Hallelujah/USA: Call and Response

A few questions to contemplate on the art and faith connection. Many are variations on a theme.

This is a piece of writing handed out to the "Hallelujah" project participants and interested members of the public who attended "Call and Response," an informal gathering of religious leaders to explore art and faith in contemporary life. The event took place August 5, 2002 at "Hallelujah/USA," the finale of the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange's national community performance initiative. For more about "Call and Response," see my story about the project. — Linda Burnham.

John Borstel, right, with Dance Exchange Producing Director Jane Hirshberg. Photo by Linda Burnham

How do you experience the relationship between faith and artistry in your daily life?

One of the roots of "Hallelujah" is the question: "What are you in praise of?" What does it really mean to give praise? Is it a purely religious concept? Is it unique to particular religions and not to others? Is it an idea that people can relate to without reference to God or a deity?

Has "Hallelujah" been a experience of spirit, faith, religion, prayer or ritual for you? If so, how? Has it been different from or similar to other arts experiences for you?

In Tucson, one "Hallelujah" participant, the prioress of the Benedictine Monastery described "Hallelujah" as "a liturgical experience." How has "Hallelujah" been similar or different from structured experiences in traditional faith settings?

Have you perceived the use of biblical texts or stories from varied faith traditions in "Hallelujah"? What does it mean to transfer this content to the stage? What gets sanctified or secularized when we move a religious tradition or faith practice to the stage?

"Dance is my religion," said Ruth St. Denis. In "Hallelujah," we have encountered many people who find what they describe as "spiritual connection" by experiencing, participating in or creating art. Many are people who do not identify strongly with organized religion. What makes their experience spiritual? Are they finding the same thing through art that others find through prayer or liturgy? Does it make a difference whether or not they talk about God? What's the difference between a psychological experience and a spiritual one?

With so many spiritual and religious connections inside "Hallelujah," has there been room for the secular, nonreligious point of view? Or is the project really secular and non­religious, making use of some religious points of departure?

Daniel Preston, a spiritual leader of the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona, gave a blessing during the Tucson "Hallelujah." "When I go out there, I'm not performing, I'm really praying," he told Liz, and also noted the prayerful energy he perceived in the concentration of many of the performers in Tucson's cast of 160. What's the connection between performing (or creating) and praying?

"God didn't create the world at the beginning and just stop. God is constantly creating. Thus people are closest to God when they are themselves are engaged in the act of creating." This is a paraphrase of Rabbi Dan Zemel, Liz's Rabbi and collaborator on innovative work she has conducted in Jewish settings. Liz has talked about how human creativity and divine acts of creation include elements both of making connections and making distinctions. Does creativity bring us closer to the divine?

A liturgical dancer who participated in the Michigan "Hallelujah" said this: "I've never had the Holy Ghost experience by hearing a preacher speak the Word, but I have had it dancing." How does any form of artistic expression make a link to the divine? Is there a line between personal artistic expression and channeling the holy spirit? Where would you draw that line?

Our Los Angeles "Hallelujah" included reverends and rabbis representing Buddhist, Christian and Jewish denominations. One of the Buddhist Reverends said this: "I've participated in a lot of interfaith gatherings. This one is different because it's not just talking. We are doing something together. As a result it's been a deeper experience of the differences and commonalities in our practices." Does active participating (moving, touching, collaborating) make a difference that takes the "Hallelujah" experience beyond the connections people can make just by talking? Has "Hallelujah" been an interfaith project?

John Borstel is humanities director of Liz Lerman Dance Exchange.

Original CAN/API publication: March 2003