Dancing with Angels

Greetings!

When is the last time you were visited by an angel? Angels come in many forms and expressions! Last year at this time I was lamenting that our son was departing Seattle and moving to Idaho. Heartbreak! Now, one year later, I’ve had a chance to visit our son on his 10 acres off-grid mountain property and taste the special beauty of Sandpoint, ID. With the help of angelic wings, I was able to do some filming on Chaz’s beautiful land and at nearby Lake Pend Oreille and to invite another young friend of mine (Duncan Menzies) to dance with me an Invocation of the Archangels. The sacred wings were blessing us in this new birthing!

Meanwhile, this summer, while visiting my husband’s family in Detroit, my nephew, Jacob Bommarito offered to film a new piece for us based on the angel Gabriel’s appearance to Mary. My young niece, Bella Bommarito, got to sit in as Mary, and this time, I got to dance the angel. This video and song anticipates our forthcoming album on Mary that will be birthed in 2022. Angels abound! 

As we move towards the holidays, our world cries out for angels to help us navigate new challenges around our globe and tend together this place we call home. May you find wings wrapping round you in your holidays ahead, and find your own call to be angels for one another. The age-old theological question was: how many angels can dance on the head of a pin? Let’s invite them all to dance with us!

Many times in this blog I share with you my ministry at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Seattle. It’s been my home base for the past 30 years, and I am so grateful for our creative journey of faith together! I have mentioned that we have been given word from the Archbishop that it is time for our parish to close and we are invited to merge with a nearby parish. It is a time of great upheaval for us as we seek ways to creatively respond to this directive. In the meantime, we continue to pray and dance. Here is a beautiful offering from our Feast of St. Francis celebration with my friend, Lorraine Bayes, and her beautiful feather wings. May you, too, be surrounded with such blessings and walk in beauty! 

With love,

Betsey

Betsey Beckman, MM

Posted: November 13, 2021 by

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Dancing Down the Rabbit Hole!

Greetings!

Who are we? Where are we? Have we fallen down the rabbit hole? Our world cries out with fires and floods … our families struggle with finding protocols that allow both connection and safety, we embrace the gifts of summer while bracing for transitions to indoor realities this fall. Can we go ahead with our retreat? Workshop? Funeral? Party? So many questions! 

Meanwhile, I take a moment to give thanks for the amazing gifts of summer. Every August since I was born I have I spent time on the shores of Lake Michigan with my extended family, at the place where my mother and father met as teenagers and found their summer romance. This year, in the safety of each other’s company, I got to dive into the story of Alice in Wonderland with six of my grandnieces & nephews. Betsey’s Corner House Summer Camp! I was in heaven creating with my kidlings … as ever since I was their age I have found the joy of creating performances for family, reflecting back the gifts and challenges, hardships and humor of this thing called life. 

The art of video provides great opportunity for site-specific performance with all ages. Eleven-year-old Alice faces the challenges of quarantine, the white rabbit lures her down the rabbit hole, she finds curious connections with Mr. Mouse, the Caterpillar, Mad Hatter, Mock Turtle, and has her own encounter with the Queen of Hearts and infamous Jabberwock! (See photo above … that’s me whiffling through the tulgey wood!)

We can get stuck in the rabbit holes of depression, conspiracy, racism, fear … and we can also take up the challenges of facing our shadow selves in the underworld in order to bring forth new creative possibilities. I’ve found that getting lost in the creative process can be a wonderful antidote to the suffering of our world, and can help us find resources to go forth and make a difference! 

Meanwhile, my beloved church, St. Patrick’s here in Seattle is facing a likely closure/ merger with another parish, and so we seek the creative path that Spirit is calling forth. Facing the Jabberwocks of patriarchy and clericalism, and not being controlled by voices that cry out “Off with her head!” bring forth new dreams of creative community in the midst of loss.

Let’s do our best to call upon the humor of Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee to keep us laughing on the way! Meet me at the bottom of this email if you’d like to see our actual production of Alice in Wonderland!

