Catholic Studies minor brings Messiah Danceworks to Dan Rodden Theatre

By Tara Pizzo
Senior Staff Writer
November 15, 2006

People all around the world express prayer in various manners, and for one group of students, dancing is their way of showing praise to God.

The Catholic Studies minor presented the Messiah Danceworks for the first time at La Salle in the Dan Rodden Theatre Thursday, Nov. 9.

Associate Professor of Religion at La Salle, Br. Joseph Dougherty, briefly explained the history of the group.

“Messiah was founded by the Rev. Duane Wilkins to allow for the praise of God through dance, especially in churches,” he said. “They have traveled internationally and train dancers for professional careers, so they are a troupe of very talented and intense students.”

During the event, there was both lecturing and dancing, which included an explanation of the motivations of the group by Wilkins.

“The managing artistic director of the Messiah Danceworks, Stacy Williams, then “offered a survey of Christian attitudes toward dance, and more generally towards the body,” Dougherty said.In particular, he spoke of his own vocation—call from God—to be both a dancer and a Baptist preacher [since] historically Baptists have usually condemned dancing,” Dougherty said.

The lecture segments of the presentation alternated with dances, and the final part of the presentation involved the audience.

“They taught some lucky members of the audience some basics of modern dance,” Dougherty said.

The Catholic Studies minor has held presentations throughout the semester and is a course of study that students should consider.

“The minor is an interdisciplinary look at the contributions of Catholicism to our civilization. Courses are drawn from the departments of art, history, philosophy, religion and social work,” Dougherty said. “A final capstone course, usually independent study with a faculty mentor, concludes the minor.”

Students should also know that they do not have to be Catholic to study the minor.

“While a La Salle student may want to minor in philosophy or religion, the advantage of this minor is that it approaches the one broad topic through various intellectual disciplines, with their varied themes and methodologies,” Dougherty said.

The Catholic Studies minor will be holding more presentations next semester ,including one speaker who will talk about the “marketing major at the service of the poor in Africa” and another one who will “investigate the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program theologically,” Dougherty said.

Their latest presentation of the Messiah Danceworks proved to be a success and enjoyed by many.

“Frankly, I’ve never seen students at one of the Catholic Studies minor presentations with such broad smiles on their faces,” Dougherty said.

pizzot1@lasalle.edu