Liturgical Dance FAQs

LITURGICAL DANCE: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. What is liturgical dance?
2. What is the history of liturgical dance; what sources document its
development?
3. What styles of movement are most congenial to the purposes of danced
worship?
4. Who can dance?
5. What kind of training is needed?
6. How often should groups meet?
7. How can a functional dance choir be structured?
8. How does one interact with other liturgical planners in creating a dance
for worship?
9. What do people wear?
10. How does one present the possibility of danced worship to a
congregation? On what theological basis does one establish an apologetic or
rationale for danced worship? What is the place of dance in the life of
faith?

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

1. What is liturgical dance?
(From my unpub. dissertation/work-in-progress on danced worship
(Intro), 2005)

"Danced worship, or liturgical dance, is the approved, intentional use of
communicative dance in any part of a worship service where it furthers the
prayerful purpose of the gathered assembly, and is texturally and textually
consistent with the bodily worship of the people. It upholds with
discretion and discernment, and does not dishonor, God's goodness as
Creator; God's creation of all things in heaven and on earth[i] as redeemed
and sanctified, and the prayer of God's people as efficacious and wholly
well-meant. Just as a choir may sing an anthem, a congregation chant a
psalm, or a soloist play an offertory or a voluntary, danced worship may
show forth Scripture stories, comment on issues within the life of faith,
or encourage, intensify and focus the prayer of the congregation.

The dance must not simply be tipped into the service: integration, not
interpolation, is the appropriate goal.[ii] Like any other element of
worship it cannot "stop the show" or call attention to itself as
inhomogeneous to the consistency or discontinuous with the quality of the
service. Whether practiced in advance, improvised, or spontaneous, it must
be consistent with the purpose of the service in which it occurs, as a sign
that it is something the whole Church is doing, not simply an individual or
a small group of individuals within the church.[iii]"

This is my working definition.


2. What is the history of liturgical dance; what sources document its
development?
(From a compilation of studies (since 1998) on the history of danced
prayer, as stated in Chapter 1 of the dissertation noted above.)

"[I have] specific concerns for the ways in which inadequately developed
liturgical dance history materials have been used. Often misapplied, they
become in some writers' hands a source for proof-texting from history, to
"grandfather" danced prayer into worship now, without respect for the
qualities of newness and freshness that it brings to worship, and the
specific ethical and pastoral needs of the present which make such a novum
not only desirable but essential to the experience and the offering of the
gathered assembly. [A] bibliographic review discusses the development of
interest in the liturgical arts over the past century along with the growth
of interest in music, drama and dance as performative elements in Christian
worship in particular.

[An] inductive survey of the bibliographic sources, noting items and
referring to developments in topical, thematic and research interests as
they have appeared over time, and pointing out areas of weakness that the
present study hopes to correct, begins the work ….The review of works in
the field also looks to a range of resources beyond written print sources
that must be attended to and interpreted correctly for such studies to
function well, and indeed, as we will see by the end of this study, for the
work of liturgical dance to find the footing that it needs to continue and
grow into a more viable and useable communicative element in worship in the
present.

"Less than a century ago intentional, planned liturgical dance appeared in
American Christian worship,[iv] predated by a few years… [perhaps]… in
Western Europe.[v] These early danced worship events did not claim novelty;
[rather] publications by and about them emphasized continuity with a hazy,
mysterious (and largely misconstructed) past…

"Liturgical dancers are often asked to introduce their craft with an
apologetic historic summary to justify its place in the church. This is
neither advisable nor possible. Until the early 20th century, when an
intentional practice of danced worship can truly be said to have begun,
sources for such claims can hardly be proven to have existed. Tangential
events offer some sense of how dance and the body were seen in various
periods.

"A few precursorial events and preconditional statements about how the body
or dance were considered in faith communities, while important to its later
development, merely offer an historical context by which to understand the
unique epiphanic advent that liturgical dance represents in the church.
Intentionally developed liturgical dance is a recent phenomenon. The
balance of the primary sources, recording many other things in complete
detail, do not let us make the assumptions and historicized assertions made
in the recent past on this topic."

