Behind the Scenes at Christmas Joy

5 days until our Christmas concert, the Gift... 13 days until Christmas itself!!

The holiday season has gone so quickly this year, and yet it's nearly 60 degrees today.

Last weekend we performed with the First Presbyterian Church for their Christmas Joy! concert at the Pikes Peak Center downtown. Take a look behind the scenes!

Arriving at our dressing room ready for a full day

Putting on stage makeup

Getting into costume. We have to tack down the scarves so they don't fly off!

Warming up for the show, sometimes we have to be pretty creative about finding space.

Waiting backstage before our first piece.

We had one performance at 2:30pm and another at 6:00pm so in our down time we crocheted, sewed pointe shoes at watched Eloise at Christmastime!

Packing up to go home. Ready to be back into the studio early the next morning.

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!

On December 17th at 7:00pm and the 18th at 11:00am we will be presenting our own Christmas Concert, The Gift. Come join us as we celebrate the birth of our Savior. We have been very busy so far this Christmas season. Just this past weekend we performed for the Christmas programs at the Sunrise Church, Calvary United Methodist and the First Lutheran Church. There were a total of 6 performances between Saturday and Sunday! The Sunrise Church had a children's choir who wore star costumes with blinking rings on each hand. Every time we would pass them several of the little girls would shout "the ballerinas, the ballerinas!!" oblivious to the fact that we were still in the middle of the show and the whole audience could hear!

During the Lessons and Carols performance at the First Lutheran Church they unfortunately filled up so quickly that they had to turn some people away. One family decided to stay anyway and wait for the Pie Fest after the show. Despite not having seats the little girls in the family made sure that they were there peering through the back windows of the sanctuary each time we went in to perform.

We wish you all a merry Christmas season! Hope to see you at The Gift on the 17th and 18th!

Where the Deer and the Antelope Play...and Dancers too!

The weekend just before Thanksgiving we braved the cold and toured to Saratoga and Cheyenne Wyoming. This was our first trip to Wyoming as a company and we were all impressed by its quiet beauty. Everywhere we looked there were deer, antelope, even bison!

Friday evening we performed at their new community center. It was a beautiful building and we were privileged to perform in their theatre. There are no dance studios or schools in or near this community so it was such a wonderful experience to be able to bring dance to them.

After the show we were able to sit in the natural hot springs and relax. The warm water felt so nice on our sore muscles, though after only a few minutes it was too hot. The thermometer said it was 106 degrees! While we were soaking three deer came within 25 feet of the pool, a mom, dad and baby. They were beautiful, though it was slightly nerve-racking to be so close to such large animals!

The next morning we held a class for the youth in the community. We played with scarves, worked on some basic ballet and learned a piece of choreography. Many of the little girls came dressed up for the occasion in tutus and dance dresses. We were jealous of their pretty costumes.

We drove to Cheyenne that same day and had some free time to explore the city. All around the downtown area there were ginormous 8 foot tall cowboy boots so we decided to go on a boot scavenger hunt to get a picture with each one. According to their website there are 19 boot but we only found 8...

Wyoming Boots - slideshow dvd

On Sunday morning we performed at the Frontier United Methodist Church in Cheyenne. We met their Pastor several years ago when he lived down in Fountain, Colorado and had performed at his church regularly. When he moved to Cheyenne we were sad to see him go but hoped we would meet again. Not only did we get to see him and perform for his new church but they invited us to join them for their church-wide Thanksgiving meal. We had so much fun sitting and talking with the people of the congregation not to mention eating the yummy food. However, tummies full of turkey made for a long, sleepy drive back to the Springs.

Last weekend in Kansas

We took a much needed day off on the Tuesday of our Kansas tour to make jewelry and eat Chinese food. Yes, as dancers we try to take care of ourselves and eat well but everyone has to splurge once in a while! Making jewelry is also one of our favorite things to do since we often wear earrings to class and rehearsal. This year we were brave and tried making necklaces as well but those are much harder to wear while dancing.

