Within our dance ministry team, we went (and are still going) through the process of introducing a platform team this year.

After meeting with our team oversight, Emily Crawford, in the last months of 2014, it was suggested that the best way for our team to move forward was to develop a ‘platform team’ of dancers that would be selected through an audition process. It was decided that these dancers were required to consistently attend a connect group within our church, serve somewhere within the church weekly, and have a high level of dance technique in 1 dance style, whilst still training regularly. These dancers were also required to have been attending our church for at least 3 months before they were offered a place on our platform team.

In the beginning of February this year, we began the audition process. Dancers from far and wide, from our church and others came on Saturday and had the opportunity to audition in their preferred style (ranging from ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, break, and contemporary). Throughout the day short routines were taught and then dancers performed within a group of 6-8 in front of a panel. This ‘panel’ was made up of the dance leaders within our team. In order to keep the process consistent we all assessed from the same criteria, created by our team leader.

From the auditions, the dance leaders sat down and personally contacted each and every dancer that attended the auditions and let them know whether or not they had successfully made the platform team. Unfortunately we were not able to have everyone join the platform team and as a result we were able to create a ‘training team’ of dancers that dance and train together on a Thursday night (after Team Night) with the dancers from our platform team. Each one of the dancers that came to auditions were asked to be a part of this team.

The sole purpose of this training team was to provide a place for all dancers to come each week and work on their craft. Each week a welcoming environment is created where all dancers come together to pray and then move on to a workshop for the night. Each week these workshops are different and focus on training our dancers in their craft, whilst expanding their horizons. Some weeks a technique workshop, some weeks a choreography workshop, some weeks a worship night; whatever the week, the night always ends with no one wanting to go home.

As a result of the training team, dancers are able to work on their skill and improve in order to join the platform team. Within the past month we have been able to add some dancers to our team who showed improvement and commitment to the dance ministry, and we are also looking for more.

If you would like to know more about our team, or the process of introducing a platform team into your dance ministry please contact us. We would love to answer your questions and help you out. 🙂

Caitlin Fortier
Hillsong Dance