Topic: Movement - Liturgical Dance
Liturgical dance was attacked by religious conservatives. In the Roman Catholic church, Kathryn Mihelick said critics based their opinion "on a 1975 unsigned essay which appeared in Notitiae, a Vatican canon law digest. This essay declares that dance is appropriate for liturgical worship in other cultures, because it has always been a part of their tradition; but it then states that this has not been so in Western culture, and it is, therefore, not appropriate." [1]
This argument wasn’t much different from Jean Calvin’s response to David dancing "before the Lord" in 2 Samuel 6:14 [2] and Miriam dancing in Exodus 15:20. [3] He conceded it was "evidently in accordance with common and received custom. Yet must it be observed, at the same time, that musical instruments were among the legal ceremonies which Christ at His coming abolished." [4]
As was mentioned in the post for 23 August 2017, Calvin relented and allowed the psalms to be sung without instrumental accompaniment. King James’ translators of The Bible rendered Psalm 149:3 as:
"Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp." [5]
This provided a better theological foundation for movement than David and Miriam for churches that adopted the term "praise music" for any contemporary Christian song. Once musical instruments used by rock and rap musicians were permitted, the associated dance forms followed, so long as they did not offend. Not only did churches organize praise bands, but some leaders drew on football to establish praise teams that cheered the Lord.
Grace Cathedral Ministries in Sumter, South Carolina, only had a choir for children. For others, it sponsored an adult praise team, a young adult praise team, and a dance ministry. The last promised it would:
"provide a positive environment for spiritual and artistic growth while teaching youth techniques of worship in motion. The dancers are taught, ‘to be a dancer for God is about making a sacrifice to our Lord and Savior’." [6]
When Jeffrey Lampkin performed "Come by Here" with the praise team, two women and a man danced in the mourning-bench area. He and the young praise team were above the steps in the carpeted, altar area.
His arrangement combined "Come by Here" with "At the Cross" and an "aye aye aye" chorus. Unlike performances that followed the prelude-denouement format, "At the Cross" was much slower and more solemn than the opening.
The dancers used different combinations for each section, but without variations. When Lampkin was introducing the song, they swung their arms across their bodies from side to side.
During "Come by Here," they usually lifted one arm at a time, then turned, taking several steps. The shoes of the woman at stage left had low heels. The man took leaping steps to the left and right during the "aye aye aye" interludes. The women walked forward with low kicks, turned and walked back. The three then crossed their arms in front as they moved them overhead in wide sweeps.
The movements for "At the Cross" were more lexical. The dancers spread their arms wide on the first phrase, then brought them down on one side with a slight knee bend. On "light" they raised them in ballet’s high fifth, before emphasizing one on each side and turning. The man raised his hands high in prayer on "faith." For "my sight," his right arm crossed to the left, then swept back. They leapt on "happy," turned on "all," and lowered their arms on "day."
The movements were paced, with slight pauses between combinations. The video was eight minutes long, and they began moving after five seconds.
Performers
Dancers: one man, two women
Vocal Soloist: Jeffrey Lampkin
Vocal Group: four young women, two young men
Vocal Director: Chaste’y Gibson
Instrumental Accompaniment: keyboard or synthesizer
Rhythm Accompaniment: drum set
Credits
None given
Notes on Lyrics
Language: English
Verses: come by here, now is the needed time
Vocabulary
Pronoun: none
Term for Deity: Lord
Special Terms: none
Basic Form: medley of "Come by Here" and "At the Cross," linked by a shared "aye aye aye" chorus
Verse Repetition Pattern: repeated each verse and refrain twice.
AAxxAAxxBBxxCCxxCCxx
A is "come by here"
B is "needed time"
C is "at the cross"
x is "aye aye aye"
Ending: the video cut off before Lampkin finished repeating the phrases he used in his introduction.
Unique Features: Lampkin introduced the song with phrases like "we come to celebrate," "give him glory," and "an amazing God." He repeated these phrases when the group was singing.
Notes on Music
Opening Phrase: 1-5
Tempo: moderate
Basic Structure: medley
Singing Style: one syllable to one note
Solo-Group Dynamics: Lampkin sang a verse, and had the praise team and audience repeat it. While they were singing, he spoke.
Notes on Performance
Occasion: not specified, but three floral arrangements were placed at the front edge of the altar area.
Location: Grace Cathedral Ministries in Sumter, South Carolina
Microphones: everyone had hand-held mikes
Clothing: singers wore slacks and tee-shirts; some were football jerseys; Lampkin’s had the letters of his fraternity. The female dancers wore ankle-length, black dresses with blue surplices. The male dancer wore black slacks and long-sleeved shirt with a purple sash.
Notes on Movement
Lampkin did a march-type step lifting his knees high during parts of "Come by Here;" he sometimes bent his torso forward a little. The backup singers stood, widely spaced, behind him. They stepped from foot to foot; one young man used more knee bends than others.