On Wednesday we returned to the Benton Church (We danced for them in February) to perform for their youth as well as the community. There was a delicious potluck before the performance where we had to try very hard not to eat too much! After we performed Laci spoke about her experience with a boyfriend in high school and early college and how dangerous it can be to build a connection with someone when God isn't at the center of the relationship. The talk really impacted some of the youth attending who are currently struggling with that issue and she was able to speak with them after the event. We also had an adorable group of young girls who came to the show all dressed up in tutus and costumes.

Throughout the rest of the week we taught several masterclasses at the Bethel Academy of Performing Arts, the Kingman Dance Center, Cammi Hostetler Productions and the Dance Camp Studio. We love meeting new girls and working with them on technique and choreography. As usual we met a lot of hard workers who love to dance.

Sunday morning we returned to the Winfield Evangelical Free Church to perform three pieces. Recently the roof of their Sanctuary was torn off by severe winds so they were having services in their gym area. Fortunately no one was hurt during the storm despite it occurring on a busy AWANA night with lots of kids and volunteers on the campus. We continue to pray for them as they try to save funds for rebuilding and seek God's will for their church.

What a great tour we had! Check back soon for updates about our most recent tour to Wyoming.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Dancing with Cub Scouts

We had many wonderful experiences while on tour to Kansas and will highlight some of them in our next couple of blogs.

The sign outside of the Church

Sister Kathy invited us to perform on Monday October 18th for the St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church. She worked very hard to promote the event and lots of people were in attendance from all ages and walks of life. Possibly the most surprising of all though was a troop of 7 to 11 year old cub scouts. The leaders may have been a little nervous about how their boys would react to a dance performance, but they were so intrigued! There was no fidgeting or bickering and many of them were moving to the music by the time we finished. Afterward we held a short discussion and answered any questions people might have. While there were several thought provoking questions our favorites always came from the cub scout section. One young boy bravely raised his hand and asked how we were able to change costumes so quickly! In our performances we may have nine pieces with up to 5 different costumes or costume variations and sometimes we have less than 2 minutes to change and return to the stage. Changing quickly is definitely a pre-requisite to joining the company. A bit later someone else was curious about the financial aspect of running our company and after we explained how we rely on support from individuals one of the cub scouts quickly asked how much money we had saved so far. Of course we explained that it often disappears as quickly as it comes in. Then a young girl asked our favorite question, how long have we been dancing? We love this one because it always brings a gasp of shock from the audience. People often believe we are between 14 and 18 years old so when they learn that some of us have dance for more than 20 years they can't believe it!

Setting up for the show in their beautiful worship space

After answering everyone's questions we invited them to join us in learning a simple combination of steps. The evening's focus was on how dance can be a method of prayer, praise, or worship and we wanted the audience to be able to experience the closeness to God that we feel when we dance. Sometimes when we open the floor to the audience people get nervous and don't participate but not at St. Vincent! We had little girls, teenagers, moms, dads, grand fathers, and cub scouts all on their feet. The cub scouts took their dancing very seriously and were so adorable. We could really feel God's presence in the room as everyone made themselves vulnerable before Him. What an amazing evening!

Dancing with the cub scouts!

Check back soon for even more stories from our tour.

Special Announcement :- )

We are very excited to announce that we are now able to accept donations online thanks to our new PayPal account! If you're interested in becoming a BE support partner visit our website at www.balletemmanuel.org to join us in sharing the love of Jesus through dance.

As a full-time ministry we value your prayers and financial support! Thank you!

Say Cheese...

Here is a bunch of pictures from some workshops and other events we held on our tour in Kansas. We worked with so many wonderful people and organizations that we can hardly wait to go back.

Stay tuned for more stories from our trip! Enjoy...

Kansas Tour 2010 - slideshow maker with music

On the Road Again!

It's the morning of the third day on tour in Kansas and we are resting after a weekend packed with performances and workshops. This evening we will be performing at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church.

This year we decided to take on the challenge of planning a tour to Kansas early in the season, and it's been a wonderful adventure so far! Several weeks ago we weren't sure this tour wasn't going to happen, but after much work and lots of prayer, our week is filled to the brim with performances, workshops and master classes in Wichita and the surrounding areas.

We started the weekend early Saturday morning with a performance at Park City's Women Aglow meeting, where we had the privilege of meeting a great group of women including one of Erin's long-time family friends Ruth Bailey.

