What is SIDEWALK IN THE SEA?

Sidewalk in the Sea (SIS) (in reference to Exodus 14:22) is a faith-based dance residency and production exploring the journey of life with God including the beauty, the frustrations, and the transformation that unfolds along the way. Rooted in the belief that every individual is uniquely purposed, SIS uses dance to reflect how our questions, suffering, and surrender can lead to divine renewal. In a time marked by division, anxiety, and confusion, we believe Scripture offers timeless hope and clarity. Through movement, we invite audiences to encounter that hope, and welcome both believers and seekers into an experience of awe, conviction, and connection.

The Residency

The SIS residency is a 4 month training program that centers on five key initiatives:

  1. Developing training plans rooted in Scripture to cultivate excellence, healing, and friendship with God.

  2. Guiding dancers in discovering their authentic “home” movement expression.

  3. Promoting holistic wellness (mind, body, and spirit) in dance spaces.

  4. Modeling a healthy and redemptive rehearsal culture that challenges harmful norms within the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) dance community.

  5. Engaging the broader community through digital storytelling, open rehearsals, and interactive events that connect faith and art.

Through this approach, SIS will create a space where dancers deepen their artistry through faith, embracing the divine story written in Scripture. The residency will prepare dancers to present the full production to multiple audiences in July 2026.

The Production

Sidewalk in the Sea (SIS) expands the visibility of Christian artistic expression by transforming Scripture and lived experience into embodied movement. The production explores the journey with God through uncertainty, transformation, and divine intervention. Through original choreography and intentional set, lighting, and costume design, we create a sacred performance space that immerses audiences in an encounter experience. Each scene is choreographed and designed to reflect a raw and realistic journey rather than a performative representation of the journey. Sidewalk in the Sea invites believers, seekers, and skeptics alike to encounter God through art that moves the spirit. Our aim is to create work that doesn’t just illustrate faith but activates it, planting seeds of hope, courage, and trust in the God who makes a way where there seems to be none.

It started in a living room…

September 2, 2024

Before there was a name, choreography, venue, dancers, there was simply a conversation and the unmistakable nearness of God. Two friends, Liv Eddings and Christina Alemayehu, challenged by the more God was showing them in the scriptures, and what is available because of the cross became a holy interruption. Vision, movement, and story began to arrive faster than they could write them down.

In a generation plagued by depression, anxiety, and relentless busyness, but starved of vision, heaven fled into that living room to affirm, He is here and the time is now. Questions, delight, humanity, and calling all sat together. The invitation was clear: create a dance production that welcomes people into the journey with God, not skipping past the tension of being human, but letting the truth in Him lead the dance.

On September 4, 2024, Liv and Christina met in that living room to discuss what we should do with all that was being shown to us. Sidewalk in the Sea emerged as a response to that encounter: a path through the impossible, an exodus through waters that should not part, an invitation to walk with God through whatever feels like Red Sea moments.

We are building toward our full production in Summer 2026. Along the way, we are cultivating a residency where artists can deepen listening, worship, wrestle, and grow into the original design the Lord of Dance had for us. 

This is only the beginning.
And we’d love for you to stay with us as the story keeps unfolding.

Meet the Directors

Liv Eddings is a choreographer, arts educator, and arts administrator. She graduated from the University of Maryland and during her time there she won several accolades including the Erica Thimey Award for Outstanding Service in Dance Production. In early dance training, Liv didn’t commit to studying one particular dance style, but used her broad dance education and West African influences to develop a style that felt like home for her. This transition of denying conformation and developing the “home” movement birthed some of her most traveled dance works. 

Liv is the founder of Graced Training Center where she helps dancers rediscover their “why,” connect with their “home” movement. and develop the technique, discipline, and artistic language needed to thrive in their God-given purpose with confidence and clarity. In rehearsal spaces she focuses on the mental, physical, and spiritual growth of dance artists as well as promoting healthy collaboration amongst artists, creating work through honest and vulnerable teachings, and developing artistic practices that use the power of the arts to change lives. As a choreographer, she delves into storytelling in a way that is not abstract, but obvious, because her messages of choice are too important to get lost in translation.

Liv Eddings

Christina Alemayehu

Christina Alemayehu lives in a world of artistry inspired by faith, light, and bright colors because of the cross. She is a vibrant alumni of the Baltimore Headquarters, 13:46 Dance Ensemble, and a former arts administrator at the Dance Institute of Washington where she used language to creatively articulate messaging and engagement for non-profit sectors. Her dance journey now prioritizes sharing messages that address, inspire, and convict the soul rather than pleasing the eyes. 

Christina's work challenges misconceptions about professional dancers and advocates for a broader understanding of dance as a medium for storytelling, prayer, and hope. She is also deeply committed to teaching dance in global mission fields, where she believes dance transcends language barriers and can bring the message of the gospel to communities worldwide.

Christina is developing the Undignified School of Dance, an institution aimed at democratizing dance education, where freedom and rest shape the art of dance, and stories, scripture, and journeys lead the movement. Christina is also an author, and her book "History with Abba" was published February 2025. Christina's journey is a testament of dance not just as a profession, but as a means to explore, play, seek, and communicate the depths of the human experience in God.