01. Introductory Stand
Human experience is the fundamental root of divine revelation. In many ways, dance and religious experiences have been intertwining expression through the centuries of human history. It is evident in the contexts of religious festivity, procession, liturgy, musical recital, chanting of Psalms and mantras. Dance reveals the intense human emotions like joys, sorrows, anxieties and fears. Believing that dance is the first collective self-expression when humans come together, Amaladoss suggests that the symbol of Jesus in Asia is that he is the Cosmic Dancer, given the important role of dance, not merely as holistic means of self-expression, but also as a theological perspective in Hinduism and Confucianism. For that reason, the origin of rain dance, harvest dance, hunting dance, triumphal dance, sacred dance etc. authentically explains the dancing need while celebrating life.
Dance occurs in each occasion like birth, marriage, death, and victory of different kinds. The classical dances of India, like Bharatanatyam, had their origin as dances in the temples or during sacred processions. In the beginning, people always danced as a community. Dancing together in rhythm to accompanying drums and other instruments is in itself an experience of and an exercise in community. The dancing group shares not only common movements but also shared meanings, emotions and traditions. Dance involves the whole person, body and spirit, and the community. The whole person is involved in dancing. The rhythm involves the body in movement. The dance therefore builds up the individual as well as the community leading to integration and ecstasy.
1. P-147-149
2. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (n° 365), “the unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be the ‘form’ of the body. It is because of its spiritual soul that the body made of matter becomes a living, human body; spirit and matter, in man, are not two natures united, but rather their union forms a single nature.”
Experiencing integration and wholeness in dance, people imagine the whole cosmos as dancing. The movements of the stars and the planets are in rhythmic and dynamic tension. The harmonious movement of the yin and the yang in the Chinese and East Asian traditions is symbolic of the dance of the cosmos. The complementary of the two principles lends rhythm and dynamism to ongoing cyclic movement. It is not superficial but an evolving spiral. The dancing movements are obviously seen in the drifting clouds, the dancing streams, the waving bamboos, the spectacle of peacocks, the jumping of dolphins, the gliding of fish, the flocking of birds, the flopping butterfly, the leaping deer, the skipping lambs etc. The different seasons of spring, autumn, winter, summer and all natural phenomenon do reflect the dancing patterns along the time cycle. Every atomic particle dances. Thus, the whole cosmos is dancing.
02. Indian Interpretation
In the Indian tradition, the cosmic dance of Shiva-the lord of dance, the Nataraja is called ‘Anandatandava,’ meaning the Dance of Bliss. He dances the total cosmic process from creation to dissolution. Dance and music are believed to be originated from the Siva-Nataraja, the lord of dance. The very existence of Nataraja is in dance. His pancakrityas (the five cosmic activities) such as srishti (creation), sthithi (preservation), samhara (destruction, evolution), anugraha (emancipation, grace and blessing) and tirodhana (illusion) are simultaneously done in and through cosmic dance. At the one hand, the seated Buddha in concentrated silent meditation symbolizes inner peace and tranquillity and at the other hand, the dancing Shiva, signifies the embodiment of cosmic movement in perfect equilibrium. Both of them are orienting towards peace, joy and harmony, in silent passivity as well as in vibrant activity, through meditation and cosmic dance, in contemplation and action. Dance and music make manifest the mystical elements in ritual worship of Shiva.
3. The yin and the yang or yinyang is the principle of two opposite forces, masculine and feminine, in harmony, predominant in Chinese religious thought.
4. http://hinduism.about.com/od/lordshiva/p/nataraj.htm, assessed on 28/06/2014 at 10 a.m.
