Mackenzie Ballard

Ed Austin
Dance 459
06 April 2015
Strengthening Testimonies Through Dance and Christ
BYU seeks to develop students of faith, intellect, and character who have the
skills and the desire to continue learning and to serve others throughout their lives. These
are the common aims of all education at BYU (aims.byu.edu). It has been so unique to
have the opportunity to attend a university that not only strives to help students achieve
intellectual success, but who also spend just about as much time developing and
strengthening our faithour faith in ourselves, our faith in our capabilities and potential,
and most importantly, our faith in our dear Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
In my time here at Brigham Young University, my faith has matured so much and
my testimony has grown stronger than I ever thought possible. Much of this is attributed
to the relationships I have formed here and the experiences I have had, but many of these
life-changing relationships and experiences have one common denominatorDANCE.
In reflecting on my time here at BYU, I have come to realize that the most prevailing
contributor to my testimony, my view of the gospel and its principles, and my overall
experience at BYU has been my membership on Contemporary Dance Theatre.
For the past two years I have had the wonderful opportunity of performing on and
touring with Contemporary Dance Theatre. I can honestly say that some of the most
memorable and influential testimony building experiences I have ever had have been in
my time on this company; not only in our time performing, but also in our time laying the
groundwork and building the foundationfor our performancesin rehearsals.

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Nathan Balser has been the company director these past two years and I have
grown to love and admire him so much; not only for the person that he is, but for the
testimony that he continually shares with us. Ever since my very first rehearsaltwo
years agoas a company member on CDT, I can count on one hand the times that we
didnt start rehearsal with a spiritual thought and a prayer (and on the rare occasion that
this happened, we all felt it). Aside from those rare occasions, every Monday,
Wednesday, Friday, (and occasionally Saturday) we would gather together as a company
and a company member that had been previously assigned would share a spiritual thought
and say a prayer to open rehearsal and welcome the Spirit. The best part is that this was
not something we did solely before rehearsals; we would participate in the same uplifting
routine before every single performance, as well.
My heart is so full just thinking about the tradition of beginning rehearsals and
performances with a spiritual thought and prayer, but there are so many times that I forget
what a blessing it is to attend a university where this is such a normal part of our routine
where walking in, sitting down, and turning our thoughts and focus to the Lord before
rehearsals and performances is such a customary thing to do. This routine has not only
strengthened my testimony of my Savior, but it has especially strengthened my testimony
of the role that we as dancers and performers can play in furthering and progressing the
Lords work on the Earth.
I wish that I could say the same of other classes I have taken within the dance
major here at Brigham Young University, but I have found that incorporating such
impactful principles and testimony building experiences is not as evident in many of the
classes I have taken. I feel that it was much more prevalent to focus on incorporating

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gospel insights, principles, and values in my lower level classes than it has been in my
upper level classes, as I near graduation. It almost seems to me as though the gospel was
used to welcome us and get us excited about being new dance majors, but as we near our
last years here it is almost as though more time is spent on trying to get us out of here
than there is spent on strengthening our faith, testimonies, and values.
It is because of this that I am so exceedingly grateful I have had the spiritual
experiences I have had on Contemporary Dance Theatre to uplift me, strengthen my
testimony, and remind me what dance is really about. It has been CDT devotionals,
rehearsals, and performances, more than anything else, that have reminded me that I have
a special gift and talent the Lord has blessed me withthat He wants me to use to help
build His kingdom and share His gospel here on the Earth.
M. Russell Ballard said it best when he stated: God's purpose for the artist is to
inspire. To give us visions of ourselves that we might not otherwise see. To make us
better than we would have been. The world is better for the arts and artists in it. Few
earthly things bring joy more fully to the world than the arts (1995). I could not agree
more with this simple, yet profound statement, and this is exactly what I have learned and
experienced in my time on BYUs Contemporary Dance Theatre. It truly has been a rare
blessing to attend a university that honors the central role of Jesus Christ in this worlds
destiny, as well as the Holy Ghosts place in the arts. I have learned more about myself,
my capabilities and potential, and my Savior, Jesus Christ, in my time here at Brigham
Young Universityspecifically on CDTthan I ever had previous to coming here and I
plan to cherish these lessons, principles, and values for the rest of my time in this life and
especially in the life to come.