Courtney Earl Person Examination of LDS values and the Dance Artist In this life we are subject to both

good and evil. There is opposition in all things. The world would have us believe that there are many gray areas between what is right and what is wrong. As followers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints we know that this is not true. Things can either be of God or they can be of Satan. No man can serve two masters so either we follow Christ and stand in His light or we follow Satan and cut ourselves off from the presence of the Lord. This is true in all aspects of life, including the arts. One facet of the arts is that Through the arts we can learn to see, hear, move, and feel with greater sensitivity and
understanding. (Dayley, 2001) I agree with this statement and I believe that most artists would agree with me. If there is anything praiseworthy that we are seeking in this life, I believe that the arts can help us to find that. The world would have us believe that in order to be able to be a true artist you have to be of the world. You have to be worldly in order to understand what it means to be human. Some Latter-Day Saint artists might even question If we seek to center the arts in Christ, will our artistic endeavors differ from those of others? (Dayley, 2001) I believe that centering the arts in Christ may make our endeavors and our outcomes different from those of the world. I also believe that if we strive to center the arts in Christ then our endeavors will be blessed beyond what we are capable to do on our own. One of the main components to true artistry is creativity. Without pure creativity the world would never progress. One tool that dancers as artists have at their expense is improvisational dance. This is the way that many dancers find their purest form of creativity. There are many different

principles of the gospel that correspond with improvisational principles. The first principle of

the gospel is faith. We are required to have faith in everything that we do. We came down to this earth knowing about the veil and that we would have to trade our knowledge for faith and we all agreed it was worth it to be able to live with our Father in heaven for eternity. There are a lot of times in improvisational dance that you just have to have faith that it will work out. You have to have faith to know that your own impulses will be correct. A lot of times in improvisational dance you have to be open to the movement. You dont ever really know where an improvisational set will go until you are already in the movement. Sometimes in the movement you have certain impulses to do things. At first it is hard to trust these impulses because you are afraid they are going to be wrong. Eventually you learn how to just let go and follow your impulses and see them through because that is when your own true self comes into the movement. The same is true in the gospel with spiritual impulses. When we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost we understand that its influence is more often felt than it is heard. We receive spiritual impulses throughout our lives. I think sometimes when we receive these impulses we are shy to act on them because we are not sure if they are just in our minds. We are always so afraid of being wrong and making the wrong choice. One thing that I have learned in this life is that if I am ever prompted to do something good then it doesnt matter if I just made it up in my head or if it really is the Holy Ghost. I need to act on these promptings right away so that when my Heavenly Father needs to use me as a tool he knows that he can count on me. As long as I keep my mind open to spiritual promptings I can be there to help others. Being open to your own impulses in improvisational dance is a helpful practice tool to being open to the promptings of the spirit at all times.

In the world it is not uncommon to hear the phrase who am I? There are many people who spend their whole lives just trying to figure out who they really are. Most people will probably never find it because the answer they are looking for is one that is much simpler than they probably want to hear. Through the Gospel of Christ we are taught from the time we are first taught that we are children of God. Plain and simple, We are children of God. 32 Our potential
is unlimited. Our inheritance is sacred. (Nelson, 1998) If we can remember that at all times and in

all things and in all places then we can return to live with Him again someday. When we choreograph and create for other dancers then we need to remember this principle. Your dancers are also children of God with a body and a spirit with a divine destiny. If we help our dancers to understand this then our work will be so much greater because of it. In the end we must always remember that if we follow Christ then we will be blessed because of it. With our Savior by our side we are able to accomplish so much more than we can on our own. If we center the arts around Christ then the Spirit will accompany our works and will be able to touch more lives because of it. We must never give in to the world and believe that we can do things better on our own. Our belief in Christ will always help us in every aspect of our lives. Centering the arts in Christ is another way we can come closer to our Heavenly Father which is the only way to find true happiness on this earth.

Works Cited Dayley, K. Newell. "Centering The Arts in Christ." BYUI Devotional. 06 Mar. 2001. Speech. Maxwell, Neil A. "Creativity." 12 Apr. 1996. Speech. Nelson, Russel M. We Are Children of God. Proc. of October 1998 General Conference, Salt Lake City, UT. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. Matthew. Bible: King James Version. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.