The chapter goes on to list the earliest known American instance of danced
worship (1919-1924 in New York City, at St. Marks-in-the Bouwrie, in
celebration of an installed Della Robbia wreath still on view in the parish
hall, and documented in a pamphlet, "A Pageant in Honor of the Blessed
Virgin Mary," [vi] and a booklet by R. Foatelli in France.

A further, more extensive review of the literature is found in the
dissertation itself (available on application to the email below).

3. What styles of movement are most congenial to the purposes of danced
worship?

The term "style of movement" means several different things to dancers,
dance writers dance viewers, liturgists, and choreographers. When I
consider this question, I consider all those possible meanings, the place
of dance in worship (as discussed above) and the ways in which dance may
speak truly into the life of faith.

The question arises when people are unaccustomed to "reading," or seeing
and following, a variety of dance styles, or have particular associations,
accurate or not, with them. "Dance style" can mean a dance grammar or
language, such as ballet, modern, hip-hop, social dance, one of any number
of folk dance forms, including the communal patterns taken from a given
African region, or any other coherent system of danced movement.

For those who do formal movement analysis, "style" may mean a combination
of movement qualities, as defined by the system of analysis in use. In the
Labanotation / Effort-Shape system, for example, by combining different
types and degrees of effort along a continuum (strong/heavy/light;
sudden/sustained; bound/free; direct/indirect) with particular movement
shapes (advancing/retreating; spoke-like, etc.), a term like "jabbing"
might be applied (there are 27 such named combinations in this system).

Such a dancework might also be called "lyrical," "sharp," "dramatic," or
some other term. More simply than either of these, observers may describe a
danced piece by a particular element within it, or one that predominates
throughout. Someone may speak of a "quiet" piece, or a "disturbing" work,
without using any movement-specific vocabulary at all. Poetic, metaphoric,
or other language might also be applied—and no two people agree on some of
these terms so the same dance might be described in very different terms by
people who even saw it at the same time, done by the same performers.

It would be a mistake to think that liturgical dance must draw from only
one of these stylistic descriptors at the expense of others. Given the
nature of my own "conversations with God," it would signal a defective
understanding of prayer to consider only a dance that was quiet, calm,
lyrical, balletic, or sustained/light/indirect as "prayerful," and to
reject as "unprayerful" any dance that might be heavy/bound/direct,
disturbing, sharp, or drawn from an African, folk, or hip-hop repertoire of
gestural, postural, and locomotor movements. Some of my most intimate
prayer-closet dance sessions with God have been full of irate punching,
stomping, and kicking movements—and those were as much true prayer as were
the satisfied, fluid, free, flowing ones.

Dance style is always in conversation with its sound sources, but need
not/should not be dictated to by them. Nor should a style be adopted simply
because it is currently "popular." (There is likewise no reason to reject a
newly formulated style, if it is indeed consistent with the intended
content of the work: good dancers learn new styles of movement all the
time.) A work may change while in rehearsal: a section that began with a
lyrical phrase may need something sharper and more dynamic to set the work
off at the outset. (This is also why a piece should not be presented just
as soon as it is composed.)

So, my basic answer is that the style of dance is less important than the
preparation, the intent, and the final form of the dance, fitted within the
liturgical structure it is to inhabit. Given that the dance is meant to
reflect both a performance and a prayer, the style that works best in the
worship setting in which it is to be performed, and that furthers the
prayer of the gathered congregation, is the appropriate style. There may be
more than one style that answers each of those requirements, even more than
one that satisfies them both. Then the style that best befits the work for
those dancing it is the style to be used.


4. Who can dance? When and Where?

Professional dancers' bodies have become a political arena of contention.
Some say they are too lean to be healthy; others appreciate the compact
body's ability to move fluently and to clarify line and form. Others seek a
more visually inclusive representation of the human form that allows for
divergent sizes, styles of movement and abilities to dance. I see helpful
points in each of these approaches and seek to work between them to find a
point that incorporates the best points of each approach.

Bodily health and visual legibility both require that dancers not be
excessively overweight, but there is room within this delineation for a
more inclusive admissibility to those who wish to dance but whose body
types lie beyond the leaner expectations for those who dance publicly.
Injury or exhaustion can harm the thinner as well as the larger dancer, but
some forms of participation may be possible and should not be overlooked.

