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Filling Out the Questionnaire at the Dance Studio

By February 6, 2015 One Comment

Congratulations on starting dance lessons! Dance students gain many benefits through becoming better dancers. In order to assist your specialist teacher in personalizing your foundation and future programs, please let us know the five most important benefits you wish to receive through your dance lessons, ranking them with 1 being the most important.

___ Increased self-confidence
___ Recreation or entertainment
___ Hobby/interest
_1_ I’d like to lay down this heavy load, just for a few moments
___ Business reasons
_3_ Acquiring the ability to receive grace
___ Exercise/fitness
_4_ Becoming more at home in my body
___ Acquiring more grace and poise
_2_ Enjoying and attending more parties
_5_ A stay against the darkness

Where do you see yourself dancing?
At my daughter’s wedding. On the beach at sunset. At the office. In the kitchen. Down the street as I walk the dog. I’d like to see myself dancing everywhere, at least some of the time.

What do you feel is lacking in your dancing?
Freedom of movement. The capacity to hold on to joy or gratitude. The ability to set aside what I know about current events, world history, the church, human nature, every evil and failure and the long slide of all things into oblivion.

Why have you decided to improve your dancing at this time?
The road has been long, and I’m tired, but I realize there’s a long way to go. How else will I survive it? I see other people dancing, and I don’t know how they do it, but I want learn what they know.

How would you like to be able to dance in the future?
Through the sadness. Despite the sorrow. In defiance of trouble. Consistently and without regard to changing circumstances. In public. With loved ones. Alone. Before the face of God.

What level of dancing would you like to achieve?
Despite my age, I’m just a beginner. Why is that? For now I need help with the most basic steps.

Debra Rienstra

I am a writer and literature professor, teaching literature and creative writing at Calvin University, where I have been on the faculty since 1996. Born and bred in the Reformed tradition, I’ve been unable to resist writing four books about theological topics: beware the writer doing theology without a license. My most recent book is Refugia Faith: Seeking Hidden Shelters, Ordinary Wonders, and the Healing of the Earth (Fortress, 2022). Besides the books, I’ve written well over two hundred essays for the RJ blog as well as numerous articles, poems, and reviews in popular and scholarly contexts. I have a B.A. from the University of Michigan (Go Blue!) and a M.A. and Ph.D. from Rutgers. I am married to Rev. Dr. Ron Rienstra, and together we have three grown children. Besides reading and writing, I love classical music, science fiction, fussing in the yard, hiking, and teaching myself useful skills like plant identification and—maybe someday—drywall repair.

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