Mime group ministers through precious movements

It began with four girls who felt a calling to minister by remaining silent. Out of this calling came the new mime and dance group, Precious Movements.

The idea to form this group began in 2003 with sophomore Talitha Brown, sophomore Sharina Taylor and junior Angela Scott. Shortly after, sophomore Latoya Jones took over as the fourth leader of this ensemble, which officially became a club in September 2004.

The girls meet every Wednesday and occasionally on Sundays when a concert is drawing closer.

“I believe that this ministry is just another door that God can use to start a fire on Eastern’s campus,” Taylor said.

The group’s mime dances are develped in practices that begin with a devotion followed by the girls lying on their faces to pray, according to first-year Lauren Morgan. It is through this prayer that they choose a song to minister through, according to Scott.

Each member contributes to the choreography and, in doing so, adds a little of their individual personalities to the performance, according to Scott.

“The same moves can be interpreted differently by each person,” she said.

Taylor agreed that each girl’s personality adds to the group.

“Some of the girls never had this type of experience before but God has begun to use them all in their own ways,” said Taylor.

Contrary to popular belief, the group’s name was not chosen as a spin-off of Precious Moments. The name originated when Scott and Taylor were looking through the concordance of a Bible to find how many times the word “precious” appears. In doing so, they found 1 Peter 2:2-5 which is now the group’s mission statement.

Verses 4 and 5 read, “As you come to him, the living Stone-rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him- you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

The second portion of their name, “movements,” was taken from this excerpt as well. “The movements are precious sacrifices to God,” Morgan said.

Morgan and Scott agreed they prefer when the audience focuses on the words of the song rather than the girl’s performance.

“It’s not us up there, it’s God moving through us,” Scott said.

Advisor of Precious Movements, Frann Nutter, aided the girls in finding just the right charity to donate the proceeds of their concerts.

According to the May 1996 FDA Consumer, one in 400 African-Americans is born with Sickle Cell.

The group decided to give all money from their concerts to the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America.

For the group, this charity was an easy choice since all of the members are African-American.

In addition to giving monetarily, Precious Movements is having an effect on its audience.

“People are always coming up to us after the show and saying how blessed they were by it and how God worked through us,” Scott said.

Although at times, they can be hard-pressed to find a place to practice, the girls remain committed to their ministry and hope to continue to bless others through their “precious movements.”

“God willing, we will be able to continue this tradition for years to come,” Taylor said.