We enjoyed lunch with Ruth and Women Aglow director Kay Tweet before heading off to West Evangelical Free Church in Wichita to teach an afternoon workshop. After Bible study and technique class, the 12 workshop students, ranging from age 4 to adult learned a dance that they later performed at our Saturday night concert. The performance was wonderful and it was so fun to see our students up on stage!

Sunday morning we left not-so-bright but very early to make our way to Salina, where we danced at University United Methodist Church for their two services. It was definitely worth the early start! The pastor and congregation were so happy to have us and we're excited to visit and worship with them again next year (and eat more of the chocolate cookies they gave us!).

Next we headed down the street to teach master classes at Dance Elite where the girls were very eager to learn and did a great job applying the corrections we gave them. They also learned the choreography we taught them in only an hour!

Sunday night we headed to Sterling College where we performed for a chapel service. We were so excited to get to dance on an actual theatre stage complete with wings, dressing rooms, stage lights and a sound system! Even though we were pretty exhausted from the long day the college students helped energize us with their enthusiastic response to our performance. We even talked to one student who was interested in costume-making and backstage directing…we'd love to have someone like this travel with this some day! After the concert we spoke with Anne, the chapel director at Sterling College. She shared with us that through our performance she felt the Lord moving in the hearts of the students (both Christian and non-Christians) in a powerful way.

We're looking forward to our day off tomorrow – there will be rest for our tired bodies, lots of Chinese food and earring making!

We're Back!!!

The 2010/2011 season has officially begun!

Many exciting events happened this past summer...

After a beautiful wedding in Michigan on August 14th Laci Yarbrough became Laci Landry and Nathan Landry officially became a BE roadie. Congratulations to the newlyweds!

Erin also had an adventure this summer spending 5 weeks in Ecuador working with the orphanage La Casa de Fe. For pictures and more details about her trip visit her blog at ForHisLittleChildren.blogspot.com.

Over the summer we had a couple opportunities to perform as a company. In August we were able be a part of the Via Affirmativa conference held at the Glen Eyrie castle in Colorado Springs. Via is a movement of Christian artists in music, painting, drama, fabric arts, photography, and much more. These individuals approach outreach and ministry from an artist's standpoint using their skill, creativity and relationships with secular artists as a means to preach the gospel instead of producing art that depicts Christ and using that as the main way to communicate the gospel. For us this is an exciting movement in the Christian world and we hope you'll check out their informational video.

While we all had a wonderful summer break we were definitely ready to get back into the studio and get back into shape. Even though we’ve only been back two weeks we haven’t wasted any time. Already we have almost 5 pieces choreographed for our new repertoire. We hope you will love these new works as much as we do!

We are also pleased to welcome two new members to the Ballet Emmanuel family. Melanie Dexter is joining us a company member and Bill Lutsch is joining us as a tour planner and business administrator.

We are thrilled to see how God is using each of their unique talents to further this ministry.

This is going to be an amazing season for Ballet Emmanuel as we are booking more tours around the country, getting more involved in our community here in Colorado and continuing to grow as artists and followers of Christ. We hope you'll join us this year. You can check the calendar on our website at www.balletemmanuel.org to see if we'll be performing near you!

Time of our lives...

Last Friday was the last day of this season. If feels strange, but we are in desperate need of a break! We all have alot going on this summer...

Erin just left for Ecuador for 5 weeks. Her sister Sara, brother Luke, and herself will be working with an orphanage where they will be holding a Vacation Bible School, life-skill classes (such as cooking, shopping at the store, games, etc.) as well as some movement classes. This will be her second summer down there, and hopefully the rest of Ballet Emmanuel will be joining her in future years.

Amy is going to be tending to her newly planted garden and relaxing on her classy new swing. At the same time, she'll keep busy teaching at Ballet Society's worhip workshop, as well as doing some extra stuff for BE. She is going to be focusing on the business side of Ballet Emmanuel and serving as tour planner/business administrator (we will soon be looking for someone to fill this position for upcomng and future seasons), Amy and Jared (her husband) are also excitied to relax a little this summer. They plan to go camping, hit some jeep trails, and experience the "true heart" of Colorado.

