Liturgical dance
Encyclopedia
Liturgical dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....

is dance that is incorporated into liturgies or worship services. It is an expression of worship
Worship
Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. The word is derived from the Old English worthscipe, meaning worthiness or worth-ship — to give, at its simplest, worth to something, for example, Christian worship.Evelyn Underhill defines worship thus: "The absolute...

. It can be in Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 services as well as other religions and faith traditions. Such dances can be accompanied by many different types of music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

. The dancers will respond with an appropriate dance which flows out of the music and is thought to enhance the prayer or worship experience. This dance may either be spontaneous, or have been choreographed ahead of time. If it is choreographed it is generally fitted to the song's lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...

 or to religious concepts. Often this is performed by women, but many men also do it as well.

Liturgical dance is a relatively recent practice in the West, being virtually unpracticed until the twentieth century. However its antecedents go back to accounts of dancing in the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...

. An example is the episode when King David danced before the Ark of the Covenant
Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant , also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in Book of Exodus as solely containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed...

. In other parts of the world dancing as a form of worship is much more popular.

Liturgical dance as a term is sometimes controversial among groups that disapprove of dancing in general (or disapprove of liturgy
Liturgy
Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...

in general). A few such groups refer to liturgical dance as "Christian body worship". Others maintain it is a way of physically manifesting God's message, seeing it as an emotionally powerful way to inspire church goers.

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