Moving Liturgy

Dance in Christian Worship, A Step-by-Step Guide

Wellford

• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9781498230070
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

What does it mean to be a visual aid in worship? Moving Liturgy: Dance in Christian Worship provides readers with powerful ideas to bring prayers, parables, hymns, and scripture passages to life in the most direct way--storytelling in dance and movement through the body--the best visual aid!This book offers practical and artistic information for anyone interested in learning about, or re-affirming, the use of dance and movement in worship. Jane Wellford has worked extensively in the arts of liturgical dance and drama in collaboration with clergy, musicians, conductors, visual artists, dancers, and entire congregations. Successful ideas for worship, as well as creative possibilities, are all included in this book.I believe that worship should be made multi-sensory, exciting, and as connected to real life experiences as possible. The more senses that are involved in worship, the more likely the message will be received. When we hear the word of God shared through words or music, see it come to life through dance, drama, or other visual arts, experience it through speaking the prayers, confessions, or creeds, and sing it through hymns or chants, we are more actively engaged in the experience of worship.

part i

Liturgical Dance: A Background

chapter 1

What is Liturgical Dance?

Upon his return from battle with the Philistines, a jubilant King David, the second king of Israel, entered the city of Jerusalem and “danced before the Lord with all his might.”1 “Let them praise his name with dancing,” states Psalm 149:3.2 These are only two of the many scripture examples from The Holy Bible mentioning the use of dance as worship. Why do some people feel a need to worship with physical gesture, full body movement, or actual dance? What is all this lifting of arms, swaying, and twirling about in worship? Is it something from our historic past, or a very present and active way to worship today?

Dance is and has been an integral part of worship for numerous world religions and spiritual practices for centuries. One of the ten major purposes for the use of dance in history in many world cultures is the use of dance in worship.3 Anthropologic studies of early cave and rock paintings from the Mesolithic period record very physical dances of humans dancing in religious or spiritual ritual celebrations.4 Upon realization of their own mortality and the temporal existence of all living things, pre-historic humans felt a need to reach beyond the seen and communicate with deities and spirits of the unseen. The human body was the most basic and immediate instrument through which this communication would first take place.

Praise, Katherine Southard, photo courtesy Elon University.

Although initial movements such as leaps, turns, and uplifted arms were at first rough and unrefined, such movements were the beginning of a way to express, to praise, to question, and to communicate with forces of nature, gods, and spirits. We know from the early cave paintings that early ritual dances were very physical experiences, not merely cerebral.

Dance is an art form performed by individuals or groups, existing in time and space, and using force and flow, where the human body is the instrument and movement is the medium.5 Sacred dance is dance that is holy, dedicated to a god or spirit, connected with religion or matters of the spirit, set apart for sacred purposes.6 The term sacred dance may be used when speaking about dances of worship in any religious, spiritual, or faith tradition throughout the world.

The word liturgy comes from the Greek word leitourgia which means “a public work.”7 Strong’s Concordance additionally defines the word as “a service; a ministry.”8 The earliest meaning of the word was derived from the physical work performed by the community, such as the building or maintaining of roads or buildings for the greater good of the community.9 Over time, the meaning changed to become “prescribed form of public worship.”10

Liturgical dance is dance often shared within the worship liturgy by dancers, from novice to professional, for the purpose of worshipping God and bringing those viewing into a closer communion with God. It may occur in various locations other than a church or sanctuary, but its intention and purpose remain the same. Dance within the liturgy may at times be called sacred dance when referencing it with the larger body of sacred dances of other world religions. When shared within the liturgy of Christian worship, sacred dance is most often called liturgical dance.

Liturgical dance often enhances the spoken or sung word and serves as a conduit, a channel or path, to connect worshippers through a fresh seeing of the word. Those worshipping may be drawn into a heightened sense of attention as the visual presentation of a liturgical dance takes them to a deeper receptive place beyond the words themselves. The visual worship arts of dance and drama both use the human body as the instrument of performance. It is through this physical embodiment of the word that the worshipping community receives an immediate point of relatedness. In addition to those worshipping, the dancers themselves often receive a heightened worship experience during the sharing of dance or drama as they embody or “give discernible form”11 to the spoken or sung word. Rev. Richard McBride states,

The power of sacred dance in the Christian faith is that it echoes the opening of John’s Gospel: ‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.’ Sacred dance serves the worshipping community by embodying the gospel, teaching that God’s grace is the very life that flows through every breath and movement of our being.12

Prayer, Matthew Baker, photo by Kim Walker.

Liturgical dance carries an expectation that it enables others within worship to be more connected to the worship experience, ultimately the congregation’s communion with God and one another. Anne Saxon states, “Liturgical dance is truly the externalization of the sacred word; the visual manifestation of scripture in movement.”13 Jeanette Hassell adds, “It is a dramatic stirring of space that quickens the soul and enriches the sacred mindset being sought.”14 Christian liturgical dance is most often based on Judeo-Christian scriptures of the Old and New Testaments of The Holy Bible. This is liturgical dance’s main springboard, but it certainly does not stop there. Liturgical dance may use other complementary theological texts, musical scores, poetry, or commentaries to expand its thematic options. I will be referencing liturgical dance mainly from the Judeo-Christian historic perspective, as my religious education and ethnographic work has been largely from this base of knowledge and learning. Nina Bryans states,

If we move from the academic study of theology to the place where the congregation is in worship and mission, we find the arts are so imbedded in the life of the church that we almost have to be reminded of them—architectural space, music and poetry, image, gesture, movement, the way a sermon is preached, the sacraments celebrated, etc.15

In Nena Bryans’ quote above, five of the arts mentioned as “imbedded in the life of the church” were music, poetry, image, gesture, and movement. All of these art forms are directly associated with dance in liturgy. Liturgical dance, like other visual worship arts, is primarily intended as an aid to worship, taking on major or minor portions of a worship service. It may be shared by a soloist or a group of dancers who serve as leaders or aids within worship, much like the choir, lay readers, or others leading in worship. At times, the entire congregation or body of worshippers might be dancing within worship.

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Table of contents

• Images
• Preface: You Want Me To Dance . . . In Church?
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• PART I: Liturgical Dance: A Background
• PART II: Laying the Foundation for Liturgical Dance
• PART III: Practical Areas Regarding Liturgical Dance
• PART IV: Shared Experiences of Liturgical Dance
• PART V: Glossaries of Terms
• Bibliography