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Dainia Parker Professor Ed Austin Dance 260 7 October 2013

Examination/Discussion of Words of the Modern Prophets Reading these talks and speeches really opened up my eyes to how everyday life can be incorporated into dance. Whether there is symbolic meaning to the dance or whether there is something simple about every day, it can be portrayed through dance. In Elder Tanners conference talk from 1977, he talks on integrity. He shares a story about how he was speaking with a man or a company when one of his employees walked by. The owner of the company explained to Elder Tanner how this man was full of integrity; never an action of dishonesty or disloyalty. Elder Tanner goes on to explain what integrity really is. Honesty, trustworthiness, and loyalty. Isnt that what dance solely about? Isnt it honest and pure? True and loyal? The reason I say this is because I perceive dance that way. It is a way to show your true self. It is a way to express any emotion or thought without any words. How often can one do that? I believe integrity is a big part of dance. I know when I was dancing back in high school on my dance team integrity was a huge factor of not only the performance, but the team itself. We live in a dishonest, harsh world where morals are diminishing and appeal for inappropriate things is increasing. Dance is that staple where you cannot lie. It doesnt matter your background, your current circumstance, or your successes or struggles in life. It is based on

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nothing but you and your movement. How can one be dishonest with their movement? Or disloyal and untrustworthy? As far as I know, you cannot. The marvel of our physical bodies is often overlooked. Who has not encountered feelings of low self-esteem because of physique or appearance? Many people wish their bodies could be more to their liking. Some with naturally straight hair want it curly. Others with curly hair want it straight. Occasionally some ladies, believing that gentlemen prefer blonds, become decided blonds. Your body, whatever its natural gifts, is a magnificent creation of God. In Russell M. Nelsons conference talk from 1998, We are Children of God, he points out first and foremost that the body is a very sacred and special thing. As above in the cited paragraph, we can all attest to being unhappy or disappointed with our body at one point or another in our lives. Why are we always so much harder on ourselves than we actually should be? Elder Nelson reminds us in this talk that our bodies are phenomenal things and that we should be happy in the skin were in. This ties into dance because a dancers body is indeed a magnificent thing. Dancers train early on to become flexible and technical to achieve specified movement and choreography to become the absolute best they can. A dancer can bend and twist, leap and turn quite a bit more than the average person can. In fact, dancers make it look easy. Its absolutely amazing what a dancer can do with his/her body. A dancer is made up of perseverance, dedication, motivation, skill, and the will to succeed and push themselves to new heights. That is why it is so important to love the body that Heavenly Father gave us. We really are children of a heavenly being who gave us this love and talent to share and to perfect. Elder Nelson talks about how the spirit is connected to the body. I believe the spirit is an integral part of the dancer. A dancer does not dance merely for the entertainment for an audience

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or for the praise of an esteemed being. They dance because it feeds their soul. It is a literal part of them; its in their blood. It gives them that you factor. Its what makes them unique and different. Every dancer has a different story and why dance is so meaningful to them. Just like every dancers body is different; its what makes them, them. In Neal A. Maxwells talk Creativity from 1982 he says: When by wise self-management we are creative, then we mortals taste what Pascal called the dignity of causality, the capacity to cause that which had not existed in quite that way before! Something pertaining to truth and beauty occurs that would not have happened quite that way without us! Thus as agents unto ourselves we use the power that is in us to do good, but also to do it well, whether our creativity involves the use of our voice, our hands, our muscles, or our conceptual powers. True creativity, as it reflects our capacity to see or to produce something in a new way, represents a restructuring that carries our individual imprint and uniqueness. Such can be equally true of the inventor and the painter, of the pianist as well as the poet. I like Elder Maxwells talk because he is talking about creativity and what it takes to be creative. I believe dancers are born with creativity. It is something that separates them from everything and everyone else. Creativity manifests who you are as a person and shows what you are about. Personal creativity is what makes you you. In the scriptures, it tells us that creativity is what brings us joy as individuals. In 2 Nephi it states that as we are creative from day to day we will live life more abundantly and we will be shown a more excellent way. I know that dance is what helps me enjoy life. whenever I hear a

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song on the radio that has a good beat or an old song that I did a routine to, it brings back great memories of what dancing taught me. I believe I am creative in the way I dance. What I was taught and what I have learned over the years has made me the dancer I am today. I believe that the creativity that I gained from all of my experiences from sixteen years of dancing has broadened my mind and expanded my horizons on dance. Dance is something that I will not and cannot stop doing. It has been a part of me for as long as I can remember. I am so thankful every day for the talents that my Heavenly Father has given me. I am so full of gratitude for something that I could love so much. Im grateful that modern day prophets have declared that intellectual and gospel principles are a part of an artistic background and can be expressed or performed through modern day arts such as dance. What a glorious thing dance is.