For 75 dance students in the Birmingham area, their dance training and performances are about more than just the art of dance: they’re a ministry. Starting out as a part of Briarwood Ballet of Briarwood Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, in 2006 Westwood Ballet and Irish Dance Ministry became a ministry of Westwood Baptist Church, Birmingham.
Cindy Best, director of the dance ministry, has helped extend the program into an organization that’s truly connected within the community. The group has performed at local churches, nursing homes, the North Jefferson Women’s Center, Alabama Teen Challenge, the Lovelady Center for Women and Children, Children’s Harbor at the Benjamin Russell Hospital for Children in Birmingham and many other locations. They also live broadcast their performances.
Sharing Jesus
“We are dancing outside the studio walls sharing Jesus through dance,” Best said. “On March 14 we celebrated the passion of St. Patrick with a free community Irish performance, ‘The Heartbeat of Ireland.’ We are in the planning stages for a ‘Ballerina Ball’ on July 29 at Children’s Harbor for 35 long-term care girls, and we’re so very excited.”
The program also is in communication with local libraries to find ways to partner with them during their summer reading programs. They would use the time to read ballerina stories and then incorporate a brief ballet class.
Tracy Prescott, mother of four girls who have all been a part of Westwood Ballet and Irish Dance Ministry, said, “The teachers are amazing here. They get to know each individual and the families as well.
“What we have watched as a family is that they teach character and integrity while teaching technique and dance. This is not just another dance studio.”
The ministry is not only a way to share the love of God with the community it’s also a blessing to its students, according to Maria Harbin, who has a daughter in the program.
“Westwood does not teach dance purely for the sake of dance, but uses dance as a tool to focus on the whole child,” she said. “It’s about so much more than just learning steps. By touching the students’ lives, they also touch the lives of each family who has a student involved.”
Harbin also pointed out Westwood is unique in that “there is no other school in this area that offers these children a chance to experience and grow in the arts.” Most of the girls at Westwood, she said, would likely not be able to afford or meet the requirements of other ballet schools and the fact that Westwood teaches ballet, tap and Irish dancing also sets it apart.
Westwood Ballet and Irish Dance Ministry’s 75 students range in age from three years to college-aged. Some are new to ballet while others are returning to the art after taking it at other dance schools.
Prescott has been impressed with Best’s ability to stretch the program’s resources, “making the most of everything she touches.”
Prescott said Best has a true heart for the ministry and makes prayerful decisions regarding who to bring onto her staff at Westwood, ensuring that just the right teachers are a part of the school.
“We love the vision that this ministry has and we love the fact that they have decided to take it outside of the four walls and into the surrounding communities to share the love of Christ through dance,” Prescott said.
One big difference between a Westwood performance and another dance school’s performance is the subject matter.
Typically teachers and others affiliated with Westwood come up with the dance recitals, creating story ballets that have the gospel or some biblical principle at their core.
Mary-Virginia Pemberton, who has been a dance student at Westwood for 12 years, said she was excited about the April 17–18 dance recital, which gleaned its inspiration from the Max Lucado book “The Boy and the Ocean.”
“The ballet is technically not a story, but (like the book) we take different aspects of creation that explain what God’s love is truly like,” she said. “Some of the dances are focused on God’s love being like the ocean or like the stars or something of that sort. Other dances have lyrical songs, singing about the wonders of God’s love.”
But the highlight of this year’s recital, Pemberton said, was the integration of a video displaying the testimony of the family of one of her classmates — something with the power to bring audience members to tears.
“This year (of dance) is going to be great, and I cannot wait to see what the Lord does,” she said.
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