DANCE- Ed and Ashley Escobar

Hi this is breathing welcome to the Salvation Army's words of life. Welcome back the words of life.

I am Bernie Dake and with me again this week is our producer Chris Benjamin hey thank you for adding me and thank you for coming back.

It's a pleasure listen. I'm excited because just this week. You guys have reported to new people to share with our audience felt about this week the art that were talking that is dance and we were joined by power couple for Christ and Ed and Ashley Escobar. They are incredible dancers and they go all over the territory doing different productions and then also teaching youth youth camps, dance, and they came to the studios and we did our interview there and then they also did a performance for us, that we filmed. If you find us on the social medias downcast suffers from simulcast on Facebook or Instagram and we have this beautiful video of them performing along with the interview itself.

I know you can enjoy it and we look forward to seeing you next week right here on words of life is like a life reasonably. We met at Salvation Army music camp on and she was a part of a performance that we were that we had choreographed for an there is this specific part that we were doing. I just wasn't watching her house like who is this person and I just had to get to know her and is out of the class. I just kind of like one up to her introduce myself and I guess at that point she had already heard of me because my business partner was at their Teaching so I guess because I just hung out at this music camp and got to know each other that way yeah and he was like this super cool, especially gas and I had just graduated high school from like the middle of nowhere Arkansas. Some like wise the following the rising know I so I had always like grown-up performing doing musical theater things like that on Justin Sheraton at school by I started dance.

Later in my life later than people normally do.

I was actually vocalist for a long time and I lost my voice. I had vocal paralysis for six months and it just never really came back and so I was like well I got something else that I'm passionate about something else I want to do and so I worked at this music conservatory and the Arkansas Oklahoma division and Andy Barrington is the music director there and he is like. I want you to do creative arts, and unlike, not that it is what creative arts that 70 I think like my first summer I felt like a music video because I just didn't know what creative arts really was and then I realized it's like acting and dancing. It's like all these facets and I was like okay well I want to dance let you know I can't really sing anymore. Whatever.

So I got heavily into that.

Just like threw myself into it as I might have to teach these youth like I need to know what I'm doing but it turns out like that was. I just feel like that was a huge avenue for me to have easily gotten really depressed about not having a voice anymore and there is times when I did feel that way but God gave me another opportunity another outlet to be creative and use that creativity to reach others so I started dancing like getting really interested in dancing in the Philippines and it was this like little artist Michael his name is Michael Jackson and he was just blowing up the stage and is watching all his visuals and his performance is like all over the world was just like so inspiring as I want. I want to do that one. I like being front of crowds and just it just seems so cool and to be able to move your body this way was something that I was, I want to be able to do this.

I remember me, my friends in the Philippines will get together and just a practice like on the street like learning how to dance in all this, and these to make fun of me so much like do you you move like a rock like you're just so stiff when you I don't care.

I really love doing this and we would do like invites like dance parties and all the steps of always been interested in it was only when I moved to Florida when I was 14 that I found the Salvation Army went to the music camp and had like dance program and when and as a trombone player, and I was like okay but I really love dance, so I took that as an elective and the person teaching a kind of took me under his wing and really taught me that, and then being able to do that as a ministry.

I think that's really when I was like amen there's more to it than just like performing in front of people.

