As a worship dance leader or member, it is sometimes a challenge to create the right worship dance routine to a Worship Danceparticular song or for a particular ministration. If your ministry has been around for a little while, you probably already have a few routines in your repertoire, ready to be presented on short notice. Maybe you don't. Either way, in order to connect with and minister to a certain audience, you may have to create a new routine.

In creating your worship dance routine, here are a few things to keep in mind:

  1. Your Goal: As much as you may want to totally showcase your dance skills and latest steps, remember why you are doing this dance. Are you doing it to convey God's message to the people, or do you simply want to create the coolest new dance? You may hurry to choose option 1, but I cannot tell you how many times I have strayed away from the goal of the dance, to instead focus on how many really "cool" steps I put in it. Dancing is fun and praise dance especially should not be boring, but you must always keep your goal foremost on your mind when creating a new worship dance.
  2. The Message: Depending on how you came about this ministration, there must be a message. Have you been What is the Message of the Worship Dance?invited to a function with a certain theme? Are you creating dances for your own show? Your song and dance should contribute to the overall message. Same goes for Sunday worship. Your Pastor may already have told you to present a dance that will align with his sermon. This serves to drive the point home with the audience.
    For example, if the message is forgiveness, then of course you want to choose a song and create a dance that depicts that.
  3. The Song or Music: The song or music you choose must fit the message. If you have a song that readily comes to mind, then great. Otherwise, you may have to search on itunes (or other music website), or maybe even enlist everyone in your worship dance team to help compile a list of possible songs. Then you want to listen to them and ask for the Holy Spirit's guidance in choosing a suitable one.
  4.  The Concept: Your worship dance concept simply refers to the "story" that your dance is telling. Once you have established your message, you need to visualize how you will flesh it out. Note that dance is much like drama, Mime Drama Conceptand in fact is drama with rhythm. You can choose to simply follow the lyrics of a song, and create steps to match the words, or you can create a drama that may not be lyrical but conveys the message of the dance. I have seen some wonderful blending of both techniques to create really unforgettable dances.
    Your concept helps you paint a picture of what your stage scene will look like, and even helps choose your praise dance attire or costumes. If you're going the drama route, your worship dance concept can have a full fledged description that includes lighting, stage props and the overall ambience of the venue. Of course if some of those things are beyond your control, then your concept should only contain the very basics. These include - the characters (everyone on stage) and their roles (what they'll be doing).
    So for instance, if your message is "forgiveness", and you choose a song along those lines, then your concept could be to simply create steps to the words of the song OR create a drama with characters such as Jesus, satan, and several "lost" people from different walks of life. 
  5. Your Praise Dance Attire or Costume: If you've followed the steps above, then you probably already know what you'll be wearing on stage. The drama I described may end up having everyone wearing something different. Other concepts may involve everyone wearing the same attire. Whatever the choice, make sure the clothing adequately fits the scene, and helps to convey the overall message of the worship dance.
    Of course, you want to make sure that the clothing is decent and will not distract people from the message.
  6. The Choreography: Lastly, you have to create your worship dance. Again, depending on the song and the concept, your work may already be cut out for you. If your concept is lyrical, then simply listen to the song and use steps that depict what is being said. There are certain phrases and expressions that are widely understood in Christiandom, and Pastor Lynn's Expresssive Worship DVD explains some of them.
    If your concept is more of a drama, then you have to build on the roles and the cues. A popular example of a drama is the Lifehouse Everything Skit.

 

This list may not be all inclusive, but it gives you a good idea of what goes into creating a worship dance. If you have any good points to add, please comment below.

Blessings!