Turning movement into ministry in Chesapeake

CHESAPEAKE

Before the show, the girls are being girls. They laugh. They chat. They exchange knowing looks inside a room behind the sanctuary.

That will change in a little while, says Crystal Ball, who stands in the doorway. They'll become serious and spiritual. They'll become what they call "illustrators for God."

Ball is ministry coordinator for Everlasting Praise, 10 girls and young women from First Baptist Church of South Hill who dance for Jesus.

Some people preach. Some people sing. The purpose of Everlasting Praise, explains 16-year-old member McKenzie Halsey, "is to glorify the Lord in the way we choose to. We don't want to do it verbally."

The group has been around for a decade. Used to be, says coach and choreographer Ryan Smith, the dance ministry was more hand movements to music. These days it is a mix of modern and lyrical dance incorporating the whole body.

Once in a while people aren't so sure about what they do. But once someone sees it, Smith says, they get it.

The girls have two-hour practices four days a week. They've got to keep a C average in school to stay in. (Ball says that's not a problem; most of the girls do better than that.)

They get invitations to perform all the time, McKenzie says. Sometimes they can't get through a practice without Smith's cell phone ringing with one. They've performed at festivals and nursing homes, at their own church and at others.

All the girls say they love to dance, but they don't do it anywhere but here. They perform to religious songs with words about love and faith and moving on.

Smith thinks about those lyrics over and over again when he's choreographing, trying to translate words into dance.

The girls try to think of those words, too. What result are graceful leaps and turns and fluid sweeps of the arm, hands pressed together in prayer and fingers pointed heavenward.

"It's a way for me to express my feelings, to get my point across. If you haven't given your life to Christ, you should," says 11-year-old dancer Angelica Brown.

"I like to see people happy," says TeAnna Saunders, 12, before disappearing from the room with a bag of clothes Sunday afternoon with the rest of the girls.

A performance is about to begin at First Baptist Church of South Hill, where pews are filling up despite the warm, sunny weather outside.

The girls transform a long hallway into a dressing room where they change into their first outfits - khaki pants and layered red, black and white shirts. In front of the congregation, they transform, too, dancing with a quiet, determined energy.

They do five numbers, changing each time. Music booms from speakers attached to the church's vaulted ceiling and the audience sways and claps and stands.

Juanita Ricks is among them, smiling and cheering when Everlasting Praise takes its final bow.

"I was truly blessed," she says. "I just feel joy."

Kristin Davis, (757) 222-5208, kristin.davis@pilotonline.com