Laci is going to be busy planning her wedding back home in Michigan.. All of the big things are done. They have a church, hall, caterer, desserts, dresses, tuxes, and the honeymoon is almost planned (although it's a surprise, so she has no clue where they are going). On top of that, she will be working a week of camp (at the church camp she grew up at) and planning the preschool VBS at her church back home. She will be ending the summer by getting married August 14th! Erin and Amy are very excited to be joining her out in Michigan, despite the fact that they have to wear yellow for their bridesmaid dresses :)

You may be wondering how our last couple performances went...

Our shows with the Pikes Peak Ringers, a Bell Choir based here in Colorado Springs, were so much fun. We had a blast dancing to something so unique and having the oppurtunity to do something outside of our normal repertoire. The dances we performed were all over the spectrum... we performed a beautiful slow piece, some cute upbeat pieces, and one very special hoedown! For more information on what the Ringers are up to visit their website at http://www.pikespeakringers.com/

Yes we look young, but we are

honestly older than 14!

Our show with the Movement Company of Castle Rock was very special to us. We loved being able to work with such a wonderful group of women. The concert was titled "Freedom: and the show promoted and supported a group called Project Sanctuary. Project Sanctuary helps support and provide for war veterans. The company is more modern and jazz based, and a number of their pieces made us want get up there and dance with them. For more information about their work visit their website at http://www.themovementco.org/

Wow... it's hard to believe we made it! We have had such an exciting season. God brought us so many amazing oppurtunities and we were able to meet so many wonderful new people. Here is a re-cap of what we did this past year...

September was filled with lots of choreography and a couple of small performances.

October included the Women Come Forth Conference in Denver and short tour to Grand Junction, Colorado.

November was busy getting prepared for Christmas.

December had shows every weekend right up to Christmas. 1st Presbyterian Church and Sunrise Church were both amazing productions and then of course we had our own very successful Christmas Concert.

January was all tour preparation.

February was all touring. We traveled to Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Kansas.

March we held a workshop for students and auditions for new company members.

April we celebrated Easter with our "Crown of Thorns" concert. We also worked with Fiddler on the Roof at Sunrise Church and traveled back to Grand Junction for another weekend tour.

May we worked with and performed at the "Evening of Worship Dance" which is a new dance ministry event. We held our end of the season concert "Created" and performed with the Pikes Peak Ringers and Movement Company.

We also performed at many various churches throughout the entire season for services and special events, held workshops and master classes during evey tour, and began planning and scheduling for next season.

Looking back, it is so clear how much God blessed Ballet Emmanuel this season and how good He truly is.

Our last week we were busy making all sorts of plans for next year! But we made sure we had some time for fun. We went hiking to the top of Pulpit Rock and celebrated the season with a bbq and pool party!

We have certainly had the time of our lives and can't wait to come back and reach even more communities next season!

Final Inning...

Hard to believe we are so close to summer break! Here's what we have been up to...


Two weekends ago we had the wonderful oppurtunity of dancing at a worship dance festival called "An Evening of Worship". Worship dance groups all over Colorado (including Pueblo, Boulder, Divide, Castle Rock, and many more) made the trip to the Springs to participate. There were approximately 22 groups in all and we had so much fun seeing other people worship God in their own dance styles, as well as being able to share ours with them. It was very encouraging to all who were there.

That same weekend, we also danced at 3 services at Sunnyside Christian Church for Mother's Day. it was a very long, but rewarding, weekend.

This past weekend, we had our end of the season conert "Created". This concert consisted of the pieces we have been working on and touring with since September. It was a bitter-sweet feeling to perform them for the last time. We had Melanie Dexter dance with us, which was extra exciting because she will be joining us as a full-time company member in August...YAY! We also had a couple of students from the Colorado Springs area perform a piece they choreographed and they did a lovely job.

So the season is almost over. We have 3 more performances this weekend, two with the Pikes Peak Ringers, and one with the Movement Company (for more information about these shows, please visit our webiste at balletemmanuel.org). After that, it's just plans and ides for next year! We are down to the final inning, we are rounding third and about to steal, just a few more sprints and we made it :) It's crazy how fast time flies by.

