She Was the Dancing Queen

Hehe, I'm not supposed to laugh at that, am I?

It's amazing to me that U.S. Bishops would spin their wheels on something that has been put to bed by the Vatican. You would think all the talk of full active participation would be a great reason to just shut down any talk of liturgical dancing.

This comment may not run all that theologically "deep", but I just don't feel that dancing belongs in the liturgy of the American Roman Catholic Church. In cultures where dancing is a long-standing part of worship, then I would not have a problem with that, but with the broad cultural diversity that is the United States, it just doesn't seem to fit. The exceptions might be in parishes that are predominated by one culture that has always made dance a part of worship, such as might be found among Native American tribes or in Hawaii.

TRUE STORY: A few years ago, my parents' parish had a ballerina in a tutu dance the sacred oils down the aisle at the Easter Vigil. No explanation, no explained connection to the theme of the rest of the liturgy, just tiptoeing toward the altar. It wasn't even accompanied by any form of liturgical or classical music. It was some Yanni-type new age stuff. It's the first time I laughed out loud in church when I wasn't supposed to. It just seemed silly and rather weird.

Now let me get this straight: we've got some bishops who are ready to call you disobedient and divisive if you kneel when they want you to stand; and we've got some other bishops who want to let the dancers go their freestyle thing down the aisle. Don't let me get started.

Anyway, I just realized that there is one category of people in the US for whom some sort of liturgical dance seems reasonable: American Indians.