Even those with movement limitations due to injury, inheritance or other
bodily cause can move, and by extension, dance. There is much more
attention given today to teaching what are sometimes referred to as "non-
traditional" bodies in various forms of dance, and this can and should
include danced prayer, and at times danced worship, as well.

American public schools lag behind those elsewhere in dance training and in
teaching students to appreciate dance overall. Both for doing danced
movement, and for looking at and understanding a choreographer's intentions
and achievements within a dance, some background is needed to help those
who are unskilled in seeing a dance for what it is—in a worship setting or
elsewhere—and in appreciating what the performed work might be saying.
Presentations and programs in congregations can help this situation at
times.

Likewise, those who seek to share a danced prayer in worship may not
realize the complexities involved in making a dance speak clearly and well,
and may not understand the level of work needed to bring a communicative
piece to legibly impressive, as well as expressive, maturity.

Public and private venues exist in which danced prayer may be encouraged.
All those who seek to work in this way may begin with privately expressed
dance, what I sometimes call prayer-closet dance, as a beginning point by
which to explore ones own authentic movement.

Either alone or with a teacher, it is possible to explore gestural,
postural, and locomotor movement (the three general categories of danced
movement involving the use of the limbs alone, shifts in the body core, and
travel in space, respectively) and to use either focused readings or other
motivators—visual or written works that one studies or creates, for
example—on which to base a short prayer piece.

Continued work, alone or with others, can enhance prayer and deepen
expressivity while building the body's capacity for an increased range of
movement, and a greater flexibility in moving past formulaic, pedestrian
attitudes and moving into actual danced content.

The need for training in communicative movement is tied to the question
about styles above, as well, of course—if one wishes to improve ones
ability to move well, one does well to work within a given style for some
time, until its scales and arpeggios are embodied and on call, and
invention and cooperative work with others is possible.

For some, this will be the level of movement that satisfies the basic
impulse to move and to work with others; for others, the desire to go
further will lead to more study and more focused classwork.

I usually require that any member of any group I direct in any setting must
be taking at least one and preferably two classes per week outside of
regular rehearsals, at a level of advanced beginner or above, and must have
been doing so for at least two or three years.

Requiring those who wish to dance to put in three years' work with the
dance choir, and to take technique classes outside of class helps aspiring
dancers to grow into the expectations for the work and how best to work
within their own bodily size and structure

So, the answer to the question becomes, "Anyone who works to meet these
standards of preparation and whose movement functions communicatively and
well within the needs of the group and the worship setting."

That leaves the door open for those who move smoothly across a space, and
for those who remain seated in a chair or pew, moving hands or arms or head
in a way that contributes to the overall visual sense of the dance.
Individual limitations become part of the dance, and that dance a part of
the service, neither distracting nor diminishing the prayer of the
congregation.

So long as all participants focus the intent of their work on shared prayer
and praise, offered together in grace, variations in level, range of
motion, and dynamics always enrich and deepen the felted texture of such a
work.


5. What kind of training is needed?

Minimally, three years of training in a particular dance vocabulary are
needed to make the movement ones own, and to prepare the body to be fluent
and communicative in the work. As noted above, two classes per week is the
least; daily class is standard for professionals and those wishing to bring
their work to its best level.

Well-structured training involves serially planned exercises that develop
muscle pairs equally and build strength as well as flexibility. In the
west, both ballet and modern have developed class sequences that achieve
these ends in various ways; other dance forms may adapt similar sequences
to the same ends.

Isolation, integration, and interaction of body parts are the three goals
within any such class structure: feet, legs, arms, hands, torso and head
must all be used, extended, and brought together in various ways, on the
floor, using supports, and while standing, to achieve these goals.

Speed and complexity of movement should increase as the class goes on, so
that the body is warmed up and prepared for more challenging activity at
the end. Whether this is done with legs turned in or out; with arms after
de Blasis or using the prescribed mudras of Bharata Natyim; or with the
head to one side like a yakshi in tribhanga, or positioned like Sibly's in
Vaganova, the principles of developmental movement will assist the dancer
to grow in their craft.

