What is the position of Liturgical Dance in the Mass? Are they a total no-no?

The other day, Vone was asking Avatar whether has liturgical dance been approved for mass by the Holy See. (* During the conversation, I do learned something new from her, the word ‘Bethlehem apparently also means “once upon of time” lolz*). According to Vone, it seems Water was of the view that it is prohibited!

I promised her I will ask my Sifu in Kuching about this (*too lazy to find the answer myself*). Unfortunately, Sifu din mention much about it (*Sifu must be very very busy!!!*). So much for the “shortcut”, guess I have to ransack my bookshelf again!!

Actually, dancing is more common in the Evangelical churches (*that’s why Terry was puzzled why dancing is such a rarity in the Catholic Church*). If one were to check in the Bible dance was used as an expression of joy at worship or festivals. Perhaps, the most famous reference in the Bible would be 2 Sam 6:14, where King David is said to have danced before the Ark of the Covenant.

So far as I understand, we don't at present have an up or down statement from Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. In other words, there has not been an express declaration from the Holy See approving or prohibiting liturgical dance in toto. The closer document that I can obtained is the 1975 commentary on "religious dance" in an article appeared in Notitiae II (1975) 202-205 published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments entitled "The Religious Dance, an Expression of Spiritual Joy" (hereinafter referred to as “Notitiae”).(P/S: This document has been labeled as a "qualified and authoritative sketch”)

Notitiae inter alia states:

“Theoretically, it could be deduced from that passage that certain forms of dancing and certain dance patterns could be introduced into Catholic worship.

Nevertheless, two conditions could not be prescinded from.

The first: to the extent in which the body is a reflection of the soul, dancing, with all its manifestations, would have to express sentiments of faith and adoration in order to become a prayer.

The second condition: 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.”

Notitiae further states that dance in Western culture:

“…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."

Notitiae appears to prohibit liturgical dancing in western culture. But Notitiae did mention that some churches have accepted the practice of dancing. It also mentioned in some cultures, religious dance do plays a role in the Liturgy. And Notitiae also indicated that “If the proposal of the religious dance in the West is really to be made welcome, care will have to be taken that in its regard a place be found outside of the liturgy, in assembly areas which are not strictly liturgical. Moreover, the priests must always be excluded from the dance.”

My Opinion:

I dun see any problem with liturgical dance as long as it fulfills the two conditions laid down in Notitiae and save that these are filtered by the authority before hand and accepted as appropriate. But I need to emphasize that if the dance does not in any way enhance the mass and help the congregation to participate better in the communal cerebration of the Eucharist, then better dun dance in the church at all.

Addendum:

Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, has publicly criticized the introduction of dance into the Liturgy, as it risks reducing this sacred rite to a spectacle at a Conference held at Bloomingdale, Ohio in 2003.

This is how the Cardinal responded to a question on "liturgical dance":

“There has never been a document from our Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments saying that dance is approved in the Mass.

The question of dance is difficult and delicate. However, it is good to know that the tradition of the Latin Church has not known the dance. It is something that people are introducing in the last ten years -- or twenty years. It was not always so. Now it is spreading like wildfire, one can say, in all the continents -- some more than others. In my own continent, Africa, it is spreading. In Asia, it is spreading.

Now, some priests and lay people think that Mass is never complete without dance. The difficulty is this: we come to Mass primarily to adore God -- what we call the vertical dimension. We do not come to Mass to entertain one another. That's not the purpose of Mass. The parish hall is for that.

So all those that want to entertain us -- after Mass, let us go to the parish hall and then you can dance. And then we clap. But when we come to Mass we don't come to clap. We don't come to watch people, to admire people. We want to adore God, to thank Him, to ask Him pardon for our sins, and to ask Him for what we need.
Don't misunderstand me, because when I said this at one place somebody said to me: "you are an African bishop. You Africans are always dancing. Why do you say we don't dance?"

A moment -- we Africans are not always dancing! [laughter]

Moreover, there is a difference between those who come in procession at Offertory; they bring their gifts, with joy. There is a movement of the body right and left. They bring their gifts to God. That is good, really. And some of the choir, they sing. They have a little bit of movement. Nobody is going to condemn that. And when you are going out again, a little movement, it's all right.

But when you introduce wholesale, say, a ballerina, then I want to ask you what is it all about. What exactly are you arranging? When the people finish dancing in the Mass and then when the dance group finishes and people clap -- don't you see what it means? It means we have enjoyed it. We come for enjoyment. Repeat. So, there is something wrong. Whenever the people clap -- there is something wrong -- immediately. When they clap -- a dance is done and they clap.

It is possible that there could be a dance that is so exquisite that it raises people's minds to God, and they are praying and adoring God and when the dance is finished they are still wrapped up in prayer. But is that the type of dance you have seen? You see. It is not easy.

Most dances that are staged during Mass should have been done in the parish hall. And some of them are not even suitable for the parish hall.

I saw in one place -- I will not tell you where -- where they staged a dance during Mass, and that dance was offensive. It broke the rules of moral theology and modesty. Those who arranged it -- they should have had their heads washed with a bucket of holy water! [laughter]

Why make the people of God suffer so much? Haven't we enough problems already? Only Sunday, one hour, they come to adore God. And you bring a dance! Are you so poor you have nothing else to bring us? Shame on you! That's how I feel about it.

Somebody can say, "but the pope visited this county and the people danced". A moment: Did the pope arrange it? Poor Holy Father -- he comes, the people arranged. He does not know what they arranged. And somebody introduces something funny -- is the pope responsible for that? Does that mean it is now approved? Did they put in on the table of the Congregation for Divine Worship? We would throw it out! If people want to dance, they know where to go.”

AVATAR: Since the position is still not crystal clear, feel free to draw your own opinion.