Back Row: Shannon Leeth, Meredith Mann, Michelle Robichaux, Sarah Schwandt, Lindsey Bowling, Emily Ball, Lisa Sullivan, Abbey Adkison, Morgan Blake, Jackie Churchill. Front Row: Kat Hartman, Megan Dortch, Robyn Baker, Alyssa Mitchell, Brittany Rioth, Katie Green

Dance for soul

By: Clair Lavender

Posted: 9/16/08

The Chara Christian Dance Company brings together the love of dance and God for its members. It was founded by Shanna Hartman Kirkpatrick during her freshman year at Texas A&M University in 2002. Kirkpatrick named the dance company Chara because it is the Greek word for "joy."

According to Emily Ball, the president of Chara, Kirkpatrick founded the program to dance as a form of worship.

"God created our bodies and has blessed us with tremendous creativity. Therefore, we should use both of these in order to give God the glory he deserves…In 2002, God gave me the vision and desire to minister to the students of this campus through the art of worship of dance, as well as equip college women for ministry."

"I found out about Chara through the Student Activities website and was extremely excited about it," Ball said. "Chara is just what I was looking for: a technically advanced dance company of girls who love God and want to reach out to people through dancing for Him."

The purpose of Chara is to give the audience a visual of what a song is about and show how God is there for everyone if they trust Him.

"Rather than drawing attention to ourselves, we convey a message which causes people to see past us and think about themselves and the Lord," Ball said. "We want to show people that true joy and fulfillment can be found through a relationship with Jesus."

Chara is not a competitive dance company, but that is not to say they don't perform. "In [the] 2006-2007 [school year,] we performed three times," Ball said. "In [the] 2007-2008 [school year,] we were given many opportunities and were able to perform 17 times throughout the year."

Chara has performed for the college and local communities. "In the past, we have performed at events such as Chi Omega Songfest, BYX Island Party, Relay For Life, Parents' Weekend Bevo BBQ, women's retreats at local churches and we also host a show in the spring called Art of Worship," Ball said.

The company is open to anyone with dance experience. Ball said they have dancers from all backgrounds-from small towns to large cities, from ballet and point to hip-hop, from companies to dance team, and they incorporate that variety of experience into their performances. Chara allows each dancer to grow by teaching one another the different styles of dance that each woman specializes in.

Chara had auditions Sept. 5 at Suzanne's School of Dance. "Dancers were judged on technique in ballet, modern, jazz, leaps and turns," Ball said. "After the dance audition, girls were selected for brief interviews on Sunday, Sept. 7."

Seven dancers were added to the team from the auditions, bringing membership to 16. Ball said 22 auditioned and 12 returned for the interview process. The new members come from a wide range of dance backgrounds including lyrical, jazz, modern and ballet.

"We were excited that such a large, talented group of girls auditioned for Chara," Ball said. "Though the final cut was difficult, the officers are completely unified in our decision. When the decision was made and we had our list of new members, the returning members were jumping up and down with excitement. We are looking forward to an incredible year."

Chara practices on Wednesdays from 8-10:30 p.m. (which includes a 30 minute Bible Study) and Thursday from 9-11 p.m.

"Anyone wishing to book Chara for a performance should e-mail us at charatamu@gmail.com," Ball said. "We love opportunities to dance on campus and in the community!"

Watch them dance
To learn more, visit their website http://chara.tamu.edu/ and watch their performances on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/praisedancing.

Chara's first performance will be in PhilSA's Isang Mahal: One Love Talent Show at the beginning of October. The entire company will be performing a dance to "Stand in the Rain" by Superchick.