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The Relationship Between Dance and Spirituality

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The Relationship between Dance and Spirituality.

Sashanique Moodie

Monroe College

Abstract

This paper will focus on the relationship that exists between dance and religion. The primary focus of this paper will examine how closely related dance and spirituality are. The paper will provide a detailed analysis of information already written about the subject matter aimed at showing you, the reader, how interconnected or how close the relationship between dance and religion (religious spirituality) are. Both primary and secondary sources were employed in order to successfully complete this paper. The primary source was a textbook, Appreciating Dance, and secondary sources included articles gathered from the databases. At the end of this paper, the reader should gain an understanding of just how close of a relationship dance and religion has.

Someone need not be perfect to be a great dancer – feeling a soul is more important than what the body can do.”- Marcia Haydéeo

Let them praise His name in the dance: let them sing praises unto Him with timbrel and harp.

Topic: The Relationship between Dance and Spirituality

Throughout the ages dance has been a part of civilization as far back as the Paleolithic period- the early phase of the Stone Age, lasting about 2.5 million years, when primitive stone implements were used (Oxford Dictionaries, 2013)- when cave painting were found in France and Italy (Lihs, 2009). Dancing also dates back to the Greeks and the Romans. It is through dance that many individuals find their voice or their own identity. Dance provides many individuals with a sense of comfort and peace of mind that many cannot seem to find off the dance floor. On the dance floor, one’s chaotic world seems to find a balance and all the troubles of life appear to take a back seat as dancing becomes the dominant thought that monopolizes the mind, thereby making everything else seem insignificant. Dancing not only helps individuals emotionally but it also helps people find that spiritual connection with a being of a higher power. Through dance, one can receive peace, contentment, or even a better relationship; that is going out relaxing and having fun with the girls. With all that being said, the focus of this paper will be the relationship between dance and spirituality. Dance has been an integral part of religious life in many countries and many faiths. It has evolved over the years and what many religions are now saying is that dance as a part of religion is not ‘biblically’ correct. Many churches have placed bans on dancing in their sanctuary as they thought dance is a form of entertainment and titillating diversion (LAMothe, 2005). As a result of these negative thoughts towards dance by various religious entities, this paper focuses on the relationship between dance and spirituality.

So, what is dance? According to Lihs, her book Appreciating Dance, “dance is a natural expression of the human condition and the human spirit, requiring some structured use of time, space and the body or bodies” (Lihs, 2009). Dance has been in existence for many centuries, and as the years have gone by the way people dance have changed. In today’s world, dancing is closely linked to music. There are many different types of dances and many areas of dance. As stated above, to look at the aspects of spirituality one has to first examine the emotional aspect of dancing as dancing is tied to the emotions of the dancer and these are closely tied to the spiritual aspect of dancing. An emotion is defined as “a conscious mental reaction (as anger or fear) subjectively experienced as strong feeling usually directed toward a specific object and typically accompanied by physiological and behavioral changes in the body or a state of feeling” (Merriam Webster Dictionaries, 2013) It is often said that many people use dancing as a medium with which to express their inner most thoughts and feelings. According to a discussion that took place in class on Thursday January 17, 2013, a student stated that whenever she has a bad day and she reaches the studio and starts dancing her mood changes completely. She stated that for her, dancing is the medium she uses for self-expression and releasing her bottled up emotions (Class Discussion, 2013). Like her, many others find that they feel better after dancing.

Religion is defined as “the service and worship of God or the supernatural or a- personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices” (Merriam Webster Dictionaries, 2013). Religion has and is still playing a major role in the everyday lives of individuals. It is through religion that persons are able to find a deeper spiritual connection to a being or beings of great power. For many centuries, dance and religion became a way to connect with the spirit world of ancestors and gods in order to ensure health and good fortune. “Dance has been used over the ages as an expression of the deepest aspects of life, of the dancer's relationship with the Earth, the animal and vegetable kingdoms, and, perhaps most importantly, the connection with the Divine” (Frances, n.d.). Due to this simple phenomenon, many different types of religious dances have evolved. The one that most identifies with the thesis of this paper is dance for spiritual connection; these type of dances are used as a means of getting to a more spiritual plane while establishing a connection to a god or spirit. Making such a connection to a spirit through dances requires a specific amount of focus and concentration, and something that only the individual performing the dance can give, it requires relinquishing control over the mind and releasing everything that is in you to get to that place of completeness of just peace and contentment, a place where the body and soul merge as one entity and the presence of power that is so peaceful, so different can be felt.

According to Dunning in her article, “Dance; A Celebration of the Spiritual Where Some See Sin” she state that:

Dance has a connection to the spirit that is intimate, immediate, and unavoidable. It is an art that merges abstraction and the literal physicality of the human body, thereby making a virtue of being about nothing more than the body itself. Dance is also capable of evoking the spirit, whether in the soul of a dancer who has achieved selflessness in motion or in the soul of the viewer identifying with that physical exaltation (Dunning, 1998).

From this quote, one can clearly see that dance and spirituality has a unique connection forming a unique relationship. It is through dance, that a dancer connects sensuality, sexuality, and spirituality in a unified manner (Dunning, 1998). In many performances, the audience are also able to connect to the performance or the dancers themselves, and as a result, they feel liberating or at peace after the performance. When a person dances, and they become selfless to point where mind, body, and soul are linked, the possibility to reach a higher level spiritually now opens and dancers are more susceptible to finding peace and contentment after such a performance. It is through dance that many religious preachers are trying to instill core Christian values in their congregation. “When dance is introduced in a religious service, it challenges people to engage more than their intellect in worship. To the religious dancers, dancing is not entertainment or a performance; it is worship to the very core and putting your best before God” (Keller, 1997).

In conclusion, dance has been around for centuries and is constantly evolving. The relationship between dance and religion or spirituality has also existed for centuries. While churches, once upon time, did not believe that dance and religion could be a means of attaining a deeper spiritual connection with the gods. However, as time changed and dance evolved, many churches as well as individuals have come to the realization that dance and religion are interconnected and maybe even dependent on each other in order to reach a higher level in God or the spiritual plane. Through the introduction of dance in religious worship, everyone now has the opportunity of gaining spiritual connection with a being of greater power and importance. It is then safe to say that dance and religion indeed have a relationship that is spiritual in nature and it is through this relationship that individuals are able to grow more on a spiritual level.

References

Dunning, J. (1998, November 15). Dance: A celebration of the spiritual where some see sin. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/15/arts/dance-a-celebration-of-the-spiritual-where-some-see-sin.html

Emotion. (2013). Merriam Webster Dictionaries. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/emotion

Frances, L. (n.d.). Sacred dance and spirituality. Retrieved from file:///E:/HN-240- Art and Culture of World Dance/Sacred Dance and Spirituality - An article exploring Sacred Circle Dance from a Spiritual Perspective.htm

Keller, S. J. (1997, October 26). Religion: Step by step to glory: Faith and worship through dance. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/26/ nyregion/religion-step-by-step-to-glory-faith-and-worship-through-dance.html

LAMothe, K.L. (2005). Why dance? Towards a theory of religion as practice and performance. Method & Theory in The Study Of Religion, 17(2), 101-133. Doi: 10.1163/1570068054305600

Lihs, H. R. (2009). Appreciating dance; a guide to the world’s liveliest art. New Jersey. Princeton Book Company Publishers.

Religion. (2013). Merriam Webster Dictionaries. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/religion

Stone age. (2013). Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. Retrieved from http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/Stone+Age

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