Liturgical Dance

[dUSt]

Has anyone heard of having liturgical dance incorporated into a mass?

How would one answer the question, "Why is singing an acceptable form of worship in the mass, but not dance?"

[Adam]

I honestly don't know how to answer that, but I would hope liturgical dance would not be incorporated into the Mass. It just feels so weird, and I felt so uncomfortable in protestant churches because of the whole danceing thing, arms flyin, you get my drift.

Perhaps my idea of liturgical is wrong? Maybe im confused hehe. ;)

[cmotherofpirl]

Liturgical dance is forebidden in the continental US. Hawaii has different rules as dancing is a main part of their cultural tradition.

It is done in the diocese of Erie governed by liberal Bishop Trautman, where the notorious Joan Chistter resides. Teenage girls in tutus bouncing (and I mean bouncing) around the altar is disgusting.

[Good Friday]

"Just as all the gestures and movements found in the liturgy are regulated by the competent ecclesiastical authority, so also dancing as a gesture would have to be under its discipline. Concretely: there are cultures in which this is possible insofar as dancing is still reflective of religious values and becomes a clear manifestation of them... However, the same criterion and judgment cannot be applied in the western culture. Here dancing is tied with love, with diversion, with profaneness, with unbridling of the senses: such dancing, in general, is not pure. For that reason it cannot be introduced into liturgical celebrations of any kind whatever: that would be to inject into the liturgy one of the most desacralized and desacralizing elements; and so it would be equivalent to creating an atmosphere of profaneness which would easily recall to those present and to the participants in the celebration worldly places and situations." - Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship, Dance In the Liturgy. Appeared in Notitiae 11 (1975) 202-205.

"All dancing, (ballet, children's gesture as dancing, the clown liturgy) are not permitted to be 'introduced into liturgical celebrations of any kind whatever.'" - National Conference of Catholic Bishops (Bishops' Committee On the Liturgy) Newsletter: April/May 1982.

So, my best guess would be that the Congregation for Divine Worship outlawed liturgical dance in the west because it is associated with negative thoughts these days, whereas music can be either positive or negative, depending upon how it's composed. Even though dance can be created with the intention of worshipping God, the point the Congregation seems to be making is that it can too often lead other people to recall other dance that is less holy. Also, I can only imagine the widespread abuses there would be if liturgical dance were permitted...

[hyperdulia again]

lol@cmom.

well, as my sister put it "Catholics need to learn how to sing at Mass before they start trying to dance."

[esperanza]

Oh my! THAT is hilarious!

;)

[IcePrincessKRS]

lol@cmom.

well, as my sister put it "Catholics need to learn how to sing at Mass before they start trying to dance."

lol Thats a good one... I'll have to remember that. ;)

[vianney]

In my church the have dance once a year and that is the xmas eve mass. Processing in they dance and it is actually pretty and graceful. I see no problem with it as long as it is not overdone and done in a tasteful manner. And I am by no means "liberal"

By the way they had liturgical dance at World Youth Day while the Pope was there..just a thought?

[Good Friday]

If I recall correctly, the dance they had at WYD was not liturgical, because it was not a part of the liturgy. It was separate, I think. I could be wrong, and if I am perhaps the Pope made a special exemption, since it is his place to do so. But liturgical dance is still forbidden in the West, the Congregation for Divine Worship hasn't changed its mind.

The problem with liturgical dance is that the Church forbids it in the West, and since the liturgy belongs to the Church, it is the Church's place to forbid it. If someone were having a house party and said there could be music but not dancing, it would be rude for everyone to get up and start dancing. Every time we go into a Catholic church, we are going into Jesus' and His Bride's House. They say no dancing in Their house. How rude is it of us to just go ahead and start dancing anyway?

If your parish does have liturgical dance, then that's a liturgical abuse that you should be concerned about. What's more important, dancing or offending the Bridegroom and the Bride? Christ and His Church is what Mass is all about... if you're basically telling the Church "no" at Mass, there's something wrong. Mass is the place where we come together as Church, not the place where we turn up our noses at her.

Personally, I would refuse to participate in a Mass that had liturgical dance unless it was the last Mass on earth.

[Brother Adam]

lol@cmom.

well, as my sister put it "Catholics need to learn how to sing at Mass before they start trying to dance."

Amen. Although I've never been in a "contemporary" Catholic Church where they aren't afraid of hymns that have a beat.

[electricdisk]

The reason it is entirely unacceptable, under any circumstances (in my opinion) is that you didn't see the blessed mother, the apostles or anyone else dancing around at the foot of the cross. The earth shook, the sky got dark and the graves of the dead were opened.... Yeah, sounds like time to have a party, God slaughtered on the cross. Innocence of innocence with his hands and feet pierced. I'm sure liturgical dance is perfectly acceptable - if you are in league with the devil. Dance away!! Let's make our churches less of a place to pray and find peace with god. They already remind me of auditoriums anyway.

[littleflower+JMJ]

great point electricdisk, i definitly agree....

