My dance teacher went down the roster asking which students would like to choreograph a dance piece for the final, or who might like to be in one of the student pieces. I said,
"I'd like to teach the class an exercise."
"Oh? Really?"
"Well, yes." I said. "I've noticed that we're all not very good at working as an ensemble. When we do our routines or warm ups everyone is focused only on themselves. I'd like to show you all something that will help us build a sense of teamwork, and make us pay attention to one another more."
So we did. I told them the rules for Diamond Ensemble, and let them have a go. It was fun to see how beautiful it was even on the first pass. My teacher got out his video camera. He asked me the next day to lead it again saying, "I'm going to use this in all my classes from now on!"
I asked the students once they'd tried it, "What did you learn or experience in this first try?" One guy named Andrew says, "I've never before felt so unified with people. It forces you to stop thinking of yourself."
Wow.
So I told them that this is why I love doing it so much and that when I've taught it before it was for Christians - to help them learn about using their bodies in worship, and a symbolic picture of how when we work together following and supporting the leader it's a beautiful dance of unity.
"COOL!" was the reply.
My prayer is that this opens the door this next semester for me to have more opportunites to encourage some of these students in their Spiritual journey.
