Naropa University – Oakland Campus
Master of Liberal Arts in Creation Spirituality
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Course Description:
The sacred texts needed for our times are given a stage so that the body can process and make the word flesh in community. This is a way to experience the quest for knowledge and to do research in a far more accessible and engaging manner than the conventional reading of sacred sources. “Mining” the treasures trapped in books can be tedious and isolating. Allowing words to take on flesh in community can make the quest for deeper understanding and richer spirituality a far more accessible, fun, engaging, and shared process. Together we will unearth and breathe life into the sacred texts needed for our times, drawing from our many wisdom traditions. By giving the page a stage, we enter the form and content of the text and meet the grace and revelation of the written word with unprecedented speed. We will seek to make the texts truly “mine,” yours, and ours – body and soul.
Course Learning Objectives:
· Enter spiritual traditions and sacred texts through dance
· Deepen your lifeskill of improvisation as spiritual practice
· Learn dance/choreographic techniques
· Develop personal and communal movement vocabularies to help create ease in ritual storytelling, ritual theater, and ritual dance
· Begin to dance the sacred text of your own life
Course Requirements:
1. Attendance – Attend to the dance 70%
2. Sacred Textlogue
3. Sacred Text Times:
Written Text 10%
Visual Text 10%
Dance Text 10%
Open to all human beings. No previous dance experience necessary. Dress comfortably.
Course Additional References:
The Artist’s Way – Julia Cameron
Sweat Your Prayers: Movement as Spiritual Practice – Gabrielle Roth
One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths – Matthew Fox
The Torah
The New Testament
The Koran
The Four Noble Truths and The Eightfold Path
I Ching and The Path of Man
Tao Te Ching
The Bhagavad-Gita
Course Outline:
February 12 Pagan Texts and Dance Wisdom
February 19 Jewish Texts and Women’s Wisdom
February 26 Christian Texts and Youth Wisdom
March 4 Islamic Texts and Indigenous Wisdom
March 11 Buddhist Texts and Poetic Wisdom
March 18 No Class – Optional Intensive
March 25 No Class – Spring Study Week
April 1 Confucian Texts and Fools’ Wisdom – April Fool’s Day
April 8 Taoist Texts and Queer Wisdom – Holy Thursday
April 15 Hindu Texts and Activist Wisdom
April 22 Personal Texts and Creation Wisdom – Earth Day
April 29 Dancing the Sacred Texts of Our Lives
Speaking to a Japanese Shinto priest,
a social philosopher from New York remarked:
“I’ve been now to a good many ceremonies
and have seen quite a few of your shrines.
But I don’t get your ideology.
I don’t get your theology.”
The priest paused as though in deep thought
and then slowly shook his head.
“I think we don’t have ideology.
We don’t have theology.
We dance.”
Joseph Campbell