April Showers bring May Snow?!

The last weekend of April we returned to beautiful Grand Junction, Colorado for a quick three day tour. It was so nice to see all of our friends that we met last October as well as meet many more new ones. On Friday we performed at an event put on by Stonecroft Ministries. Several times a year Stonecroft hosts events where high school and college age women can relax, eat and have fun while the gospel is presented in a unique but relevant manner. We were blessed to perform a full concert for them as well as present our testimonies.

On Saturday we taught three different sets of master classes across the city. First we returned to Mesa State for a contemporary ballet class in the morning then on to Campus Crusade for a short dance workshop during the ministry's "Girl's Sleepover". We even got party favors! Definitely love the glittery lip gloss. It was very encouraging to meet young women who are so active and passionate about reaching out to their peers. Saturday afternoon we taught a technique class and some choreography to the students at the Institute of Dancing Arts. The girls were lovely as usual although we were disappointed not to see Mrs. Diane since she was out of town for the weekend.

On Sunday morning we performed for two services at the River of Life Alliance Church before going to Chipotle for lunch with our hostess and her daughter. Laci and Amy love Chipotle and we think we may have hooked Erin as well! Shortly after lunch we left to return home and on our way we drove through snow! Snow on May 1st, that's Colorado for you! Thankfully our drive was uneventful and we returned home safely.

April Showers Bring May Flowers!

This year's Easter concert "Crown of Thorns" went very well. We had so much fun working with all of our guest artists. Naomi's violin was very much a fan favorite and Sunnyside Up Brass was a riot. We even switched roles with them, we played their instruments and they dance! (Ok, not really, but we did get to hold them)
After Easter we were finally able to rest as we took a week long, very much needed, spring break. When we came back there was no easing into things. That weekend we performed with the Sunrise Players at their benefit dinner theatre production of "Fiddler on the Roof" to support Ballet Emmanuel. After we danced, we had kitchen duty and washed up all the dishes. We had some fun getting wet and Fiddler was spectacular. Plus they gave us t-shirts!
Recently we have also had the pleasure of working with the Movement Company out of Castle Rock (a modern based company). We were going to perform with them for their spring concert "Freedom" but sadly it was canceled due to the random snow storm last week. Watch the calendar on our website for the times and dates of the rescheduled concert.

We are currently working on pieces for "An Evening of Worship Dance" and we also have our end of the year concert coming up! The performance is called "Created" and will be on Sunday May, 16th, at 7:00pm at Sunnyside Christian Church (check our website for printable fliers www.balletemmanuel.org). The event is one the whole family will love and admission is free. We hope to see you there!

Month of March

Two weeks ago we were blessed to have a lovely group of girls join us for a two-day audition to hire a new company member for the next season. We had girls from Arizona, New Mexico, Kentucky, Ohio and Mississippi. It was so much fun to meet new people and see how Christian dance is evolving in other parts of the country.

The following week on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we hosted our Created to Dance workshop here in Colorado Springs.

Twenty three girls and one boy came to discover how God not only created every part of us but also created us with a purpose, to worship Him. We then explored how we can use dance as a means of worship, praise, prayer, and reflection.


One of the girls was so excited about the workshop that gave she Erin a picture she drew of herself dancing.


Despite a weather delay on Wednesday we enjoyed teaching the dancers ballet technique classes as well as a jazz piece, a contemporary piece and an Israeli piece to perform for their families on Friday evening. On the last day we finished with an improvisation class that stretched everyone's creativity.

One of our favorite parts of the week was studying the Bible with the dancers. All of our participants were so strong and mature in their faiths, especially for their age. Even the seven year olds were quoting scripture to support points they were making. By Friday our goal was to have Colossians 3:17 memorized "And whatever you do whether in word or deed do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through him." This verse would remind us that we can use every moment in our lives to fulfill our purpose and worship God.

We are so excited for this weekend and our performance of "Crown of Thorns," a family friendly celebration of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. Several guest artists are joining us for the show including Naomi Hill, the Sunnyside Up Brass Band, Afton Paris and Jamie Southwick. We would love to see every one there! Admission is free and a love offering will be accepted.