I discussed this further at the end of my M.A. thesis (Lesley University,
1984) In that section I offered ideas about the overall structure of a
school that would support those in the liturgical arts, with a focus on
danced worship. My primary concern is for the complete growth of the
individual in an understanding of their own faith, their life as gift, and
their need to work cooperatively and with an openness to revision with
others. It is humility before the craft that leads to graciousness in the
work—in dance as in life.


6. How often should groups meet? What should they do?

At the very least, groups ought to meet once weekly; twice a week (or more)
is better. And in all things, pray first, whether verbally, as a guided or
unguided improv, or both.

If all dancers take the injunction to attend technique class seriously, in
whatever technical forms the group has decided to prepare its members (as
discussed above), a brief warm-up taught by the director will help to bring
everyone into harmonious movement so that pieces can be developed, learned
and shared, with the warp and weft laid down for a fabric of work that can
be integrated into the worship settings for which it is planned.

In some cases, I have prepared a more complex preparatory program, cast in
a workshop setting, for a group that must both assemble itself, learn how
to work together, and prepare a piece or pieces for a worship service or
other setting within a more limited time (such as a conference, in-house
workshop, or faith education program).

One such class structure is described in the article "Reflective Action"
(1992, Liturgy Magazine) also posted on this site. Readings, dance styles,
improvisational themes, and focused work towards individual and group
choreography were used in this course series, which was repeated for two
years in the Lenten season, as a meditative study.

After working together, a very brief time of discussion and prayer are
helpful to summarize what has been done and point up plans for the next
class.


7. How can a functional dance choir be structured?

There are several possible structures: if all dancers function at
comparable levels of skill and experience then a more discursive structure
can prevail, with all contributing more or less equally to the planning,
dancemaking, and technical requirements as needed. Where dancers are of
different levels of ability or training, or where adults and children work
together in an intergenerational group, they may work together, or the
group can be subdivided by criteria like age range or experience. Then
other types of learning ensue.

If just one or two people with more background in dance, theology, and
liturgical planning have convened the group then those people are more
likely to provide specific leadership and the other participants will be
learning from them and assisting them as required. Where the participants
are children, or those new to dance work, this is most often the structure
used.

Dance choirs may operate within a given institution, such as a church or
seminary, or they may function across denominational or confessional lines,
housed in a congenial location where rehearsal space and costume storage is
available. In some cases, individuals keep these items privately,
especially if they have made them or purchased them at their own expense,
although if the group wants to present pieces which have seen a turnover in
performers, this can also be a problem.

Larger groups may wish to incorporate for tax purposes, or to provide
continuity over generational changes. They may use more structured formats,
have a regularly published newsletter, or invite others to attend in-house
presentations or choreographic showcases. (I discussed this question more
fully in my 1984 Lesley University M.A. thesis as well.)


8. How can one interact with other liturgical planners to make a dance for
worship? If asked to give a workshop or to dance in worship, what does one
charge?

Interaction with others is best done prayerfully: I request a brief prayer
before starting a meeting, either silently or in some other format. The
more one prepares by researching a group's belief structure and history,
the better the planning conversations go, too. I study their confession's
traditions and writings in the past as well as the present, looking up
works by or about the specific people I will be working with if possible.

I have had many satisfying experiences in liturgical planning; a few less
so. Some ordained clergy still want for more preparatory training in the
language and process of the arts; artists must realize the limits and
internal flow that characterize worship in a given place or time. If each
group's members will listen and learn from the other, a satisfying result
can be developed. (I've written case studies on issues I've experienced
where that did or didn't happen, too. They have been useful in courses I've
taught on the subject.)

The next most important thing to prayer is lead time. It takes at least six
months to prepare for a service or other event with multiple participants.
At the bare minimum a decently-composed 2-3 min. dance needs six weeks'
basic work: more if it's more complex or involves more dancers or live
musical rehearsals. So commissions for anything outside those frameworks I
usually reject, since no-one is likely to be happy with the results. If a
dance choir has the depth of repertoire to be able to fill in with less
advance notice, that is fine, but the time planning of all the members has
to be taken into account as well, so such last-minute events are, and I
think should be, rare.

