Ballet, Broadway, and Who We Are

I took an Introduction to Humanities class, five years ago and I still remember a statement that my professor made while talking about the dancing unit. His statement lingers in my brain, because it bothered me. He said, "Ballet is all about defying gravity, while modern dance embraces it." I suppose it was the professor's tone that irked me more than anything. He made it sound like Ballet was so rebellious and unappealing, while modern dance was clever and superior for using its limits as strength. Having grown up dancing ballet myself, I have a great love and respect for this noble form of dancing. I am more than aware of the fact that many people find it to be traditional, boring or unappealing, but I beg to differ.


As I continued to think about this statement a popular Broadway song entered my mind,  Wicked's Defying Gravity. In this song, Elphaba, the misunderstood hero is telling her friend Glenda that she has decided to leave her limits behind and defy gravity. She sings:

 "I'm through accepting limits
 'Cuz someone says they're so
 Some things I cannot change

 But till I try, I'll never know!"

These lyrics put a whole new perspective to his statement. Yes, Ballet may be the rebel, but what an amazing accomplishment, striving to constantly achieve more than the limits, through careful control. It is one thing to use the limits we have to the best advantages but how much greater to reach for so much more.

 This made me thinking about perspective and how we see ourselves. Are we living with our worldly limits or rising above them? Psalms 84:6 says:

 "I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High." 

and Romans 8:17 expounds,

 "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."

We have a great potential even that of becoming like God and Jesus Christ, yet how often do we limit ourselves to the acts and beliefs of a much lesser person? If we saw ourselves as children of God, with the potential of perfection, would we take the chance to rise above the normal and reach for something more?


Like Ballet, living higher moral standards and following the commandments can be viewed as being traditional, boring and unappealing. However, we have the promise in Revelations 3:21 that:

 "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne."

 Of course this means that we have to defy a little gravity, trust the Lord, live his commandments, and say, as Elphaba:

Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game
Too late for second-guessing
Too late to go back to sleep
It's time to trust my instincts
Close my eyes and leap!

So if you care to find me
Look to the western sky!
As someone told me lately:
"Everyone deserves the chance to fly!" 

 

Let's Defy Gravity! 

The Bookshelf

   I am a reader. I could -and quite frankly, have- read a book for hours on end. When I was in Middle School and High School I got in the habit of reading under my covers with a flashlight so that my dad wouldn't see the light still on when he came home from work late in the night, hours after I should have been asleep. Which leads me to Stevensville, Montana. There is a special thing about the Stevenville library that I noticed from the first day, that pulls at me every time I visit. It's a "free books" bookshelf. How awesome is that?! Outside of the library is a bookshelf protected from the elements by an overhang in which anyone in the community can place their unwanted books, and anyone else can feel free to take them. I can't help but look at it as I walk by just to see what is on the shelf on any given day, at least I couldn't help it until about two weeks ago when a specific title caught my eye: Don't Look Twice.

   As a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ I have made the commitment to leave behind all worldly things and to lend my life to service of the Lord for the next 18 months. As part of leaving behind all worldly things, I committed to only read my scriptures and four other gospel related books. What a challenge for me, especially when I let myself indulge in the habit of looking at titles of other books! So when my eyes hit the title, Don't Look Twice, I felt immediately chastised. I had willingly made a commitment to leave books behind, and though I had no intention of reading the books whose titles I was reading, I was looking twice at something I was not supposed to.

This made me think about the people everywhere who are trying to make and keep commitments to follow the Lord and leave behind all old sins and habits. While we really want to turn away from it and have no intention of ever going back, how often do we take a moment to look back at what was left behind? While this is a natural reaction to look back, the problem becomes a true issue when we look twice. Some problems, addictions or behaviors take a long time to heal and the long lasting hold that Satan had on us can cause us to feel a strong pull backwards at times. However, if we don't look twice, we can call on God to stay the tide.

Elder Neal A. Anderson said, "When we sin, we turn away from God. When we repent, we turn back toward God." The joy of turning to God is incomparable to anything else. It is our supreme and ultimate goal. We can't afford to lose it by looking twice!