Liturgical dance "enlivens liturgy"

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The Cafeteria is Closed blog brought the following to my attention: In the December 20, 2007, issue of The Evangelist, the official publication of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, NY, an article entitled “Dancers Enliven Liturgy” appeared:As part of the annual Family Christmas Eve liturgy at St. Mary’s Church in Oneonta, liturgical dancers will dance to a Nativity carol. The feature has been a part of the Mass for 12 years, said Michelle Gardner, coordinator for liturgical dance at the Otsego County parish. She has taught dancing for more than 25 years at area colleges and high schools. …

Liturgical dance is a simple, uncomplicated form of movement, Mrs. Gardner said, with actions that are a form of prayer. “The dance is meant to draw the worship community into the prayer,” she explained, “not to merely observe what the dancers are doing. The dancers are trained in certain movements that serve to invite the entire community into praise and worship.”
“The feedback was, ‘This is a great way to pray.’ The community was very excited about it,” she said. …

“Now, each year, college students who were liturgical dancers in high school and who are home for the holidays participate in the Christmas Eve Mass,” she said. “They’ve danced at Confirmations and monthly youth ministry Masses as well as other church functions, but the Christmas Eve Mass has become a tradition at St. Mary’s.”

In May 2006, CA’s very own Mr. Keeting condemned a similar sacrilege:

http://www.qdomine.com/Morality_pages/Images/liturgy-dance-4.gif
Click here to see images and here for video.

[This video] was [recorded on] April 2 at the concluding Mass of the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress. The chief celebrant was Roger Cardinal Mahony. Total attendance at the Congress was 42,000, with 19,000 attending the final day’s liturgies.
I didn’t realize that liturgical dance was such an “in thing”! Well, at this point, allow me to point out that it is actually expressly prohibited (during the Mass).

According to our present Pope, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, in his The Spirit of the Liturgy:Dancing is not a form of expression for the Christian liturgy. In about the third century, there was an attempt by certain Gnostic-Docetic circles to introduce it into the liturgy. … **

The cultic dances of the different religions have different purposes — incantation, imitative magic, mystical ecstasy — none of which is compatible with the essential purpose of the liturgy.**…
It is totally absurd to try to make the liturgy ‘attractive’ by introducing dancing pantomimes (wherever possible performed by professional dance troupes), which frequently (and rightly, from the professionals’ point of view) end with applause. Whenever applause breaks out in the liturgy because of some human achievement, it is a sure sign that the essence of liturgy has totally disappeared and been replaced by a kind of religious entertainment. …

I myself have experienced the replacing of the penitential rite by a dance performance, which, needless to say, received a round of applause. Could there be anything further removed from true penitence? …

None of the Christian rites includes dancing. What people call dancing in the Ethiopian rite or the Zairean form of the Roman liturgy is in fact a rhythmically ordered procession, very much in keeping with the dignity of the occasion.
The saddest part is that such a thing gets advertised in the official Diocesan publication as a good thing that “enlivens” and improves the Mass.

Full story HERE.
 
Kind of reminds one of the bogus druidical rites people sometimes do at Stonehenge.

It is no great surprise that Cdl Mahoney likes it. The L.A. Cathedral has a sort of Stonehenge aura about it. You don’t suppose…???
 
I am pretty much bamboozled that a diocesan newspaper has the audacity to extol the joys of “liturgical dancing.” That is 180-degress to the opposite of what Cardinal Arinze said in the Q & A section which appears in www.adoremus.org:
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Let’s see if they’re going to pull that stunt when the Holy Father comes to America during the spring.
 
benedictgal said:
I am pretty much bamboozled that a diocesan newspaper has the audacity to extol the joys of “liturgical dancing.” That is 180-degress to the opposite of what Cardinal Arinze said in the Q & A section which appears in www.adoremus.org:
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Great quote!
Let’s see if they’re going to pull that stunt when the Holy Father comes to America during the spring.
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Yes, I agree!
 
<<The saddest part is that such a thing gets advertised in the official Diocesan publication as a good thing that “enlivens” and improves the Mass.>>

What is it about the Holy Sacrifice they find “dull” and “needing improvement”?

