Abbey of the Arts

Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts

  • Welcome
    • Prayer Cycle
    • About the Abbey
    • About Christine Valters Paintner
    • About John Valters Paintner
    • About the Wisdom Council
    • Monk Manifesto
    • Join the Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks
    • Subscribe to Our Love Notes
    • Website privacy notice
  • Books
    • Breath Prayer:
      An Ancient Practice for the Everyday Sacred
    • Sacred Time:
      Embracing an Intentional Way of Life
    • The Wisdom of Wild Grace: Poems
    • Earth, Our Original Monastery:
      Cultivating Wonder and Gratitude through Intimacy with Nature
    • Dreaming of Stones: Poems
    • The Soul's Slow Ripening:
      12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred
    • The Wisdom of the Body:
      A Contemplative Journey to Wholeness for Women
    • Illuminating the Way:
      Embracing the Wisdom of Monks and Mystics
    • The Soul of a Pilgrim:
      Eight Practices for the Journey Within
    • Eyes of the Heart:
      Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice
    • The Artist's Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom
    • Desert Mothers and Fathers: Early Christian Wisdom Sayings Annotated & Explained
    • Lectio Divina–The Sacred Art: Transforming Words and Images into Heart-Centered Prayer
    • Water, Wind, Earth & Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements
    • Awakening the Creative Spirit:
      Bringing the Arts to Spiritual Direction
    • Lectio Divina: Contemplative Awakening & Awareness
  • Poetry | Art | Music
    • Music + DVD
    • Poetry by Christine Valters Paintner
    • Poetry Videos
    • Dancing Monk Icons
    • Other Art Collaborations
      • Monk in the World art series by Kristin Noelle
      • Saints & Animals art series by David Hollington
      • Sacred Time art series by Alexi Francis
      • Mary block print art series by Kreg Yingst
  • Programs
    • Lift Every Voice: Contemplative Writers of Color Book Club
    • Community Online Retreats
      • Harriet Tubman and Howard Thurman-on Being Free
      • Writing Into Bloom
        with Christine Valters Paintner
      • Revelations: The Mysticism of Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe
      • The Wisdom of Wild Grace: A Weekend Retreat Online
      • The Spiral Way:
        Celtic Spirituality and the Creative Imagination
      • Sacred Balance:
        Aligning Body and Spirit Through
        Yoga and the Benedictine Way
    • Self-Study Online Spiritual Retreats
      • Creative Flourishing in the Heart of the Desert:
        An Online Retreat with St. Hildegard of Bingen
      • Dreaming of the Sea:
        A women’s discernment journey through the story of the Selkie
      • Earth, Our Original Monastery
        A Companion Retreat to the Book (SELF-STUDY)
      • Exile and Coming Home:
        An Archetypal Journey through the Scriptures
      • Eyes of the Heart:
        Photography as Contemplative Practice
        (Companion retreat to the book)
      • Journey with the Desert Mothers and Fathers
        (SELF-STUDY)
      • Honoring Saints and Ancestors:
        Online Retreat for the Season of Remembrance
      • Lectio Divina:
        The Sacred Art of Reading the World
      • A Midwinter God:
        Making a Conscious Underworld Journey (SELF-STUDY)
      • Sacred Rhythms of Sky, Sun, Sea & Stone:
        A Creative Retreat with the Elements (SELF-STUDY)
      • Sacred Seasons:
        A Yearlong Journey through the Celtic Wheel of the Year
      • The Soul of a Pilgrim:
        Eight Practices for the Journey Within
        (a companion retreat to the book)
      • The Soul's Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seekers of the Sacred (a companion retreat to the book)
      • Water, Wind, Earth & Fire
      • Watershed Moments
        in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures
      • Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist:
        A 12-Week Companion Retreat to The Artist's Rule
      • The Wisdom of the Body:
        A 10-Week Online Companion Retreat to the Book
      • The Wisdom of Mary and the Sacred Feminine
    • Live Programs: Pilgrimage & Retreats
      • Writing on the Wild Edges (Ireland)
      • Hildegard of Bingen (Germany)
      • Awakening the Creative Spirit: Experiential Education for Spiritual Directors in the Expressive Arts (Northwest)
  • Calendar
  • Reflections
  • Contact

Uncategorized

Dancing with Monks and Mystics (guest post from Betsey Beckman)

For the last several months, we have been embarking on an exciting creative project and collaboration.  It started with choosing 12 dancing monks to be a part of the original Dancing Monk Icon series painted by Marcy Hall.  These icons were meant to depict some beloved monks and mystics in a joyful and colorful way, reminding us of our call to dance through this life.

We had the inspiration to feature a dancing monk for each week of our Advent/Christmas and Epiphany/New Year's online retreats. My dear friend and collaborator Betsey Beckman was inspired to have songs created for each dancing monk and then to choreograph a gesture prayer to accompany the music . Read on below for her insight into this process.

If you would like to join us for these online retreats you can find the registration info here:

  • Birthing the Holy: Advent & Christmas Online Retreat with Monks, Mystics, and Archetypes
  • Illuminating the Way: Epiphany & New Year's Online Retreat with Monks, Mystics, and Archetypes

Dancing with the Saints … could it be better than dancing with the stars?  Of course! (If you are a dancing monk that is!) What an adventure it has been preparing for our upcoming online retreats that will explore praying and dancing with a colorful array of monks, mystics and archetypes.