5. P-148
The Lord Krishna plays flute. The music of his flute is said to attract the whole of creation to follow him. He likes milk and ball of butter that are symbols of cosmic energy. Being fed by butter and milk, Krishna dances with the gopis or cowherds, who symbolize the devotees. In India, dance is an accepted form of expressing an outstanding devotion. Francis X. Clooney the Professor of Comparative Theology, in his theological commentarial note on the significance of real action and real experience that occur during the divine descents, explains the theatrical or dramatic gesture called Abhinaya in dance. It refers to the physical movements made by a dancer in the course of a performance, to express emotions. These are often highly refined and subtle gestures, which perfectly coordinate the spiritual and intellectual, psychological and physical dimensions of action. In addition, Abhinaya characterizes the Lord Krishna referring to his highest acting as if impotent during the times of his divine descents, that is his real and free engagement in difficulty and suffering during his embodiment (avatar). Dance has a dual task. It transforms the potential violence of the universe into a harnessing positive force or in other words, it transfigures the chaos into harmony and thereby it recuperates the joy, life and renewed communion with God.
03. Traits of Dance
Amaladoss highlights some of the basic characteristics of dance.
1. Dance is an expression of freedom, joy and peace. The person who are oppressed can hardly dance. Only the free, liberated person can dance in joy. Although the dance is the predominant expression of joy, the sorrow or pain too can find a refined channel of expression in dance. One of the important sentiments conveyed by dance in India is the sorrow of separation from the loved ones. That is where, the art of dance go beyond any logical reasoning. The ultimate aim of dance is to attain ananda or bliss, which has an interreligious and inter-linguistic synchronizing expression as the inner peace or shanti (Hinduism, Sanskrit) or shalom (Christianity, Hebrew) or salaam (Islamism, Arab). All of them mean the same thing, peace.
2. Dance is purposeless action. Action meets a specific need. Every action is associated with a fruit, a goal, or a purpose. However, dance does not have any purpose. It is not acceptable for people who have commercial mindset. They tend to find commercialization everywhere. Sadly, learning activities like art, dance, yoga and even education to great extent are being commercialized today. In spirituality, we speak about nishkama karma or desireless action. Thus, the dance transcends the karmic cycle of action and its results because it does not act desiring its fruit. It is an act of total gratuity. It is an action without attachment. It happens because of the sense of vocation to dance spontaneously and freely. It is self-expressive and exuberant activity. It demands great effort and practice of renunciation that is deeply spiritual.
3. Dance has no needs. God’s creation of the world and the humans is a spontaneous activity. Dance does not satisfy the need that God has for himself. God is love. God is freely sharing God’s life and joy with humans and the universe. According to Aristotle God who is the Unmoved Mover is the only pure subsisting substance. Such unmoved moving is nothing but a cosmic dance in which the whole universe is dancing. God is dancing and inviting humans and the cosmos to dance along with God.
4. Dance is like play. A game is worth playing whether we win or lose. Playing in itself is worthwhile and enjoyable. We play for the fun of playing. In Indian tradition, God’s actions are often called lila or play. Apparently, such play is meaningless or purposeless. It has no purpose outside itself. It is its own purpose. It is exemplified when the parents play with their children. In this sense, the creation of the cosmos is God’s play. Creation exists because God continues to play. In the Hindu tradition, the Lord Shiva dances the cosmos into being. Just like creation, destruction and death are also God’s play and dance. What we see as destruction is transformation in an ongoing dynamic movement of eternal dance. Death leads to new life. Play and dance are similar. Dance dialogues with the playing sports, which is commonly observed for instance, when the football match is played. When players are playing football, the supporters leap in dance cheering their team.
5. Dance is integral action. It integrates the whole body enabling it to move harmoniously. It integrates body and soul, intention and execution. Humans are embodied beings. In the Bharatanatyam dance for example, the dancer, male or female, synchronizes the posture and gesture with one’s head, eyes, fingers, hands, limbs, and torso. The embodied dancer thus achieves the effect of harmony through dynamic movement of dance. The body-soul composition in dance integrally involves in a mysterious communication that transcends verbal expressions.
6. He is a catholic Jesuit priest. He was the first president of the Society for Hindu-Christian studies in USA. Cf: Clooney, Francis X. Hindu God, Christian God: How Reason Helps Break Down the Boundaries between Religions, New York: Oxford University Press, 2001, p- 116.
7. Cf: Leonardo A. Fernandes e Matthias Grenzer, Dança, Ó Terra! – Interpretando Salmos, São Paulo: Paulinas, 2013, p-137.