Think about it.
 
bpbasilphx said:
<<The saddest part is that such a thing gets advertised in the official Diocesan publication as a good thing that “enlivens” and improves the Mass.>>

What is it about the Holy Sacrifice they find “dull” and “needing improvement”?
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Some people don’t know any better. But shame on the clergy who permit such things. Truly, they’ve been seduced by the modernist desire for novelty. (I prefer to believe that than the other possiblity – that they do it on purpose, to detract people’s attention from the real purpose of the Mass: prayer, and adoration of God.)
 
Things like this make it really hard for me to truly immerse myself in prayer when I visit parishes. There were several Sundays where I felt compelled to go to another Mass because I couldn’t concentrate at the one I was just at. It takes me a lot of effort to focus and not cringe or pass judgment on what’s going on… 😦

I used to live in Los Angeles… The new cathedral… could be better, to put it lightly. Haha. Our old cathedral was much better, but it got turned into a “lush events venue” (vibianala.com/)). It’s so sad.

Anyway, we’re supposed to be talking about liturgical dance…
 
I am not sufficiently sophisticated to really address the issue, but I am common enough to express myself about it anyway.

There is nothing inherently worshipful or reverent about dancing, and I doubt one in ten thousand Catholics appreciates “liturgical dancing”. So one has to wonder why these “liturgist” people do it.

In my mind, it’s a lot like modern architecture or art. It’s a language all its own, comprehensible only to the elites who have either studied it or pretend they have mastered its linguistics. Its devotees can go on and on and on about the “messages” communicated through media that are largely inscrutable to us phillistines. That most of us don’t “get it” or like it is irrelevant because, by George, it’s high time we get exposed to the aesthetics of the cognoscenti who are, after all, our betters. So, like a little kid whose sophisticated mother gives him alfalfa sprouts and tofu for breakfast when his whole being is screaming “bacon! bacon!”, we just have to learn to like it. If we don’t learn, well, it simply confirms to our betters that they will just have to remain our betters.

Now Wolseley, notwithstanding the erudition of your analysis, I maintain adamant in my position that the L.A. Cathedral is related to Stonehenge, both aesthetically and philosophically. You see, Stonehenge could be a wastewater storage tank too, if you just filled in the gaps between the upright megaliths. And both, it seems, draw “liturgical dancers” like so many flittering moths to a street light. I rest my case.
 
Ridgerunner said:
There is nothing inherently worshipful or reverent about dancing, and I doubt one in ten thousand Catholics appreciates “liturgical dancing”. So one has to wonder why these “liturgist” people do it.

In my mind, it’s a lot like modern architecture or art. It’s a language all its own, comprehensible only to the elites who have either studied it or pretend they have mastered its linguistics. Its devotees can go on and on and on about the “messages” communicated through media that are largely inscrutable to us phillistines. That most of us don’t “get it” or like it is irrelevant because, by George, it’s high time we get exposed to the aesthetics of the cognoscenti who are, after all, our betters. …] If we don’t learn, well, it simply confirms to our betters that they will just have to remain our betters.
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Well said.

But in answer to your question, why do they do it? It is because they can.

One of the biggest complaints you hear from “cafeteria Catholics” is that they don’t go to Mass because it’s so boring. Well, you get out of it, what you put into it. But because they have lost belief in God and the Fullness of Truth in the Church and its Sacraments (lex orandi, lex credendi, remember), the sacredness of the Mass is not perceptible to them. They feel they have to spice it up somehow.

Protestant churches excel at this. They add lots of distracting singing and dancing – sometimes quite beautiful if listened to elsewhere (as with the case of gospel), but very detracting from the interior prayer and worship to which such services are supposed to call us. Protestant services play to our other senses too – How about stadium seating, with fantabulous laser light shows and ginormous screens so you can see the preacher at his podium, and big boombastic PA systems so you can hear him preach? Gone is the altar, which kept God the center of attention – it is replaced by a podium, a microphone and a man.

And thus, many “cafeteria Catholics” think they are doing the Mass a great service by making it “more interesting” for others. Instead, they are serving themselves, and not God.

Personally, I love dance. My cousin is a professional ballerina. I’ve been to the ballet countless times. I love modern dance, hip-hop dance, break dancing, African dancing, tango and ballroom. It’s all wonderful stuff. Very beautiful. And some of it can be quite moving.

But none of it has any place in the Mass. Period.
 
alessandro said:
Well said.

But in answer to your question, why do they do it? It is because they can.