Here is the timeline:

2012 – Christine chooses 12 Monks and Mystics to be spiritual guides or “patron saints” for the Abbey of the Arts.

2013 – Christine commissions a beautiful color icon by Marcy Hall for each of these guides/archetypes.

Spring 2014  – Christine makes plans for upcoming online retreats with our archetypal guides. Begins writing a poem for each monk/mystic.

Summer 2014 – Bing!  Inspiration arises!  – If we have 12 icons and 12 poems for our array of holy archetypes, and we are indeed a Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks, then of course, it would only be right for us to have 12 songs and 12 dances to explore the gift of these fine spiritual guides as well! Abbess Christine weighs in enthusiastically about such a notion, and gives encouragement for us to embark on this voyage – full steam ahead.

September 2014 – Song Writers: on your mark, get set, go!  Five different artists write (or adapt) 12 songs – an amazing array of reflection and inspiration.

October 2014 – 12 songs recorded (or sent in) by our various artists:  Richard Bruxvoort Colligan, Laura and David Ash, Carmel Boyle and Betsey Beckman (me!)

October 2014 – I wake up choreographing!

November 2014 – Now time to film!  By the grace of God, I already had plans to participate in Christine and John’s beautiful pilgrimage to the western shores of Ireland this November.  With new motivation for visiting sacred sites, fellow dancing monk, Sharie Bowman and I take camera in hand and go about filming the dance meditations as our side-project in an array of sacred locations on our group pilgrimage.

These include:

Holy Mountain on the isle of Insimore (ancient monastic site on the Aran Islands)

The ferry to Inismore

15th Centruy monk’s fishing cabin at on the River Cong

The shores of the sea in County Clare

Ross Errilly Friary in County Galway

Brigid’s Well in Kildare

Byland Abbey in Yorkshire, England

What an honor and privilege to be “birthing the holy” in the form of this project while visiting sacred sites in Ireland and England. As a child, I discovered the simple joy of dancing in nature.  This summer, I spent time dancing in my yard, enjoying the sweet gifts of staying at home.  This fall brought about the stirring adventure of journeying far and wide – embracing the archetype of St. Brendan the Navigator – visiting ancient sites on a sacred voyage, and dancing by wells, oceans and abbeys.

Upon returning home, I am immersed in our “Dancing with Monks & Mystics” project still, and am looking forward to filming the movement prayer for Mother Mary for the third week of Advent.  I will be praying a beautiful setting of the Hail Mary in the Cathedral of St. James in Seattle.  What an honor.

I am bubbling up with joy to have the occasion to create movement prayers that are simple enough for anyone to join in and are also are infused with artistry and soul inspired by our saints and archetypes.  Some of the dance prayers are gestural and contemplative, some are energized by simple foot patterns, and some add (optional) spins and twirls for more adventurous dancing monks!

Beyond the online retreats, we are planning to publish these beautiful dances, songs, poems, and icons as resources for communities and individuals to continue to pray with in book, CD and DVD formats.  Whee!

When we dance, the cosmos celebrates within us and through us.  Hope you can embark with us on this sacred journey… and as Merton would say – “Join in the joy of the cosmic dance!”


BetseyBetsey Beckman, MM is nationally acclaimed as a spirited dancer, storyteller, teacher of SpiritPlay and dancing Spiritual Director. With her extensive repertory of sacred storydances, she is regularly featured as artist/presenter at national conventions as well as local churches. She earned her Masters in Ministry degree from Seattle University, her certificate in Movement Therapy from the Institute for Transformational Movement, and is a certified InterPlay leader. As dancer, choreographer, author, mother, wife, teacher and spiritual director, she is passionate about living life fully and fostering creativity in all those with whom she shares life and ministry. Betsey’s publications include books (she is co-author of Awakening the Creative Spirit: Bringing the Expressive Arts to Spiritual Direction), recordings, and The Dancing Word series of DVDs on embodied prayer. She offers the gift of playful improvisation whenever possible.

 

 

 

 

«
»

3 Comments November 25, 2014

Upcoming Programs

  • Writing Into Bloom with Christine Valters Paintner
    • May 1, 2021
  • Revelations: The Mysticism of Julian of Norwich and Margery Kempe
    • May 13, 2021
  • The Wisdom of Wild Grace: A Weekend Retreat Online
    • May 15, 2021 - May 16, 2021
  • View All Upcoming Programs

Recent Reflections

  • Monk in the World Guest Post: Reverend Deb Goldman
  • A mini-poetry reading from Christine plus other publishing news
  • St. Kevin Holds Open His Hand and Radical Hospitality ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
  • Monk in the World Guest Post: Greta Kopec
  • Monk in the World Podcast + Harriet Tubman Mysticism ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess

Connect with the Abbey

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
JOIN THE HOLY DISORDER OF DANCING MONKS
SIGN UP FOR UPDATES
DONATE TO SUPPORT OUR MINISTRY

Copyright © 2021 BY ABBEY OF THE ARTS · WEBSITE PRIVACY NOTICE

Copyright © 2021 · Flourish Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in