So I kind of fell over the network. I was with a company called up rock and we did a show in New York and called the fringe Festival and we created the show, which was the Christ story, but it was based in like in a silence all these people were bombarded by the things like, so we talked about abortion and eating disorders in just a bunch of stuff that would drive people crazy and Jesus came into this asylum, hopefully all these people so we kind of went through all the stories of each character, and how Jesus kind of freedom from those things and I think it was a highlight for me. Just being in New York City and then presenting the gospel to people who probably are not interested in hearing stuff like that so that was it for me was a highlight. So when I first really got to dance his dance theater company came out to our camp and was teaching these things called Jesus walks and basically he would go around the whole camp and the staff would tell the story of Jesus through secular music and through dancing and that was like being a part of that being not just watching being in its like that was transformative for me because it was like being a part of the Jesus story in a creative way in a way that felt relevant by like physically doing something puts you in a different mindset between different perspective and so just sing it from that perspective. And like falling in love with that and so like I feel like that really I do not meet its bond even more because we have that shared experiences I was invested in this way. So now I feel like it's my turn to then be able to give that same thing that I was given all the opportunities that everything that I've experienced in terms of like dancing in the arts like I would say was because the Salvation Army really invested in me and like yeah and all the teachers out. You know were part of my life so right, so I want to be that person. The boat is investing in the people around you. Yeah, I mean the same for me. Like the music director and annotate like he gave me an opportunity and I didn't even know that I could do it by like God was like companies that you now and this is very telling of sometimes when we don't know that were capable of something like you know he just gives us opportunity when we're creating there's two different ways that we create so like one way is with other people with use. We have a group of people and knowing their skill sets is a huge thing because we can easily over prepare, over choreographed, then we get to him or her summer like this. Delaware got a chat. All of the family line the rehearsal saying hey guys like have stuff planned and were excited for, but if it needs to change any such change because it is not our plan.

Since you guys and what you can do and what that matters and we just want to highlight what you can do and then the other way that we create is with each other and we basically have a second language.

Now I know the language that he speaks. He knows that I speak.

I know what he may be what his weaknesses are and so I'll choreograph around that vice versa and flexible so cheeky I can do any of the high leg kicks and hits like movement really hard and I'm like you over dance like my dad next to each other do you make me look like I'm not trying at all and he is just like yeah it's you know it's funny the things the challenges but also the beauty and working with each other and the differences that wheezing table child childish okay yeah but consider this file as possible that you will have to make sure that Chris and her name, but they're already in the line like position to be in the middle here and here he everyone else forms will when I first started dancing. It wasn't like to dance now and then boom, there was like I had to take class I had to basically start from scratch like dancing has all this. It's like its own vocabulary so you have time to use the relative phase. In all these email like words like that like what is that so I had to go to class to learn the technique to start at the very basics and then also so that's like in a ballet technique class and stretching and all that stuff but the other part of it is the artistry right because you know both have to go hand in hand by said that and then like obviously like trying to be healthy is like our paintbrush trailer so we have to make sure that it's functioning correctly like to stretching or any of the stuff, but for me I tend to try to find my inspiration outside of dance because it's so easy to find the inscription or learn. Obviously that's like the foundation for me like a love story telling such a thrilling work are other ways where other like avenues in a confined storytelling and I've been really interested in film and cinematography and telling stories through the aspect of been watching a lot of critters on YouTube and how they create stories and just learning like okay why did they shoot the specific scene in this way, why did they lighted this way and to try to figure out how do I apply that knowledge to choreography.

Like how do I story told in that same kind away using the same kind of text techniques. You don't have to be perfect. Let's perfection is not the goal is have to be present in it and they can look messy. Okay yeah you don't have to be the best at what you do and what the Lord is like been putting on my heart recently.

The past couple months is that there is space for you.

There's room for you. Someone there's always someone else who does what you do and often times even better. And that's okay.

That doesn't take away that doesn't it's your so valid.

It doesn't take away from what you have, what the Lord is given to you. It's okay for not the best and that's okay if there's other people who do what you do. But the important thing is to just keep doing it and don't wait for someone to say yes I want you to do this. No, like you do it God's making that he's getting a power and authority to do it do it – just feel like that's what God has been speaking specifically about our craft in our mission because a lot of times it feels like what are we doing with this like God has given us this gift and our parents now have full-time jobs like that so there's like so many obstacles as it feels, but but that's not a door shut. It's a door that is unlocked and we just gotta open the Salvation Army's mission doing the most good means helping people with material and spiritual needs become a part of this mission every time you give to the Salvation Army visit Salvation Army USA.org to offer your support and love to hear from you.

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