One of the biggest complaints you hear from “cafeteria Catholics” is that they don’t go to Mass because it’s so boring. Well, you get out of it, what you put into it. But because they have lost belief in God and the Fullness of Truth in the Church and its Sacraments (lex orandi, lex credendi, remember), the sacredness of the Mass is not perceptible to them. They feel they have to spice it up somehow.

Protestant churches excel at this. They add lots of distracting singing and dancing – sometimes quite beautiful if listened to elsewhere (as with the case of gospel), but very detracting from the interior prayer and worship to which such services are supposed to call us. Protestant services play to our other senses too – How about stadium seating, with fantabulous laser light shows and ginormous screens so you can see the preacher at his podium, and big boombastic PA systems so you can hear him preach? Gone is the altar, which kept God the center of attention – it is replaced by a podium, a microphone and a man.

And thus, many “cafeteria Catholics” think they are doing the Mass a great service by making it “more interesting” for others. Instead, they are serving themselves, and not God.

Personally, I love dance. My cousin is a professional ballerina. I’ve been to the ballet countless times. I love modern dance, hip-hop dance, break dancing, African dancing, tango and ballroom. It’s all wonderful stuff. Very beautiful. And some of it can be quite moving.

But none of it has any place in the Mass. Period.
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I would add this to your post if you don’t mind. The Protestants have this kind of stuff and excel at it for one very good and salient reason…

THEY HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE

And since they have nothing to begin with, they need something to keep people interested.

The Catholic Church and to a lesser degree, the Orthodox, have the Real Presence of Christ. Protestants don’t. So having all the bells and whistles actually makes sense for them. What else could they possibly do?
 
alessandro said:
Well said.

But in answer to your question, why do they do it? It is because they can.

One of the biggest complaints you hear from “cafeteria Catholics” is that they don’t go to Mass because it’s so boring. Well, you get out of it, what you put into it. But because they have lost belief in God and the Fullness of Truth in the Church and its Sacraments (lex orandi, lex credendi, remember), the sacredness of the Mass is not perceptible to them. They feel they have to spice it up somehow.

Protestant churches excel at this. They add lots of distracting singing and dancing – sometimes quite beautiful if listened to elsewhere (as with the case of gospel), but very detracting from the interior prayer and worship to which such services are supposed to call us. Protestant services play to our other senses too – How about stadium seating, with fantabulous laser light shows and ginormous screens so you can see the preacher at his podium, and big boombastic PA systems so you can hear him preach? Gone is the altar, which kept God the center of attention – it is replaced by a podium, a microphone and a man.

And thus, many “cafeteria Catholics” think they are doing the Mass a great service by making it “more interesting” for others. Instead, they are serving themselves, and not God.

Personally, I love dance. My cousin is a professional ballerina. I’ve been to the ballet countless times. I love modern dance, hip-hop dance, break dancing, African dancing, tango and ballroom. It’s all wonderful stuff. Very beautiful. And some of it can be quite moving.

But none of it has any place in the Mass. Period.
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Well said! This will help me explain my feelings on this issue to a few friends. I’d place emphasis on the fact that such a Mass serving the faithful gathered there instead of our Lord.
 
The OP refers to L.A.'s Religious Conference having liturgical dance at the Mass. I saw this years ago there at another conference and was sickened. What can you expect from that part of the country (leadership)? I believe there is a Vatican document specifically forbidding this practice; don’t know if it’s the one already referenced. (The issue is introducing the “profane” into the sacred, for those who want to know the reason.) I’d have to go look in my papers. Some of you have those references handy so quickly!
 
palmas85 said:
I would add this to your post if you don’t mind. The Protestants have this kind of stuff and excel at it for one very good and salient reason…

THEY HAVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE
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Ha ha ha… :rotfl:
 
I have been told, by a priest no less, that the leadership is downright evil. The leadership in neighboring Rochester runs a close second. It is downright oppressive for those of us who are true believers and care about the Faith. But, what can you do when so many of us sit there and take it?

Those who oppose it are marginalized and villified. How long is this going to go on? If it continues, the Church will fade away into nothing in that part of the country.
 
Funny how bishops and their liturgical elite always seem to forget such trivial things as the prohibition of dance in the liturgy. The US Bishop’s Conference even included into their own liturgy newsletter a definitive statement on liturgical dance given by the Holy See in 1975. Part of the statement, in the April/May 1982 BCL Newsletter, states that
…it [dance] cannot be introduced into liturgical celebrations of any kind whatever: that would be to inject into the liturgy one of the most desacralized and desacrilizing 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.
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