This is hard for people to realize and they may try to talk you into doing
something against your better judgment.

Don't.

It is also hard sometimes to know what to charge. There are three answers:
Nothing, what they offer, or what you need (or some combination of these).
Amounts change over time: stating a set amount here would limit the time-
related usefulness of the FAQ. When I play and sing professionally (which I
also do) there is a very clear scale, if you're in the musician's union, or
even if not, that reflects how ones work is valued in that performing
venue. Likewise for teaching in other areas: for dance instruction, or
theology, or music lessons, one knows the "going rate" for such work, if
they have done it for a while, which can be helpful.

For planning a worship piece or teaching a workshop, I consider how much
preparation is needed, rehearsal time if a group is dancing, the time and
cost for making or buying costumes, arranging the music, setting up a
worship bulletin or PR page, etc. I also consider what the commissioning
group can offer. I have a considerate conversation with the person who
invited me about their expectations, resources and time frame. After
talking about all these aspects of the work, I will wait to see what they
say about money. If they ask me what I charge, I first ask what they
usually offer. I never ask first—it is the responsibility of the
commissioning group to start that part of the conversation.

Without accepting or rejecting a fee level outright, we might discuss other
things further, then return to the question of money. By that point I will
have gotten a better sense of whether their expectations can be met,
realistically, with the resources we both have to apply to the work,
including the funds available for costs as well as a fee for my work. I
discuss that with as much consideration as possible, neither too self-
deprecatingly, nor too proudly. I try honestly to represent myself and my
background in the work, and point up the areas that will require attention
to which they may not have given enough weight.

And then I go back to what I said at the outset for guidance to myself.
There might not be time to consider this at length or with as much prayer
as I might wish, but if there were, my first reply, categorized, would
unfold as follows.

Nothing: If you are supported by your own church and are paid a regular
salary for your work, a presentation at another site within your own region
may be seen as a shared resource for which you would not expect to be paid
externally (or if you were, you might be asked to deposit it with your own
institution as funds generated while working for them). Different groups
vary in how this is handled; some treat it as the organist's fee for a
wedding or funeral, and you should find out how those are handled in your
setting.

Whatever they offer – usually groups with a limited budget will tell you
what their standard honorarium is. Do not try to negotiate this, unless you
believe they are offering much less than they can afford to pay, and even
then you must do so in a quiet, respectful way. I usually try to indicate
before such a conversation that I realize they may not be able to offer
more, but point out my expenses and projected time as a basis for a
requested increase.

If it is denied, you will have to decide whether to go on and do the
program for a lesser amount (i.e., at a loss) or not. In any case,
communicate your decision professionally, courteously, sensitively and
kindly.

What you need.- Whether or not either of the above apply, it is usually
good to have a sense of what you will be spending, in terms of your
planning time, transportation, your dancers' and musicians' time, the use
of/wear-and-tear on, and costs of costumes, etc. You may want to have a
figure in mind that would cover all these resources, plus about 10% for
added or unanticipated problems, in case you are given the sense that you
truly can name your own figure.

The sum you arrive at will help you decide whether you can afford to do the
work at all, whether you need to request in-kind support if the group has
no other funds available, or whether you can participate freely and without
concern for some minimal cost.


9. What do people wear?

This can be a ticklish but necessary question to deal with. The prevailing
style of worship in the congregation(s) where the dance will be done, the
intention of the piece itself, and symbolic elements like color, historic
appearance, characterization, etc., must also be considered.

Basically, dancers should wear whatever helps them communicate what the
dance is saying in a way that is consistent with the dance's setting, style
and purpose. The same principles that are applied to dance in other
settings should guide dancewear for worship: dancers' movements should be
legible, not blurred; fabric placement should not impede the dancer for
safety's sake, and aesthetically; the dancewear should be comfortable to
move in and appropriate to the setting.

Some pieces work with pedestrian wear, some with designed costumes, and
others with something in between. Some groups are fine with leotards,
flowing shirts, long skirts or wrap pants, tights, and slippers or bare
feet, while others have other preferences.

