Can we dance to the Lord? How much skin can we show without apologizing? How should we behave in the house of the Lord? What parts of our bodies can we move without destroying a proper liturgy? There are different views about dance in Christian circles, but there’s a guarantee that dance can be and is a form of adoration to God and a tool for evangelism.
There is a proper time to dance; however, dance can still be an effective tool within the Christian culture. I grew up as a dancer and as a Christian. Through my life I had to deal with negative looks from people in my church because I dance. It is as if God forbade us to move our bodies beyond the “please stand” and “you may be seated” parts of the service. In contrast, other people would support and give me opportunities to serve the Lord and reach non-believers through dance. Is dance a sin, or can we actually dance to show our love and adoration to the Lord?
This research will show how dance is and should be more encouraged as a form of adoration. The dances of the Old Testament were not a personal pleasure as a means of showing enthusiasm, they were full of gesticulations, violent leaps, or hopping in a circle, rather than graceful poses or soft rhythmic movement (MacDonald, 45). That type of movement characterized Jewish dances both of ancient and medieval times (MacDonald, 45).
There are only a few exceptions to group dancing in the Old Testament, and those were not danced to God, yet an act of seduction or personal adoration (Walter A. Elwell, 1745). In the New Testament, the Christian Church understood the Jewish traditions as a group and also individual dance (Walter A. Elwell, 1749). The individual dance, however, is always connected to a non-worshipful sc...
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...les, The Bible Guide, 1st Augsburg books ed. (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg, 2001), 584.
C. Bruce Cresson, “False Worship,” ed. Chad Brand et al., Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 555.
Carvalhaes, Cláudio. "‘Gimme De Kneebone Bent’: Liturgics, Dance, Resistance And A Hermeneutics Of The Knees." Studies In World Christianity 14.1 (2008): 1- 18. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
Gaskins, Laura "Thou Shalt Not Dance." Thou Shalt Not Dance. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 May 2014.
Mews, Constant J. "Liturgists And Dance In The Twelfth Century: The Witness Of John Beleth And Sicard Of Cremona." Church History78.3 (2009): 512-548. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.
Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 1745.
Oxtoby, Willard Gurdon. "Jewish Traditions." World religions: western traditions. 1996. Reprint. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2011. 127-157. Print.
With the help of a book that contained both the Hebrew and Russian, I taught Hebrew to a group of ten children who had never before been exposed to Judaism. Glieb, a ten-year old boy rapidly rose to the top of the class. In addition to the mandatory hours of daily learning, he was motivated to extend these sessions. So often at night after the fun and entertainment, he and I would practice reading Hebrew and we discussed, in simple terms, aspects of Jewish ritual that fascinated him.
Considering descendants’ effort to bring this culture back in society, this entire dancing performance, masks, and the idea of interacting with the outside world must not have been merely correlated to their religious and spiritual ritual. It might have been their identity; a symbolic of their society which their ancestors had built and passed down to them.
Ramsay, B. (2000). Dance theory, sociology, and aesthetics. Dance Research Journal, 32(1), 125-131. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1478286
This paper will be a detailed description of what dance was like in the 1950’s specifically focusing on 1954 to 1959. It will also go beyond to demonstrate how the style of dancing is a direct reflection of the society during that time period. The topic will be presented in class and a brief reflection will be included in this paper.
The possession of dance goes to emphasize the idea that gaining a sense of control through dance comes by being possessed by a deity or spirit that processed to speak or act using the possessed person’s body. Being possessed by a deity relates back to some cultures in foreign countries such as Africa, Brazil and the Caribbean, in which the people recognize a person’s poo...
Cofer, Judith Ortiz. “Silent Dancing.” Encounters: Essays for Exploration and Inquiry. 2nd ed. Ed. Pat C. Hoy II and Robert DiYanni. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000. 145-51.
... social dance. Many people in today’s society enjoy social; dancing. Chapter eleven dance concert, properly planning and establishing a dance concert is of the utmost importance. The partnership with the lighting designer usually takes priority over all other factors. One of the most important issues concerning customers has to do with mobility. The dancer must be able to move comfortably in the costume. The task of producing a dance concert is an overwhelming and tiring one. Chapter twelve dance in education and career in dance, many dance educators present the argument that teaching and learning dance as an art form is obviously absent from the American student education. There has always been and always will be people who have a love, desire, and passion to instruct and learn the art of dance, will ensure an important place for dance in higher education.
Every dance that is created by a choreographer has a meaning and or purpose behind it. The dance choreographed could be used to send a political, emotional, or a social message. Regardless of the message being sent, each dance created possesses a unique cultural and human significance. This essay will examine and analyze two dance works from history and give an insight into what each dance work provided to the society of its time.
Koster, John. "Sioux Agent Daniel F. Royer Saw Dancing and Panicked." Wild West 23.4 (2010): 24. MAS Ultra - School Edition. EBSCO. Web. 12 Apr. 2015.
Rowe, N. (2011). Dance and political credibility: The appropriation of dabkeh by zionism, pan-arabism, and palestinian nationalism. The Middle East Journal, 65(3), 363-380. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.aus.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/882854466?accountid=16946
Jonas, Gerald. Dancing: The Pleasure, Power, and Art of Movement. New York: Abrams, 1992. Print.
[2] Chazin-Bennahum, Judith. "Unmasking the Body: From Lully to the Revolution." Dance Chronicle 33.2 (2010): 310-19. Print.
The first social dance explored was ballroom dancing. Ballrooms were a place of courtship; therefore, these dances were always performed by a male, female couple. Traditional gender roles began the dance as the men always asked the women to dance. As the dance began, the bodies were transformed into vehicles to connect these opposite sex partners. However, societal rules applied to this dance because partners must be from within the appropriate class, the intentions proper, and the movements executed in a specific manner. The woman’s role was essentially to avoid a misstep of tripping on the man’s feet, since the male always led the dance.
To many, dance is only an art. In reality, dance is much more. It 's an art, a sport, a way to express one’s self, a way to exercise, a way to get feelings out. Since the beginning of time, humans have used different types of dance to express themselves. There are many advantages to dancing, however there are also some disadvantages. Dance is one of the most physically and cognitively demanding sports.