Dance performance team starting out of Firmly Planted Homeschool Resource Center

Malach Emunah aims to grow students in their dance skills and their faith in the Lord while serving the community with quality, worshipful performances

A new Christian dance option is coming to Clark County for tweens and teens who want to combine their dance skills with sharing the gospel in their community. A dance performance team is just starting out of Firmly Planted Homeschool Resource Center (FPHRC) called Malach Emunah (ME; pronounced mal-ack eh-moon-ah), which is Hebrew for “Messenger of Faith.’’ ME aims to grow students in their dance skills and their faith in the Lord while serving the community with quality, worshipful performances. 

The team will aim to present at a variety of venues, such as retirement centers, children’s hospitals, churches, fairs, festivals, and sometimes even just randomly in a park! Aside from quality productions, the team will strive to bring their Message of Faith and trust in Jesus into their performances. Interested students and families should know that auditions will be held on Monday, June 23 (more on that below), and coaches plan to hit the ground running with optional summer maintenance classes and team building. 

Head coach for the team and leading the hip hop portion is Lauren Rogers, who is also a current teacher and choreographer for Journey Theater and other theaters in the area. Lauren is an alumna of Journey Theater herself and has trained in tap, jazz, swing, hip hop, contemporary, and ballet. Jasmine Dong is the ballet and lyrical teacher and coach for the team. Jasmine has 10 years of ballet training under her belt and also currently teaches with the Joy of Dance school in Battle Ground. She also helps with Sunday school and VBS at her church. Both coaches love the Lord and have a strong desire to bring that love into the dance studio with their students. There will be other teachers helping as well with workshops throughout the year. 

The Hebrew work “malach” means messenger, or bearer of an important task; the Hebrew word “emunah” means faith or belief. The concept of emunah goes beyond simply believing intellectually – it means a full trust and reliance on God that should be reflected in a person’s actions. Our prayer for these dancers is that they will grow in their faith and put that faith into action out in the community in dance, in attitude, in words, and in love. 

To audition, students should be at an intermediate dance level with previous dance experience and aged 10-14, although there are age exemptions available. Students may choose to audition for/join the hip hop team, the lyrical team, or both. Joining the team is a year-long commitment, with classes and performances running on the FPHRC schedule from September through May. Ballet/Lyrical classes will be held on Wednesdays from 5-7 p.m., while Hip hop classes will be held on Thursdays at the same time, both at FPHRC (14001 SE 1^st St, Vancouver). Students should bring their dance resume (just a write up of previous experience), a headshot, and their essay response with them to auditions. Please see the parent information sheet HERE for the essay prompts as well as more on cost, time commitment, registration, etc. The audition sign up form can be found HERE. 

Questions? Go to the Malach Emunah Facebook page or email [email protected]. 

“Let them praise His name with dancing.’ Psalm 149:3