Liturgical dance is a type of dance movement sometimes incorporated into liturgies or worship services as an expression of worship: 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 or to religious concepts.
Some liturgical dance had been common in ancient times or non-western settings, with precedents in the Hebrew religion back to accounts of dancing in the Old Testament. An example is the episode when King David danced before the Ark of the Covenant (2 Sam 2:14), but this dancing is often cited outside of Jewish norms and Rabbinic rituals prescribed at the time.
Read more about Liturgical Dance: History, Present Use
Famous quotes containing the words liturgical and/or dance:
“But how is one to make a scientist understand that there is something unalterably deranged about differential calculus, quantum theory, or the obscene and so inanely liturgical ordeals of the precession of the equinoxes.”
—Antonin Artaud (1896–1948)
“It is sweet to dance to violins
When Love and Life are fair:
To dance to flutes, to dance to lutes
Is delicate and rare:
But it is not sweet with nimble feet
To dance upon the air!”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)