8. The Aisan Jesus, P-149
04. Anthropological Mark
An anthropological view of dance would reveal the heartbeats of fetus, the first cry of the newborn child, the breathings, the blood circulations, the body pulses, the winking of eyes, etc. contribute to vital dance of human body through which the human emotions takes an aesthetic expression. Dance is always dialogical with tunes, tones, rhythms, rhymes and tempos of music and song. It finds communion with them. The dimension of dialogue is quintessential to dance which is displayed not only through body elasticity but also through flexibility of cognitive imaginations, transmuting emotions and mystical sensations. Dance is sensational in the sense it feeds the human senses of seeing, listening, doing, experiencing and feeling. It connects the corporeal movement with the inner spiritual experience. It is phenomenon, manifesting external beauty, and at the time conscious immanently experiencing the emotions. The pain, joy and freedom of human demand to be felt. Dance is not just a theoretical discussion. Dance participates actively with emotions. This way, the carnality of incarnation, the embodiment of human consciousness, the human sentiments comingling with transcendence of life mysteries, pave way to deep realization in dance. Dr. George Saju who is a Bharatanatyam dancer, explains the response of dance in an interview as follows:
The body at rest, the body kneeling, the body with outstretched arms, the body crucified, the body died, the body risen, the body prostrate on the ground, the body balancing on one leg, the body in one of the yogic meditative postures, the body in motion emoting, the sun rise and moon light, flying birds from the finger tips, blossoming buds into flowers, flow of river or waves in the sea, show of steep mountains, tress with creepers, fish swimming or deer dancing; all in the bodily movements, is not merely a preparation for prayer, it is true prayer, prayer through gestures – a movement-prayer. In all these and more, dance, engaging body, mind and soul, is responding to the innumerable invitations being sent every moment by the Creator to the created to participate in His divine cosmic redemptive mission.
9. Dr. G.Saju is a Jesuit priest and a classical dancer who dances the Biblical and Hindu themes with an interreligious mindset. For him, dance unites religions, transcends boundaries, harmonizes life, humanizes and divinizes people. Cf: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfYjgbMVbYk, accessed on 30/05/2014.
05. Biblical Tradition
Dancing in the biblical times was an expression of joy in all realms of life, a celebration of mental and corporeal fulfilment as well as a personal declaration of spiritual devotion. Dance in the Bible, is a sense of liberty, which is the fruit of divine grace. In biblical language, the words jumping, pulling, leaping out of joy or tremble generally associable with dance. The figure of David represents symptomatic significance of dance in the Old Testament. David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals (2 Sm 6:5). The context of joy, victory, liberation, festivity and God’s praise mostly brings forth dance as the fundamental human expression. The Songs of Songs can be situated in a context of a dancing duet. Dance has creative potentials to imagine, to hope for and to foretaste the eschatological fulfilment, the already and not yet. God of eternal hope therefore has the promise to make in dancing dynamics, for instance, through prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah. Jesus along with his parents went to Jerusalem every year to participate in the Paschal feast that would not go without dancing and singing praises to God (cf. Lk 2:41). Dance reflects a perfect obedience to the mystery of God in His kingdom and Jesus allegorically rebukes the people who are unwilling to dance when the kingdom music from flute is played.
10. For example- (1) Joy: 2 Sm 6:14,16, 21; Judges 11:34; (2) victory: 1Samuel 18:6; 21:11-12; 29:5; Judith 3:7 (3) liberation: Ex 15:1-21; Job 21:11-12; (4) festivity: Judges 21:19.21.23;
11. Judith 15:12,13 (5) God’s praise: Psalm 30:12; 87:7; 149:3; 150:4
Isaiah 13:21; Jeremiah 31:4,13;
12. Playing flute (music) and dancing are not just metaphors in God’s kingdom but essential modes of human living. Cf. Matthew 11:17; Luke 7:32.
The early church appreciated music. Augustine says that singing is equivalent to praying twice. Nevertheless, in the medieval time, the church forbids musical instruments and dancing by associating them with the cults of other religions. Religious vision of that time held that the body-made of flesh and blood is mostly relegated to the spiritual soul. The body is subordinated because it is of material nature and locus of worldly temptations. Nevertheless, after the Council of Vatican-II (1962-65) in ever-growing theological context, the Church is positive of bodily manifestations of religious dance and playing music. Now the musical organs and other instruments increasingly enhance the church liturgical celebrations.
