About Zion Dance Project
Led by Directors Vincent and Abigail Hardy, Zion Dance Project is a Dallas-based contemporary dance company dedicated to embodied artistry, movement research, and spiritually grounded creative work. Founded in 2017 with a vision to integrate technical excellence with faith, Zion creates rigorous contemporary dance through a Christ-centered lens — not as religious illustration, but as movement rooted in lived experience and honoring the body as a sacred place for communion.
Zion’s work bridges contemporary dance, fascia-informed movement, improvisation, contact improv and technical training. The company prioritizes artistic development alongside performance, cultivating dancers who are physically capable, creatively expansive, and community focused. Through research-driven processes and collaborations, Zion seeks to expand movement vocabulary beyond codified forms integrating technique with somatic intelligence.
Zion operates as both a professional company and training site offering multiple developmental pathways that support artistic growth, embodied awareness, and professional readiness - AXIS, Summer Series and Restore Soma Online Classes.
Our culture emphasizes consent, relational respect, and sustainable artistic development, creating an environment where dancers can explore deeply while being supported with integrity. Zion Dance Project is committed to shaping the future of contemporary dance by forming artists who do not simply perform movement — but inhabit it with clarity, depth, and purpose.
Pictures of Zion Dance Project
A Statement from
Artistic Director, Vincent Hardy
Leading Zion Dance Project has been a journey - a journey of unlearning as much as learning.
For many years, Zion trained within highly codified systems of movement — disciplines that taught us rigor, excellence, and structure. I honor that foundation. It shaped us. But as we entered this next chapter of Zion, I began to sense that God was inviting us into something deeper — not just a new way of dancing, but a new way of being in the body.
This work asks us to move from the inside out — from fascia, breath, sensation, and presence — rather than imposing shape through control or effort. As we have started to listen to the body more closely, we’ve discovered that it carries memory, story, and identity. When those layers begin to move, it can feel challenging. It can feel disorienting. And it can feel incredibly freeing.
What we’re researching now is not about abandoning technique, but about integrating it into a more honest, responsive, and inhabited expression of the body. Shape is no longer the goal — it becomes the result of something deeper forming within.
I’ve watched our dancers courageously let go of familiar metrics of success and step into uncertainty with trust. That kind of surrender forms something lasting. It expands our capacity — not only for movement, but for presence, true connection, and integrity.
Zion has entered a new era — one rooted in somatic intelligence, fascia-led movement, contemporary exploration, and a deep awareness of the body as a living temple. This is slow work. It’s formative work. And it’s work I believe will carry fruit far beyond the studio.
I’m grateful for the dancers who are willing to walk this path, and for those who feel drawn to explore alongside us.
The Pillars of Our Exploration
1. Fascia-Led, Somatic Movement
Zion’s work is rooted in fascia-led movement — allowing the connective tissue of the body to guide motion rather than forcing shape through muscular control. Fascia carries memory, pattern, and responsiveness; when it is engaged, movement becomes fluid, efficient, and whole-bodied. This approach invites dancers to listen to sensation, follow internal pathways, and trust the body’s innate intelligence. Rather than shaping the body from the outside, form emerges organically from within.
2. Nervous-System Awareness & Regulation
Sustainable, Spirit-led movement requires a regulated nervous system. Zion prioritizes safety, pacing, and awareness so dancers are not overriding their bodies in the pursuit of excellence. By working with breath, grounding, and somatic attention, dancers learn how regulation supports expansion. This creates resilience, longevity, and depth — allowing the Spirit to move through a body that feels safe enough to listen and respond.
3. Theosomatic Embodiment — The Body as a Living Temple
Zion approaches the body as a living temple — a place where God dwells, speaks, and moves. Through a theosomatic lens, dancers learn to inhabit their bodies with reverence the God who created them, allowing movement to arise from communion rather than performance. Breath, cells, fascia, and awareness become sites of encounter. This work is not about external spirituality, but about discovering God within the embodied life.
4. The Body as a Site of Revelation
Movement at Zion is not merely expressive — it is revelatory. The body holds wisdom, truth, and insight that cannot always be accessed through cognition alone. Through movement, dancers discover understanding, prayer, and knowing that emerge somatically. Revelation is not imposed; it is uncovered through attentive presence and embodied listening.
5. Improvisation as Listening & Co-Creation
Improvisation is a core pillar, practiced not as randomness or self-indulgence, but as disciplined listening. Dancers learn to respond to internal sensation, external environment, music, partners, and Holy Spirit with clarity and discernment. Improvisation becomes a practice of responsiveness and co-creation — cultivating adaptability, authorship, and trust in what is arising moment by moment.
6. Contact Improvisation & Relational Intelligence
Contact improvisation at Zion emphasizes trust, consent, clarity, and relational presence. Dancers explore weight-sharing, momentum, off-balance states, and touch through both physical and fascial connection. Attention is also given to the energetic and relational field between bodies. This work builds sensitivity, communication, and ethical engagement — forming dancers who move with awareness, responsibility, and care for one another.
7. Discernment in Embodied Spiritual Exploration
Zion holds a strong value for discernment and spiritual maturity. While the work engages somatic, energetic, and mystical dimensions of movement, it is rooted in clarity of source and intention. Zion Dance Project is rooted in the Way of Christ — not as a restrictive system, but as a living, embodied path. Our work is shaped by a belief that because of the laid down life of Jesus, and the access given by the Holy Spirit, God now dwells within the body, speaks through creation, and invites wholeness of relationship rather than fragmentation. Dancers are guided to remain grounded, present, and aligned — distinguishing between sensation, emotion, imagination, and Spirit. This pillar protects the integrity of the work and forms dancers who are wise, embodied, and centered.
8. Formation Over Performance
Zion prioritizes formation over output. Rather than organizing around spectacle or immediate results, the work emphasizes integration, honesty, and long-term growth. Dancers are not evaluated solely on what they can produce, but on their capacity to listen, adapt, and inhabit their bodies truthfully. Performance becomes the fruit of formation — not the measure of worth.
9. Expansion of Movement Vocabulary & Contemporary Pathways
Through somatic research, improvisation, and contemporary exploration, dancers expand their movement vocabulary beyond codified forms. Spirals, multidirectional pathways, floor work, off-axis states, and relational phrasing deepen range and versatility. Technique is not discarded, but integrated into a living, responsive body capable of nuance, risk, and depth.
10. Integration Beyond the Studio
The work at Zion is not meant to remain confined to rehearsal. Dancers are invited to integrate somatic awareness, nervous-system regulation, and embodied presence into daily life. This approach supports emotional resilience, spiritual wholeness, and sustainable artistry — forming dancers who are not only skilled movers, but grounded, present human beings.
Zion Dance Project is cultivating a movement collective, a space for belonging — not merely a dance company or training program.
This new era is calling dancers who desire depth, integrity, exploration, and embodied faith.
This work is not about fitting into a system.
It is about becoming FULLY ALIVE.