I am excited to share our latest summer production! (Some of you have been following our family videos for the past few years …) As Alice says, things keep getting “curiouser and curiouser!” This year’s offering features our biggest cast of all … six kids & assorted aunts, great aunts & uncles too! The entire piece is 35 minutes long, so feel free to just catch glimpses … or to wholeheartedly dance down this rabbit hole with us for some whimsy and delight! May we all return to our lives with wisdom and courage born of deep dives.

Love and blessings, friends! 

Betsey

Betsey Beckman, MM

Posted: September 10, 2021 by

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Dancing the Journey of Lent

Greetings!

A year has passed and we are still on the Lenten journey! Usually I would be writing to you just now with photos and stories of my trip to LA Congress, and all the swirl of inspiration and activities … but this year all the hubbub happened virtually, and that had its own gifts and challenges. I know you have MANY stories like this from your life! (Scroll down to the bottom for a special treat from this year’s LA Congress!)

Meanwhile, we know that Jesus spent 40 days in the desert … and by the time Lent is over this year, we will have spent 400 days in the COVID desert! But I give thanks that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and meanwhile, we are continuing to find the creative impulse … and to find the angels who are guiding us and ministering to us along the way. 

This year, I’ve had two articles published already! One is in the United Church of Christ Musicians Association Publication – an article entitled Dancing Through the Screen – where you will find my reflections on the joy of creating engaging online embodied worship experiences. And the second is an article in the Sacred Heart Alumnae Association Magazine – reflecting on the 50 year reunion I organized for my 7th grade classmates entitled – Celebrating 50 Years.

I’m so happy to share a wonderful video that we created for the Opening Ceremony for the LA Religious Education Congress featuring many of my dancer and musician friends from across the country. You will see scenes from NYC, LA, DC, St. Louis, Miami … and also my little offerings from Martha Lake, where I live here in the Seattle area. The song is “Caminemos con Jesús”, or “Let Us Walk with Jesus.” Let us walk, and dance through this season with our brother Jesus, and make it through to the new dawning of resurrection! 

With love,

Betsey

Betsey Beckman, MM

(In this video, also find an Address from Pope Francis at 24:40, and many other dance elements, including “Yours to Take” .)

Posted: March 5, 2021 by

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Dancing into the New Year

Greetings!

We made it to the New Year! I hope you have had some gentle times in these holidays/holy days and nights. Such a deep mystery as we move from the longest night to following the star of inspiration and new epiphanies! May your new year bring new possibilities born out of deep darkness! 

I had a full season, and am cherishing the creativity that has come through these pandemic times.

Have you checked out our Prayer Cycle Podcasts at Abbey of the Arts? Our seven days of Morning & Evening Prayers include scripture, song and movement that honor gifts of Earth! To celebrate the completion of our series, we will have a live celebration (featuring Christine Paintner, Simon de Voil, Richard Bruxvoort Colligan and me!) on Sunday January 17th at 12:00 noon Pacific Time. Check Abbey of the Arts for more info. in the next few days! 

The Gift of Angels and Shepherds

I have always enjoyed the juxtaposition of glittering bright angels with the earthy, smelly shepherds of our Christmas story. I especially loved visiting the Shepherd’s fields just outside of Bethlehem on our trip to the Holy Land, and imagining the bleary-eyed herders being awed by revelations in the night sky. At our home parish in Seattle, the youth always help portray the Gospel on Christmas Eve, and this year we had to be extra creative in figuring out how to do this online. Enjoy our rendition of shepherds and angels – filmed over zoom. May the delight of this story bring a burst of joy to your life … as we celebrate our final days leading to Epiphany. Happy 11th day of Christmas! 

With love,

Betsey

Betsey Beckman, MM

Posted: January 4, 2021 by

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Dancing Into Advent

Greetings!

I hope you had a joyous Thanksgiving celebration, finding creative ways to be grateful in our challenging times! This weekend was bittersweet for our little family, as we gathered in our personal “outdoor restaurant” one last time before our 28 year old our son launched himself into a whole new phase of his life on an off-grid property on a mountain side in Idaho. 

