After four years of involvement, Gabrielle Kisner is preparing for her last performance as an undergraduate student with Anointed Ministries. For this concert, she’s doing more than her usual singing.
“I’m dancing,” said Kisner, a senior studying education mathematics. “I used to dance when I was younger, and I just decided before I graduate, I want to dance again because it’s been so long.”
Anointed Ministries is having its last concert of the year Friday at Grace Christian Center, 9322 Johnson Road, The Plains. The praise dancing, singing and praise miming branches of the organization will all perform.
In Anointed Ministries, praise dancing is called Hallel. Carissa Mavec, the director of Hallel, said praise dancing is expressive dance that allows for more connection with God.
“We show a love of Christ and his message through movement,” said Mavec, a sophomore studying journalism. “I don’t always have words or know what to say when in prayer, but when I’m dancing, it doesn’t matter because he takes (the dancing) and interprets it into what I’m trying to say to him. To me, it’s more of an experience than my prayer.”
Mavec said they have mixed contemporary, modern, jazz and African styles of dance for this concert.
Richard Moses, a junior studying communication studies, and a few others began the miming branch, called Unspoken, in Winter 2012. Unspoken involves dancers wearing whiteface and using sign language and other movements that are in direct accord with the words. Different than dance, which is more of an expressive interpretation, miming is literal to the words.
Moses said combining all three branches of Hallel, Unspoken and Anointed Praise, which is the choir, gives people the opportunity for different levels of praise.
“I was always taught people find God in their own ways,” said Moses, the director of Unspoken. “So some people feel closer if they are singing his praises, when they’re studying his word and others feel it giving their praise through their body.”
Kisner said she is excited about this last performance and encourages people to attend because of what Anointed Ministries’ performances mean.
“It shows them they can connect with their spirituality of what they believe in, in any type of way, and it’s acceptable,” Mavec said.
If You Go
What: Anointed Ministries Concert
When: 7 p.m., Friday
Where: Grace Christian Center, 9322 Johnson Road, The Plains
Admission: Free, a free shuttle service will be available at the bottom of Baker University Center starting at 6 p.m.
mg986611@ohiou.edu
@buzzylightmeryl