[ryanmeyersmusic]

The reason it is entirely unacceptable, under any circumstances (in my opinion) is that you didn't see the blessed mother, the apostles or anyone else dancing around at the foot of the cross.  The earth shook, the sky got dark and the graves of the dead were opened.... Yeah, sounds like time to have a party, God slaughtered on the cross.  Innocence of innocence with his hands and feet pierced.  I'm sure liturgical dance is perfectly acceptable - if you are in league with the devil.  Dance away!! Let's make our churches less of a place to pray and find peace with god.  They already remind me of auditoriums anyway.

i'd say that the resurection (the reason we worship on Sunday) is worth dancing about.

since liturgical dancing isn't allowed by the Church, it shouldn't be done within the Mass, but that doesn't mean there's nothing to dance about. He's risen! We don't serve a dead God! Jesus is very alive, and that's something to take great joy in!

anyway, i just thought i'd throw that out there... the mass is a memorial of his death AND resurection. that's definitely something to dance about.

[ryanmeyersmusic]

AND the devil definitely wasn't dancing, since Christ's death on the cross defeated sin...

[L5]

If I recall correctly, the dance they had at WYD was not liturgical, because it was not a part of the liturgy.  It was separate, I think.  I could be wrong, and if I am perhaps the Pope made a special exemption, since it is his place to do so.  But liturgical dance is still forbidden in the West, the Congregation for Divine Worship hasn't changed its mind.

There were two places where we might have seen liturgical dancing at WYD.

First was on Thursday at the Papal Rally. There was scripture reading and an address by the Pope. There was also a dance with physically impaired people. This was not a liturgy, hence the dancing was not liturgical.

During the opening of the Papal Mass we sang "Jesus Christ You Are My Life" and there were people on stage doing hand actions. My friends thought it was some weird "Rain Dance". It was actually the words to the chorus in Sign Language. Was it Liturgical Dancing? I really don't know.

[credo]

This is my understanding, I don't know if it is true or not...

I was told though that there is Dance at the Pope's liturgies so that the Camaras can follow that during Communion instead of watching people go to Communion. This sort of makes sense, because whenever I see Dance during the Pope's Masses it is always during Communion. Maybe someone can spread light on this? Or you can say when you saw this 'Dance', and maybe we can see if this theory holds?

[Ekilharas]

Have none of you ever sung or heard "The Lord of the Dance"?

From my understanding, liturgical dance is used and/or permitted only in certain cultures as a part of their heritage. It is not something that is done at 'every' mass even for them.

Many of you might find parts of some 'charismatic' or even Life Teen masses to be containing 'dance'. It really depends on your definition of the word 'dance.'

Thoughts ... for what they are worth,

Blessings,

Nell

[Anna]

I love to watch people signing (using sign language) to music. But that is not dancing; it's singing!

For a complete explanation on liturgical dance.

I seem to recall that on an earlier papal visit to the US, some sort of dance took place while the Holy Father prepared for Mass. He remained in his tent or trailer, praying, while women in sheer leotards cavorted around, lunging and sprawling, etc. A tremendous thunderstorm broke out, and the Papal Mass on those grounds was never celebrated. (Anyone else remember this?)

Pax Christi. <><

[jasJis]

Ekilharas,

I've been to LifeTeen services in a couple of parishes. They don't have Liturgical dance. Liturgical means it's part of the Liturgy, or incorporated within the Mass. LifeTeen Masses is a little more enthusiastic singing, often with hand gestures that symbolically reflect the lyrics. As a rule in the years I've been attending LifeTeen Masses, the lively music is after the Mass Liturgy has been declared 'Ended' by the Priest and the final Blessings given. The LifeTeen response is "The Mass never ends. It must be lived. Let us go forth to love and serve the Lord. Alleluia!!" Some teens may get real enthusiastic then with the clapping and hand motions and approach 'dancing' to some definitions, but it isn't incorporated as part of the Liturgy per se.

Like ryanmyers pointed out, the reason to Celebrate is powerful too. LifeTeen heavily emphasises the Real Presence within it's program. The fact that God is with you in Body and Spirit is very powerful with these teens. Sometimes the teens respond with enthusiastic singing and clapping, other times more quietly.

Good Friday,

I'm not totally convinced that the Bishop doesn't have some say in allowing Liturgical dance. I personally might not be happy with Liturgical dance, but regardless, the Consencration and the Real Presence would over-ride any failures in Liturgical norms.

[Good Friday]

I'm not totally convinced that the Bishop doesn't have some say in allowing Liturgical dance.  I personally might not be happy with Liturgical dance, but regardless, the Consencration and the Real Presence would over-ride any failures in Liturgical norms.

I'm not sure how I could have been more convincing. I just posted a statement from the Congregation for Divine Worship and a statement by the USCCB stating definitively that liturgical dance is not allowed in the West. So it seems to me that an individual Bishop cannot decide that it is allowed, because the decision of the Congregation for Divine Worship (which is really the decision of the Pope himself, since he approves everything) supercedes an individual Bishop's decision. Now, add on to that the fact that our National Conference of Catholic Bishops stated that it wasn't allowed, and you have a situation where the individual Bishop definitely is not allowed to go against these decisions.

I agree that the consecration and Real Presence are more important than liturgical abuses, which is why I said that I wouldn't go to a Mass like that unless it was the last one on earth. In other words, what I was saying was I would rather go to a Mass that adheres to the Church's liturgical regulations than go to a Mass that doesn't, precisely because I believe the consecration and the Real Presence are the most important part of the Mass. Besides the fact that it is explicitly condemned by the Church, liturgical dance is just another way liberals are trying to chip away at the meaning of the Eucharist. Who isn't going to be distracted if there are a bunch of people dancing around the altar? It's because the Eucharist is more important than dancing that I dislike liturgical dance so much. I believe liturgical dance takes away from the meaning of the Mass.