So the Melee show is this weekend (and all I have been doing these last two weeks is dancing) and since we were talking about the system of symbols with the Rastafarian religion, I thought I would blog about the combination of dance and religion.
Dance is globally present in most religious settings. For ceremonies, rituals, celebrations, and social life, dance has certainly played a large part since the days of early civilization. Dance has been traced back by archaeologists to pre-historic cave drawings and Egyptian tombs paintings. Used to portray stories, dance was around before written language so that important tales could be passed to subsequent generations. Dance has also been used as a “healing ritual” for many religions as well. Many contemporary dance forms can be traced back to historical, traditional, ceremonial, and ethnic dances.
Dance is seen in many religious texts including the Bible, Torah, Psalms, and many more. My favorite is from the Old Testament. It is called A Time to Dance (Ecclesiastes 3:4). I have actually done a modern solo to this poem that was put to music my senior year of high school.
To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
I just really enjoy this passage and thought it really complemented my last two weeks and the connection it made with religion.
[Anyone who is on campus this weekend should really come to the Melee show in Stansbury Theater this Saturday night (5/23/09) at 8 p. m. It’s a free show, you just have to get a ticket from the box office prior to! ]
First of all, the Melee show was great! Secondly, have you read (I think it was) Ali's post on dance and religion? You both bring up some great points. Dance has always been a part of religious ceremonies and traditions (the hora done at Jewish celebrations and and the Sufi whirling dervishes are 2 examples) but dance is also being integrated into religious community life. Here's one example, a website I found when I googled "dance and religion" - http://www.christiandance.com/
ReplyDeleteEven my congregation back home has an inter-generational dance troupe that gets together each week to rehearse and then performs at services.
this is a great post! partially because i'm in the show right there with you and the other part is because i am a strong believer in the communication dance has to offer for any community brought together under emotional and cultural purposes. nice work!! go dance!! :)
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