Warm Up

5 minutes

Welcome

• Hello! Begin seated in a circle. Introduce yourself, welcome each dancer, begin to learn each participants’ name and use them throughout the activity.

Scripture Video –

• Share this short video (The Creation of the Earth) or summarize the creation to give context as needed. 
• We are going to move through each creative period together by exploring Self Space and General Space
  • Self Space is the space right around you. How can you move in your own space as we sit here together? 
  • General Space is all the available dancing space in the room. Stand up and walk through the general space.
• Establish a signal to stop and listen to the next verses if needed (larger groups and/or younger groups).

Explore Concept

20 minutes

1st Day – Light and Dark

• Read Genesis 1:1-5, or this selection: “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.”
• Give each dancer a flashlight. When the overhead lights are on, dancers move through the general space (direct as needed, walk/run/gallop/slide etc). When the lights turn off, dancers move in place with their flashlights on.

2nd Day – Firmament

• Read Genesis 1:6-8, or this selection: “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God called the firmament Heaven.”
• Lead dancers in a brief stretch: repeating reaching up toward heaven and down to the earth in different ways as you continue to warm up and stretch.

3rd Day – Dry land and Plants

• Read Genesis 1:9-13, or this selection: “And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.” 
• Use a song like the one suggested that has two distinct parts. Dancers move in place when the music is calm (imagining the slow steady growth of plants, the roots and branches that make them strong, or perhaps the rustling leaves and grass in the wind). When the music changes, dancers move through the space (imagining the powerful rushing water of waves, waterfalls, and rivers, separating the land). Continue alternating moving in place and through the space with the music.

Sun Moon Stars

• Read Genesis 1:14-19, or this selection: “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.”
• Explore near, mid, and far reach with gestures. Choose a gesture and do it several times in near reach, then mid reach, then far reach, letting it change as the size grows to involve more of the full body. Repeat with a few different gestures. Dancers can copy the teacher’s gesture or choose their own to explore.

Animals

• Read Genesis 1:20-25, or this selection: “And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life… And God created … every living creature that moveth… God saw that it was good.”
• Call out different animals. When an animal is named, move like that animal (i.e. bird, elephant, horse, lizard). Imagine the qualities of movement evoked by different creatures – fast/slow, high/low, strong/light, etc.

Mankind

• Read Genesis 1:26-31, or this selection: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness… So God created man in his own image… male and female created he them.”
• Call out different body parts. Dancers move that part in place in as many ways as they can, then, on a signal, that body part travels them through the general space. After several body parts have the last part lead them to the floor, laying down for the final exploration.

Rest

• Read Genesis 2:1-3, or this selection: “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested … And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it”
• Lying on their backs, dancers listen to their breath, reflect on what God has made, remember how it felt to move together today, and be grateful.

Create

2 minutes

Traveling Dance

• Dancers choose one exploration that they connected to most or would like to move again (briefly review as needed). Move that exploration again as a final performance across the floor (either in small groups or individually).

Cool Down

3 minutes

Stretch and Discuss Connections

• Gather and sit in a circle. Encourage dancers to stretch while discussing the questions or lead them in a stretch while discussing together. Here are some question ideas:

• How did moving today relate to the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
• What new insights did exploring self space and general space bring? In connecting those concepts to the Creation?
• God calls the things that he made “good.” What does this suggest about how we should treat God’s creations—including ourselves?