Needless to say, my mama’s heart is stretched! The womb and heart that once swelled to contain his new life now needs to release my son to his destiny. Life changes, and presents us with opportunities to let go of the known to make room for new versions of creation. Quite often that involves grieving what we once knew in order to make space for new birth. 

So now we have entered Advent, a time of growing darkness, and an invitation to inner quiet. Perhaps this year we can meditate with Mary on what it takes wait in gestation before bringing new life to birth. Or perhaps we are the Christ child within the womb, wrapped in love, who is awaiting our own new birth! Below you will find a few opportunities to dance through Advent with me, and a few sharings from this past season of giving thanks. I am grateful for you, and send you prayers for angels and midwives to dance by your side!

Witness Talk

Many times in my newsletter I share with you my ministry at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Seattle. It’s been my home base for the past 30 years, and I am so grateful for our creative journey of faith together! We are a small parish, and with the dwindling number of clergy, it is unclear if our parish will survive through Archdiocesan changes in the next few years. Last weekend I was invited to give the Witness Talk on Time, Talent and Treasure for our parish … and I wanted to share with you this reflection on my time at St. Patrick’s (where I often collaborate with longtime musician friends, David and Laura Ash.) In these days of being together from afar, may we cherish and sustain the gift of community, and grow together in love through all our seasons.

Sending you love, my friends! 

Betsey

Betsey Beckman, MM

PS … Do you want to celebrate online Lessons and Carols (December 16, 7:00 pm PST) or Christmas Eve (at 5:00 pm PST) with our St. Patrick community? I’ll be leading the dance! Let me know and I can send you our Zoom link. Blessings!

Posted: November 30, 2020 by

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Dancing Into the Unknown

Greetings!

I’m with you in the unknown right now. Listening, watching, lighting candles, breathing, praying for our country, praying for our world. And life goes on. Children wear costumes, we create altars for our ancestors and loved ones who have passed on, and we prepare for holidays in some new stripped down version that honors the upheaval of our world. Big sigh! 

I remember the first time I took a class in improvisation … and I was amazed to find that I could create a dance unplanned and in the moment. Wow! I could trust myself to let something come through me? I realize now that in the challenges of a changing world, immersing myself in the act of creation gives me joy, energy, and helps ground me in the gifts of Spirit moving through me. The creative process engages me, transforms me and invites me into collaborations that go beyond the differences that divide. Let us call upon that creative Spirit to guide us into the days ahead .. dancing, singing, praying, taking action, caring for our Earth and for each other. Below you’ll find lots of opportunities for praying with the creative spirit. And at the very bottom … my latest choreography for celebrating St. Francis and our kinship with all creation in the song – All God’s Critters. We are indeed God’s creative critters … let us bellow, howl, yowl and chirp and dance all of our deepest prayers! Amen!

Earth Monastery Prayer Cycle, Podcast, CD, and DVD

I’m so excited to announce a whole new way for you to pray with our latest offering … it’s a podcast and it’s free! At Abbey of the Arts, we are deeply shaped by the rhythms of daily prayer that arise from monastic practices, and we have woven together a wonderful resource of seven mornings and seven evenings for you to pray with us. Click here to find the podcast series, and to learn more about the resource for you and/or your community. You’ll have the chance to be led in readings, songs, responses and dances, all within the context of daily prayer. This podcast accompanies our Earth Monastery CD and Earth Monastery DVD And here is a taste of our podcasts to help calm your spirit in times of upheaval!

All God’s Critter’s

I’m so happy to share this playful piece with you! In COVID times, only a few of us are back at church, so I had to come up with a new way of celebrating the Feast of St. Francis … here you’ll find all kinds of members of our community joining in: kids, youth, adults, (including members of our deaf-blind and L’Arche community), all celebrating the gifts of our kinship with creation. May this prayer be a reminder that we are all one family … all God’s critters sharing one planet together. May we dance together in love!

Dancing with you,

Betsey

Betsey Beckman, MM

Posted: November 4, 2020 by

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