The much anticipated Antioch’s Best Dance Crew (ABDC) Competition captivated a sold-out crowd at the Arts at Center Street on March 8th. The competition, facilitated as an intramural sport for the Institute for G.O.D., exceeded both participant and crowd expectations.  

So here’s how it worked. There were five teams of 10-12 dancers each.  Teams consisted of students, faculty and graduates of the Institute. Teams discussed what kinds of themes they wanted to bring to the stage. Then, they worked with Andrea Hatfield -- choreographer, music editor, and all around creative staging exemplar whom we have never done ABDC without. Hatfield worked her magic to arrange original music and choreography for each team, many of whom had never danced before in their lives. If I believed in magic, I’d say that’s what she did, but I think it was Holy Spirit-inspired art that she is so gifted to create.

The day’s performance was hosted by Institute faculty member Robert Munoz, who kept the crowd laughing with his comedic improv and dancer interviews. . Each participant Robert interviewed during the competition testified to the lessons in character development, team dynamic and the expression of freedom that accompany dance.  

As a member of the audience, I was most struck by the depth of the messages each team wanted to communicate and how their choreography and passion brought them to life in a way that prodded at the whole range of my emotions.  

Exit Strategy took the stage first. Taking cues from our community’s theme of “Exodus,” they wore denim jackets with the message “Let my people go” on the back. Tackling ideas related to insecurity, anger, competition, and self-doubt, the dance called people to exit the things of this world that hold us back, and cling to truth instead. With allusions to immigration, racism, and the suffering of people in our present context, the team made a powerful statement about our God who sets people free.

Next was Revive. Their theme was related to God’s newness that is available every morning, and our responsibility to image him by lifting one another up. Through hip hop sequences, lifts and dancing their way into the audience, this crew got the audience clapping and standing for a song that became the day’s anthem: Andra Day’s “Rise Up.”

Then came Grit and Grind, which held the day’s biggest surprises. The self-declared least experienced team included so many theatrical elements that had everyone smiling. As their team captain, Mitch Buchanan, wrote in their introduction: “if you ain't having fun when you're dancing, you're doing it wrong. This is our chance to straight enjoy life.” This dance was a party on the stage, including dancers swinging from rafters and jumping over one another in transitions. This team demonstrated that winning a dance competition is about far more than choreography, it’s about owning the part, and winning the audience. 

Rise was next, dressed in school uniforms to represent the hope they have in the next generation. Their theme was related to the fact that suffering is a predictable part of believers’ lives, and how to respond to it correctly. All of us must rise up in order to imitate our Lord who, though he suffered, always did so with a strength of character that is from above. Their dance was a call to worship the Lord who showed us how to live, and to live like him -- enduring with joy. It was a call to everyone present to Rise Up and represent our Lord! 

Cliq was the final team to take the stage, another group who chose fun over serious, yet still performed a piece wrought with meaning. Their focus was on resolving the divisions that too often keep human beings divided. Lines on their shirt and surprise bandanas in their pockets represented the many ways we try to say we are unlike one another. But dance is all about unity - moving to the same beat, whether we like it or not. At the end the team all dropped their bandanas off the stage. Team member Leafa Vagatai noted the significance of letting go of the things we think make us so different. 

As the judges tallied their votes, Institute President Gregg Garner took the stage. He spoke about the Nashville tornado that had hit our city just 4 days prior -- a tornado that barely scraped by our college as well as Andrea Hatfield’s home. The day’s event was a moment of joy, laughter and reflection after a week of turmoil. He led the room in prayer for the many still hurting in our city and charged the audience to continue shining light in situations of pain, not discounting the role of art to do that very thing. 

At the close of the competition, Robert announced a variety of awards with Rise taking home the top spot. And then, with all of the dancers on stage, the competition’s main organizer, Ashley Moore, presented a gift basket of thanksgiving for Andrea Hatfield, along with a painting that depicted a saying she repeated to each team throughout the weeks they spent together.  “Trust and Trust” the painting read, words Andrea hoped would remind dance participants that in the vulnerability of learning dance participants have to trust themselves and those around them.