The point is for movement to be visible, not masked, and for the body to be
allowed to speak, not muted. Costume considerations may include the
liturgical colors of the season if the church observes the liturgical year
closely; cultural considerations can also enter into color choices. In
fact, I was once reminded of the importance of doing a design draft, going
over it very carefully with all involved, and having it approved. In this
case, colors we had chosen for Easter represented a recent death and family
mourning to this cultural group, and even though our designs had been
approved, the morning of the service, it was pointed out that our choices
of lavender and yellow trim would be upsetting to members of the group.

By dancing in those colors, the minister told me, we could have conveyed
the death of an elderly congregant who had been ill for some time and that
would have upset their friends and family. We were going to use our
standard white tunics and pants with a mixture of yellow and lavender belts
and headbands; we suddenly had to replace the yellow trim with lavender
(fortunately I had extra fabric with me) in time for the first dance at the
beginning of the service.


10. How does one present the possibility of danced worship to a
congregation? On what theological basis does one establish an apologetic or
rationale for danced worship? What is the place of dance in the life of
faith?

First: Do NOT claim a historical precedent for danced worship! I've written
a lot on this in several places. Both the "tripudium" articles include some
of my earliest thoughts on the matter; there is further discussion in the
Liturgy Magazine article, and in the prefaces to both the Annotated
Bibliography and the Scripture References paper.

The position papers and the "How Does Dance Function in Worship" pages also
reflect further thinking on this question. One of my goals is to bring
these ideas together and create a more clearly elucidated theology of
danced worship, and I hope to do so and see it published some day, as
well.[vii]

I also referred to this issue in a very early paper, "Evaluating the
Sources," at a Sacred Dance Guild Conference in 1994; a copy is on deposit
at the Wesley Theological Seminary library (as listed here:
http://www.worldcat.org/title/evaluating-the-sources-methods-and-issues-in-
liturgical-dance-history/oclc/35912040 ). Much of my work since then has
been focused on creating a more solid discussion on the question from the
vantage points of visual, verbal and visceral analysis, also considered in
several of the papers and PowerPoint presentations filed elsewhere on this
Academia page.
ENDNOTES
-----------------------
[i].This definition and the reason for each phrase in it are discussed in
Chapter 5. I use it in the broader Trinitarian sense; I realize that it has
had historic identification with Sabellianism, (see the definition of this
heterodoxy in The Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion, p. ) but I do
mean to attend to the differentiation in the persons of the Trinity while
affirming their unity consistent with the historic creeds.

[ii]. For example los seises, the Sevillian festival dances done at Corpus
Christi, are not truly integrated into the worship service, but, as Lynn
Matluck Brooks has noted, are Spanish folk dances interpolated into it.


This issue is a serious one for choir directors, ministers, and liturgical
planners to consider; rehearsal, discussion and planning must be afforded
dancers who participate in worship, it is not something that can be added
at the last moment.

[iii]. (Spontaneous dance in 'free' or unstructured services may be
unexpected but welcomed by the community and its worship leaders; such
tacit welcome constitutes approval). However, even in such settings there
may be a discernment of intent and some communicative aspect of prophetic
utterance may be expected, as if a spoken language had been uttered, for
the edification of the assembly in the terms of I Corinthians 14.)

[iv]. See description in the section just below of the 1919 work at St.-
Mark's-in-the-Bouwrie. Any European event preceding this one might appear
in works by Davies (see Anno. Bib. for details) or Foatelli (see Anno. Bib.
likewise) but none seem to be correlated with references to specific
performances, dates or places as this does.

[v]. Someone like dancer/writer Renée Foatelli may have worked in this way,
but no clear evidence confirms it. The 1911-1914 articles discussed below
also suggest that interest may have begun before the events described in
New York, either prompting or prompted by these articles, but again there
is no other evidence to this effect.

[vi]. Guthrie, W. N., The pageant in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary on
the Sunday Nearest to the Feast of the Annunciation, St. Mark's-in-the-
Bouwerie, 1924. (Original at Harvard's Widener Library; copies at the
church, and in the NYPL Jerome Robbins Dance Collection, Lincoln Center
branch.)

[vii] These items are all located in various places within the Academia
page in which this FAQ is lodged. Please feel free to contact me for
further discussion, I'm always in interested in hearing others' ideas on
this!