religion

The Genesis of the Round Dance – Part 6

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Byzantine Dance

Byzantine Dance

(Continued from Part 5)

Dancing in Worship

If this round dancing in the prayer circle seems peculiar, recall Lehi’s vision at the beginning of The Book of Mormon, where he sees God on his throne “surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God” ((The Book of Mormon, 1 Nephi 1:8)). Nibley comments:

Surrounding concourses are concentric circles, and the singing and praising are never static: it is a dynamic picture with everything in motion, as Lehi sees it, and as the cosmic pattern of the thing requires. The prayer circle is often called the chorus of the apostles, and it is the meaning of chorus which can be a choir, but is originally a ring dance. ((Nibley, Hugh, et al. Mormonism and Early Christianity. Vol. 4. Salt Lake City, Utah; Provo, Utah: Deseret Book Co.; Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1987, 53-54)) [Read more…]

The Genesis of the Round Dance – Part 5

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Left - Prearchaic dance circle, 9th c. BC. Olympia. Right - 5th-3rd c. BC circle of dancers, with avlos player inside.

Left - Prearchaic dance circle, 9th c. BC. Olympia. Right - 5th-3rd c. BC circle of dancers, with avlos player inside.

(Continued from Part 4)

Religion and Dance

Many scholars have described dance in terms of religion. Kraus describes it among the ancients as being used “as a means of communication with the forces of nature – for becoming one with the gods,” and as “a major form of religious ritual . . . a means of worship” ((Kraus, Richard G., Sarah Chapman Hilsendager, and Brenda Dixon Gottschild. History of the Dance in Art and Education. 3rd ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1991, 19, 28)). Curt Sachs tells us that dance was a way to “bridge the chasm between this and the other world” of the Gods ((qtd. in Ellfeldt, Lois. Dance, from Magic to Art. Dubuque, Iowa: W. C. Brown Co., 1976, 14)). Ellfeldt states that there is no primitive group in the world that does not have a strong ceremonial culture, and very few of these ceremonies that do not have dances associated with them ((ibid., 32)). Why do we not know more about these ritual dances? With the Egyptians, Ellfeldt tells us that it is because of the extreme secrecy “with which the priests guarded their dances . . . transmitting their rules by word of mouth” ((ibid., 55)). These dances were sacred, deeply symbolic rituals which were purposefully kept esoteric, only revealed to those “initiates” which participated in them. [Read more…]