Artist bio

Rebecca Morneau has been involved in the dance world her whole life. Rebecca performed at regional and national dance competitions, where she continuously placed high in her category. She also performed with Virginia National Ballet in roles from The Nutcracker and Grumpy in Snow White. Rebecca graduated from DeSales University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and a minor in English. While in college, she performed in the DeSales University Dance Team, The Nutcracker directed by Trinette Singleton and Jennifer Haltzman Tracy, and performed in dances choreographed by Angela Grossman, Julia Mayo, Kristin Alexander, and Emily Schoen. In May 2019, she choreographed and performed in a tap dance entitled The ConTAPorary Nutcracker which was performed at the DeSales University Spring Informal Dance Concert. Rebecca has been teaching dance for the past four years to kids of all ages. She has taught multiple genres of dance over the past few years and loves working with kids. Rebecca has been a Catholic her whole life. She absolutely loves her faith and sharing it with others. She hopes to create more dance works such as Battle for My Soul in the future and hopes this work inspires others to be the best version of themselves.

Title

Battle for My Soul

Medium/Genre

Dance - Modern

Artist Statement

Battle for My Soul is about sin. Sin and temptation to sin are everywhere. Sin takes the form of the various props the dancer uses in the work. It is first a tennis ball. At first, sin looks and feels normal. It could even make us happy. As Battle for My Soul progresses, the sins become black, bigger, and more numerous. The more we sin, the more it hurts us. And the more we sin, the more our soul is destroyed. The costumes represent the soul. When we keep sinning, our soul gradually becomes gray then black. We feel entrapped and ensnared by sin, which is represented by the long-sleeved shirts and pants. Further, we sometimes have a physical reaction to sin. This is shown by the movements and facial expressions. As Battle for My Soul goes on, the dancer’s movements become less and less dancey and more robotic. Sin can weigh us down so much we might feel devoid of emotion. At the very last sin, the dancer has decided enough is enough. She cannot handle all the sins anymore. So, she goes to church to confess her sins and meets Jesus there, who gets rid of all the sin so she is pure again. The dancer then shows Jesus what a difference removing sin has made. She is even jumping now. Jesus gives the dancer “the full armor of God” and sits down to read Scripture with her, specifically Ephesians 6:10-20.

How it fits into contest

Battle for My Soul fits into the contest topic, the Spiritual Battle, in multiple ways. One of the biggest spiritual battles we all experience in our lifetime is our battle with sin. It is a daily struggle everyone goes through. Sin and temptation to sin are one of the “devil’s schemes” discussed in the Bible verse (Ephesians 6:11). Sin is one of the “powers of this dark world” and we must push back against it in order to be saved (Ephesians 6:12). Throughout the work, the dancer engages in multiple sins, and by the end she is so run down by sin, all she can do is run to Jesus to ask for forgiveness. At the very end of the work, the man playing Jesus actually gives the dancer the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the word of God. He sits down to read Ephesians 6:10-20 with the dancer, as is pictured in the work. By the end of Battle for My Soul, the dancer really embodies Ephesians 6:13, “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”

Credits

Dedicated to the Holy Family
+ JMJ +

Inspired by Ephesians 6:10-20

Dancers: Rebecca Morneau
Anthony Butler

Choreographer: Rebecca Morneau

Camera Operator: John Morneau

Music Operator: Keith Morneau
Rebecca Morneau
Debbie Morneau
John Morneau

Music Credits: I do not own any of the songs

Song #1: "Nicolai Hedlas - Hand
In Hand [Pop]" is under a Creative
Commons license (CC BY 3.0)
Music promoted by
BreakingCopyright:
http://bit.ly/NicolaiHeidlas-
HandInHand

Song #2: "PeriTune - Firmament Calm [Chill]" is
under a Creative Commons license
(CC-BY) 3.0
Music provided by BreakingCopyright:
https://youtu.be/ZtIgFtNtCtM

Song #3: Composer: Whitesand (Martynas Lau)
Year: 2018
Title: Melody Of My Dreams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si89RLFreaw

Song #4: 'Filaments' by Scott Buckley is under a
Creative
Commons license Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC
BY 3.0)
Music promoted by BreakingCopyright:
https://youtu.be/taAxpw03dgM

Song #5: Music provided by "Vivek Abhishek"
https://www.youtube.com/user/VivEKhsi...

Music used : "Horror Theme" originally composed
and produced by "Vivek Abhishek"
https://youtu.be/LwjzmdiRFpc

Follow on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/VivekEKhsihbA/

Follow on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/vivek.abhis...

Sound Effect: "Slow to fast heart SFX (60 bpm to
120bpm) -
extended version"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeYx5VsYLFk
Heartbeat SFX provided by MrSnooze
https://youtu.be/fLXLo3rEdrE

Song #6: Music: CelDro & Emil Wennerholm -
Flourish
Promoted by BreakingCopyright:
https://youtu.be/Xohu_aq8oqk

*Special thanks to St. John the Evangelist Catholic
Church Warrenton, VA*

"Let them praise His name with dancing" ~ Psalm
149:3

Transcript / Lyrics

none

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