Dance Expresses Religion

Tom Kane, Ph.D., priest-liturgist and videographer, held a video lecture entitled "Celebrating Our Faith, Our Culture, Our Diversity" last Thursday in the Strom Thurmond Institute.

Kane received his schooling from the University of Notre Dame and his doctoral degree in Liturgy and Culture from Ohio State University. He became an ordained Catholic priest in 1975.

After receiving his doctorate, Kane traveled to Africa for eight months as well as various other continents to produce documentaries on rare liturgical dance.

"We will experience through video how different churches express their faith on Sundays," Kane said before showing the video.

At San Fernando Cathedral in San Antonio, Texas, there is a vigil of a sorrowful Mary and a horizontal statute of a slain Jesus. Congregation members anoint the statue and carry it around the neighborhood making the whole city a "sacred place." Later, women dancers perform what is called "the flamingo dance." The most dramatic dance is "the Our Father," which is done around the altar.

"In Africa, to dance is to breathe, to be alive," Kane said after showing a clip from Malawi, Africa. During services, a congregation member uses a large mortar and pestle like a drum for the opening prayer in dedication to Lady Africa. Several of their ceremonies are mixtures of culture and religion. Most of the dancing is performed towards the ground symbolizing that there is no separation of "sacred" and "secular."

The hula in Oahu, Hawaii, is symbolic dance with gentle movement based on themes of faith, love and hope. During the liturgy, spiritual gifts are presented and a dance choir performs a hula.

In Siva, Fiji, a kava dance is performed. Originally, kava -- a type of shrub whose juice is used to make a fermented drink -- was presented in a coconut shell to a chief or archbishop. Over time the ritual has changed and the coconut shell was replaced by a chalice. After the chalice is given to the archbishop, the dancers conclude the ceremony with three handclaps.

In Western Samoa, a reconciliation ritual is carried out. During a ceremony a couple kneels before the church which is symbolic of all of God's people. The couple asks for forgiveness on behalf of all of God's people. After the request, a dance choir faces the congregation and sings to the Holy Spirit to "enlighten us."

Kane admitted that after traveling the world he had a slight case of culture shock when he returned to the United States.

He suggested that since the United States is a first-world country it is hard for us to "receive" from other cultures. U.S. missionaries have been sent to foreign lands and now cultures from other lands are here in the United States -- this is difficult for some people to accept, Kane said. We sent out missionaries to "control" the people who are now the ones we should learn from, he said. "We should reflect on different traditions and find ways to see how we are connected," Kane said. He suggested that people be more mindful of whatever ceremony they choose to take part in and not just "go through a routine" while in service.

Kane said he was inspired to document liturgical dance because he felt that there was a "limited view of the church."

Fr Thomas A. Kane, C.S.P., Visiting Priest - A Paulist priest, Father Kane's interests include the inculturation of worship and liturgical dance especially in Africa and Micronesia. He is an Associate Professor of Homiletics and Liturgical Practice at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, where he teaches Liturgical Preaching I ; Lay Presiding and Celebration ; and The Church at Prayer: Contemporary Trends in Ecumenical and Interfaith Worship.

Source: St. Malachy Parish, Burlington, MA.

A Paulist teaching at a Jesuit seminary. Why am I not surprised? Here's his website, The Dancing Church.

2 posted on 02/11/2005 12:51:13 PM PST by Loyalist (Visit these two fine Catholic ladies' blogs: fiatmihi.blogspot.com/relapsedcatholic.blogspot.com)

blech....

somehow, reading this too quickly, I had the image of a fish riding a bicycle...

of course, some people would think I would be limiting worship if I demanded respectful decorum, fitting dress, music that uplifts the heart of the congregation towards heaven, and compliance with the rubrics at mass...

I can hear the cuckoo singing in the cuckoo berry tree!

Ping to you "Bible Belt Catholics" in South Carolina.

Cute. I have already passed this inanity on to the "powers that be."

Of course, the fact that a secular university like Clemson (full of Northeasterners)hosted someone like this is not surprising.

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