He moved less during "At the Cross" and the six singers began swaying from the ankles, rather than stepping. Toward the end, some held one arm high; two were clapping silently.
In later repetitions, Lampkin jumped during the "aye aye aye" section. The choral group jumped a few times, and quickly returned to the less physically demanding stepping. On the last iteration of the chorus, Lampkin skipped across the stage.
The musicians were seated at stage left on the altar. Two older people, probably the pastor and his wife, stood at stage right behind two Chesterfield chairs. They came and went, sometimes talking to one another. At other times they moved quietly to the music.
Notes on Audience
Individuals sang when requested; the ones in the front pews stood for the entire song.
Notes on Performers
Lampkin was raised on the South Carolina piedmont in Manning, where his father was a deacon. [7] After earning a degree in music from Newberry College in 2005, he taught in the local high school, and was minister of music at New Enoree Baptist Church. [8]
His life changed in 2008 when he competed in the early rounds of American Idol. [9] He finished an on-line master’s program in human resources from Webster University, and worked as a consultant for Verizon. [10]
In 2011, he became the director of the Young, Gifted, and Blessed choir at Francis Marion University in Sumter [11] that served the same kinds of functions as the the Kuumba Singers of Harvard, mentioned in the post for 16 September 2018. He also became the music director of the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church and Fairfield Central High School Gospel Choir. [12]
His ties to Grace Cathedral Ministries were both personal and professional. His wife was their general counsel, [13] while the pastor had graduated from Manning high school [14] a decade before Lampkin did. [15] The church evolved from Sammy Smith’s work at Shaw Air Force Base to become part of the Church of God in Christ. The Ministries became independent in 1999. [16]
Notes on "At the Cross"
The original hymn, "Alas, and did my Savior bleed" was published without music by Isaac Watts in 1707. [17] A Methodist evangelist, Ralph Erskine Hudson, added the "at the cross" chorus with a new melody in a songbook he published in 1885. [18] Two years later, Ira D. Sankey included it in a gospel song collection that gave it much wider distribution. [19]
Donald Hustad found the tune for the chorus "appears with other words and is also credited to other individuals in late 19th century publications." He concluded it was "a possibility that both words and melody of the refrain were commonly known and used in the campmeeting tradition, and that Hudson simply added them to his own original melody." [20] Lampkin used only the chorus.
Availability
YouTube: uploaded by Karen Heaven on 6 February 2017.
End Notes
1. Kathryn Mihelick. "Catholics Can’t Dance?" Sacred Dance Guild Journal 53:11:spring 2011.
2. "And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod." King James version of The Bible.
3. "And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances." King James version of The Bible.
4. John Calvin. Commentaries on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony. Translated by Charles William Bingham. Edinburgh: Calvin Translations Society, volume 1, 1852. 173. Available online from Christian Classics Ethereal Library, and republished by others.
5. A timbrel was similar to a tambourine, with a parchment head. Wikipedia said "The Israelites learned to use the timbrel during their sojourn in Egypt" ("Timbrel"). The Book of Exodus, where Miriam used one, described the journey from that country.
6. "Worship Arts Ministry." Church’s website. Angela Conyers directed the Another Level troup. The choreographers were O’Kicha White (Al) and Trinity Conyers (KP).
7. "Huell-Lampkin." The Sumter [South Carolina] Item website. 7 July 2013.
8. "About Jeffrey Lampkin." Facebook.
9. Sharron Haley. "Jeffrey Lampkin Live in Concert." The Sumter Item website. 26 February 2013.
10. Facebook.
11. John Sweeney. "Joyful Noise." Francis Marion University View. 1 February 2015.
12. Huell-Lampkin.
13. "Phenomenal Woman Series – Harriet H. Lampkin, Esq." Podcast, 8 March 2018. Historically Black Colleges and Universities website.
14. "Bishop Anthony Gibson." Church web site. He was born in 1975, and was a barber in Manning when Lampkin was in high school.
15. Lampkin graduated from Manning high school in 2000. (Facebook)
16. "Apostle Sammy C. Smith." Church web site.
17. Isaac Watts. Hymns and Spiritual Songs. Book II. London: printed by J. Humphreys for John Lawrence, 1707. Publication information from Karen B. Westerfield Tucker. "Song as a Sign and Means of Christian Unity." 3-25 in Exploring Christian Song. Edited by M. Jennifer Bloxam and Andrew Shenton. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2017. 25.
18. R. E. Hudson. Songs of Peace, Love, and Joy: For Sabbath Schools and Gospel Meetings. Alliance, Ohio: R. E. Hudson, 1885. 81. He also included Watts’ words alone with the tune "Mear" as song 118.
19. Ira D. Sankey, James McGranahan, and George C. Stebbins. Gospel Hymns No 5. Cincinnati: John Church Co. and New York: Biglow and Main, 1887. 41.
20. Donald P. Hustad. Dictionary Handbook to Hymns for the Living Church. Chicago: Hope Publishing Company, 1978. 103.
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