5.1. Trinitarian dance
Reflecting on the dogma of Trinity, Erik Peterson substantiates the ontological relation of the Trinity God- the Father, the Son-Jesus and the Holy Spirit with a perception of perichoresis (circuminsessio/pericôresis). It originally signifies ‘dance around or dance in circle’ (bailar em coro, dançar à volta). This Trinitarian confession has an original conviction of God who dances and whose dance of eternal love contains the emerging movement of three different personalities of the Father who is creating, of the Son who is redeeming and of the Holy Spirit who is sanctifying. They are in perfect mutual communion. Their perichoresis is a dynamic community dance. It impedes whatever fixation to one of the three persons in the Trinity that could be a heresy. It is trio divine dance promoting dialogue and circularity of equal relation. Their choreography has a phenomenal coordination. Amaladoss affirms that the loving and creative interaction among the three Persons of the Trinity is a never-ending dance. He continues,
The dance of God starts with creation. It is a free, gratuitous act. God is giving Godself. God is self-communicating. The visible and the sensible cosmos is the expression of God. It is the manifestation of God’s gift of love. This cosmos is dynamic and not static. If each molecule is a never-ending dance of atoms, the whole cosmos is an ever-expanding dance of the planets and the stars. Their dance is creative, giving rise to the process of evolution, as beings become more and more complex. Evolution itself would not be possible if the various elements were not in perfect balance to allow such a creative process. Moreover, all through the process of creation God dances. The inkling of this dance is observable in the book of Job 38-41: Job has lost all his family and property and is himself afflicted with leprosy. Interpreting suffering as punishment, Job challenges God. However, God asserts God’s freedom as creator…history becomes a duet between the free action of God and the free response of humans. God watches creation unfolding and the free interaction of humans.
5.2. God of Dance
The God of creation is the source of all movement. Dance is a part of that movement. Without God, nothing moves. In the prophetical language of Jeramiah, the God of covenant promises Israel saying: I will build you up again, and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt. Again you will take up your tumbrels and go out to dance with the joyful. Then, young women will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow (Jer 31:4, 13). In the similar wavelength, the Book of Revelation offers us the final vision a kind of eschatological dance:
I saw a new heaven and a new earth… and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among the mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new” (Rv 21:1, 3-5). In another culture, the author would have added “And they would be all dancing for joy and fulfilment.”
Paul also affirms that the whole of creation is participating in this process:
The creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies (Rom 8:19-23).
13. Erik Peterson (1890-1960) is a catholic theologian, has written about “Monotheism as Political Problem: a contribution for the history of political theology in the Roman Empire” (1935). 14. Cf: El monoteísmo como problema político, trad. esp. da edição Kösel-Verlag, 1951, por A. Andreu, Madrid, Editorial Trotta, 1999.
The Asian Jesus, pp-152-153
5.3. Dance of the Spirit
The Spirit has an active role in cosmic dance just like God and the Son of God. The Spirit is there at the very beginning when creation starts its dance. The spirit of God swept over the face of waters when God created the heavens and the earth (cf. Gn 1:1-2). Thus, the Spirit inaugurates the cosmic dance. Sin and selfishness make people to opt for a dance of death. However, God promises them the spirit of new life (cf. Ez 36:26). This spirit will transform a valley of dry bones into a living community (cf. Ez 37:1-14). The Spirit makes Jesus’ ministry effective (cf. Lk 1:35; 3:22; 4:18). After his resurrection, Jesus breathes over the apostles and offers them the spirit of reconciliation and freedom (cf. Jn 20:22). On the day of Pentecost, the Spirit dances as tongues of fire on the apostles (cf. At 1:3-4). The Spirit is the source of freedom, creativity and harmony in the community and in the cosmos (cf. Rm 8:1-30). For this end, the Spirit bestows various charisms upon the community (1Cor 12-13). The Spirit makes the human body a temple of God (cf.1Cor 6:19-20).
