Navigating through the awkward stages of badly cut bangs and dramatic friendships can be hard on a young girl. This time is never easy, but the support from family and trusted individuals builds a strong foundation for a girl to find herself in the wide world. Being surrounded by a community of like-minded people who genuinely care builds confidence and the courage for girls to be themselves, and Talitha Cumi is a community just like that .
Stephanie Lee founded Talitha Cumi dance company roughly eight years ago, hoping to create a safe space for young girls without training to come and learn how to worship God through dance. “Talitha Cumi” is an Aramaic term from the Christian Bible that translates to “Little Girl, Rise Up.”
Lee founded Talitha Cumi utilizing her experience growing up teaching at Talitha Dance Company. Growing up as a dancer, Lee says she had a “mindset of perfection, so I had to learn freedom and freedom of movement” that eventually allowed her to bind her love for dancing and for God together. Worshipping or praising the Lord with dance can be expressed in many different ways, and teaching girls from a young age to move their bodies freely helps build muscle memory for when they grow older. Many times, our minds may forget words or moments in the past, but muscles remember our actions much better. “Blessing or scripture memory with movement is a part of the goal to get scripture into these young girls and be able to carry that on to their twenties,” says Lee.
Dancing for worship also connects people around the world because “every culture in the world dances” Lee says. Since movement is a language understood around the world in different cultures, it is a way to find common ground and build bonds across cultures and languages with people that may otherwise not have been able to build a connection.
Currently, Talitha Cumi is working on making their at Home camp available again later in the summer because of “the amount of girls outside of the state and in other areas of the world who have registered for Talitha Cumi at Home’s first event.” For now, the July in person event registration from the 29-31 is open! Girls from ages 4-11 can attend the camp, and 12 and up girls can become leaders to help Lee and her team make the camp memorable. Both the at Home and in-person camps offer dance instruction that will be performed at the end of the camp, arts and crafts, and a bible study session. For more info or to enroll your daughter in a Talitha Cumi program, visit https://bit.ly/2WJbTPi.
