I wanna win! Doesn’t everybody? Paul, of the New Testament, even said that if a runner is running, he should run to get the prize. No one wants to go see a football game in which the players have no care of the outcome. When we dance, we dance to win, in some respects. We offer our best. We push ourselves to express with clarity and depth. When we dance competitively, and we do, we go for the trophy. I don’t think this is wrong. But there has to be something more….
At rpm dance we strive to have a community that is welcoming and that reflects our values. This affects things. It should mean that we reach out to the people around us with mercy and compassion. It means that our competitive team doesn’t rehearse every Saturday, but every other Saturday, because people need to spend time with their family on the weekends. It means that if we are at a convention and the material being taught doesn’t reflect our values, we can sit down. It means that when conflict comes, as it always does, we try our best to talk it out rather than hit and run, or not address the issues. It means we try to grow as performers and as an organization, in such a way that allows us to receive constructive criticism. And it means that we have an expectation that we will have to compromise to co-exist in the kind of community we are cultivating.
We strive to be counter- cultural rather than sub-cultural. As a Christian I am inspired to be in the world, but not of it. I want to engage the world with my thoughts and creative ideas. I don’t want to create a club, I want to mobilize an army…. of talented, compassionate artists who will take the world by storm, as a force for good. I wanna make world changers!
