School of Dance and the Arts
Our Story
This school was born out of a need. Our daughters, who like many young girls, love to dance, were enrolled in a performing arts school instructing them in dance. While practicing and preparing for their year end performance, we as parents, discovered they were dancing to music with lyrics that shocked and saddened us. The Holy Spirit had opened our eyes and our hearts to see that we could no longer participate where they were enrolled with a clear conscience. This was a challenging and emotional decision for all of us. It seemed that the thing our girls loved to do and invested time and effort into had been suddenly and abruptly lost. In the days ahead, we were comforted by Deuteronomy 28:1-3. “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field.” (ESV)
In the stillness of our prayers and in our crying out to the Lord, in this moment where we felt that we had lost something significant for our daughters, we heard very clearly the strong, sure and steadfast voice of the Lord saying to us that He was not done yet. This is not finished.
As we reflected on dance, this art form, along with so much of the world around us, has become so deeply corrupted from what it was created to be. It has become an avenue by which people have sought glorification and even idolization of self, exploitation of young people, the perpetrator of massive insecurities in self-image, the insidious way that impure and openly abhorrent lyrical material is flooded into the minds of our young people, the means by which sexually perverse and provocative innuendo has been openly and socially acceptably welcomed. As we reflected on this, a growing cry began to rise up in our hearts. We must take back dance for its purpose. It must be reclaimed for what it was created for - the worship and glory of our Creator, and to point others towards Jesus Christ, the only one worthy of the worship of our bodies.
Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!
Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD!
-Psalm 150 (ESV)
“Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.”
–Jeremiah 31:13 (ESV)
As we searched around for a new place to enroll our daughters to continue to learn and pursue the art of dance in an environment which would be Christ centered and focused on the worship of the Lord: a place where they would learn to use God’s temple for the purpose for which it was created for. We sadly found nothing within realistic geographical reach. It was then that we received the calling from the Lord. We have been graciously given, by His mercy and the power of the Holy Spirit, open eyes to recognize this as such a great need in this time and place, for the next generation, to teach not only purity in dance, but purity in heart, purity in life, purity in movement, purity in dress, purity in worship. It was out of this vision and need, that Soli Deo Gloria School of Dance and the Arts was born. As it says in our vision and mission statements, we are a school for dance and performing arts where young girls can learn to use their bodies the way we believe the Lord has intended – for the worship of His name. But further than this, we see this as more than a school. Our undergirding purpose is reaching young souls with gospel truth, bringing lives from darkness to light, and using the platform we are given to reach the lost and to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to the next generation.
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Diamond and Serena Tam
Founders and owners of Soli Deo Gloria School of Dance and the Arts
​We are a family of six, blessed to live in Oakville, Ontario and we love to take road trips and enjoy nature. Between Diamond being a physician, Serena being a home educator, the boys being active in martial arts, and the girls dancing, life can get busy! However, in all things, we strive to do all things for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). We also have a mild mannered canine who loves belly scratches and to play tug of war. While we, like all people, have our struggles and obstacles in life and are far from perfect, we serve a perfect God whose grace is sufficient for all of our weaknesses and so much more!