Welcome to The Dancing Word!

Do you have a sense that body and spirit are connected? Would you like to explore and celebrate this connection? Welcome to The Dancing Word, the website of Betsey Beckman. Here, I offer resources, images, classes, prayer videos and publications to foster connections between body and spirit, tradition and creativity, scripture, dance and life. As you navigate this website, click on About to learn more about my background in the fields of dance, liturgy, InterPlay, therapy and spiritual direction. Click on Calendar to view upcoming performances, classes and workshop opportunities.  Click on Abbey of the Arts to learn about my ongoing collaborations with Christine Valters Painter and the Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks!

Click on Ministry to learn about the Liturgical Dance/Movement Ministry I direct at St. Patrick’s Church. Click on Spiritual Direction to learn more about Dancing Spiritual Direction, a practice in which I meet with individuals, engaging the art of dance as a tool for self-discovery and prayer. Click on Portfolio to view articles and video clips of performances and visit Store for a range of publications on spirituality and embodiment, including DVDs, CDs and books for inspiration and support.  And for keeping most up to date, please click on our link to Facebook, where you can “like” The Dancing Word page.  There you will find photos and videos from all my most recent dancing adventures!

Our 2019 DVD release: The Soul’s Slow Ripening: Dancing the Sacred on a Celtic Path!

We are so excited to have collaborated with Abbey of the Arts once again for our newest resource exploring Celtic spirituality!  Created to accompany Christine Valters Paintner’s new book – “The Soul’s Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred,”  this collection of 12 dances is designed to help you explore each Celtic practice through a simple dance prayer.  Dance along with Betsey and the Celtic saints!  Filmed in soulful, wild and thin places in Scotland, Ireland and the Pacific Northwest.

To purchase DVD, CD, or book click here. 

Our 2015 DVD release: Dancing with Monks and Mystics

Dancing with Monks and Mystics is a fabulous dance-along resource commissioned by Abbey of the Arts and inspired by 12 different monks and mystics throughout the ages including: Prophet Miriam, King David, Mary Mother of God, Brigid of Kildare, Francis of Assisi, Thomas Merton and Dorothy Day.  The DVD features a welcome/introduction plus twelve prayerful and playful participatory dances for every-body!  Choreography and instruction by Betsey Beckman.  Filmed in locations that evoke and celebrate the gift of each monk and mystic. You, too, can become a dancing mystic!

You may also be interested in the accompanying CD, Singing with Monks and Mystics.  To purchase Monks and Mystics material, please click here.

The Creation – 2013 Release

My Most Beloved Storydance On DVD!

Includes dramatic interpretation of “The Creation” (a beloved poem by James Weldon Johnson) as well as a 40 minute movement workshop for participation and renewal!

The Dancing Word: Woman at the Well – 2012 Release

Praise for The Dancing Word: Woman at the Well DVD –
“Our Women’s Retreat with your DVD was MARVELOUS!  The women were overwhelmed with the story of the Woman and the Well and the discussion time following their own reflection was difficult to cut off.  They were absolutely confirmed in their own faith by her story and journey!  Thank you!”
– Leota Roesch, Director Faith Formation  - Resurrection Catholic Church, Tempe, Arizona

The Dancing Word: Mary Magdalene – 2010 Release

“A fabulous resource for prayer, inspiration and participation!”
-Linda Haydock, SNJM – Director Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center, Seattle

Awakening the Creative Spirit: Bringing the Arts to Spiritual Direction

co-authored with Christine Valters Paintner, PhD.

“Beautifully and evocatively explores the relationship between spiritual direction and the arts.” – Mary Rose Bumpus, Seattle University, School of Theology and Ministry