06. Jesus the Dancer
If God of lila is a dancer, then the Son of God, Jesus also is a dancer. Thinking of Jesus as the cosmic dancer may surprise those who have not yet grasped the deeper significance of dance. Jesus the Word Incarnate of God (Jn 1:14). Jesus’ dance, by his incarnation stands as the pivotal column, which penetrates every dancing phenomenon through his birth, life, suffering, death and resurrection. Keeping in mind the simultaneous view of personal as well as cosmic dimension of Jesus, Indian Christian artists have pioneered the symbol ‘Dancing Jesus’ by their paintings, sculptures and performance of dances. The Indian artists like George Saju SJ, Jyoti Sahi are to name a few. It is inexhaustible to explore the mysteries of Jesus Christ in connection with dance. However, it is important to consider the mysteries of suffering and resurrection for the present moment.
6.1. Dance of the Passover
The song of Moises and the circle dance of Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister do reflect the joy of liberation from the Event- Passover of the Old Testament (Ex 15:1-21). When David returned from killing the Philistine, the women came out of all the towns of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments…and the servants proclaimed: ‘Saul has killed his thousands and David his ten thousands’ (cf.1Sam 18:6, 21:11-12, 29:5). By killing the Philistine Goliath, a constant menace on Israel, the king David brought victory. This joy was celebrated in singing and dancing. Jesus is the life and the resurrection (Jn 11:25). He has one of the Messianic and Christological titles as ‘the Son of David’. Jesus through his resurrection not only puts end to the eternal menace death but also has brought victory- eternal life to all humanity. Certainly, this Easter joy must be a cosmic dance wherein the whole creation would sing God’s praise. The king of Israel, David killed Goliath (1Sam17) and danced too (2Sam 6:14). Similarly, the King of kings and Lord of lords (1Tim 6:15; cf. Rev 19:16), Jesus killed the death and resurrected. He is the root and the descendent of David, the bright morning star (Rev 22:16). He is the son of David (Mat 1:1) and our Passover (1Cor 5:7). He is the cosmic dance and our Passover, from death to eternal life. We do participate in his cosmic dance.
15. Cf: Matthew 1:1, 12:23, 21:9 etc.
6.2. Dance of the Resurrection
The risen Christ is dancing. To dance is to celebrate the carnality of human body. It is to express the new freedom of spirit, which emerges from the expanding interiority of human body. The spirit of life causes in dance the sense of liberation. To dance is to leap, to pass over, to celebrate Pascal. To dance is to liberate and to feel liberated. Sara Grant affirms that the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us, who underwent death and is alive unto endless ages, can surely be called Lord of the Dance, who makes visible for us the hidden rhythms of the Creator Spirit at work within us and in our confused and torn-apart world to bring all things to their mysterious consummation. The term Lord of Dance used by S.Grant refers to Shiva-Nataraja in Indian context. However, her reinterpretation attributes it to Jesus, the Word Incarnate. God becomes human in Jesus to empower them further with personal and social support. In ways unknown to us, God is gathering all things into a unity (Eph 1:3-10). Christ has a central role in this process. He is part of the divine dance. “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross” (Col 1:19-20).
The time of liturgy has an intersection with the time of eternity. The liturgical cycle of the Catholic Church, which is interwoven by the life of Jesus, displays the cosmic dance of Christ. The seasons like the Advent, the Christmas, the Lent, the Easter, and the common weeks are inviting the church to participate in the cosmic dance of Jesus in a quantitative chronological as well as in qualitative kairos fashion. It is an opportune moment of indeterminate time in which everything happens. It always go beyond time and space. It is a constant doing in memory of Jesus. This is not a repetition in a narrow sense but evolving cyclic celebrations of life, configuring us with the redemptive plan of Christ. The sacramental presence of Jesus in the liturgical feasts convokes a cosmic dance resonating with healing, reconciliation and liberation. All the eight healing accounts narrated in the gospel of Mark for example (1:29-30; 1:40-45; 2:1-12; 3:1-6; 5:25-34; 7:31-37; 8:22-26; 10:46-52) show us the saving, restoring and reconstructing of life. The telling of Jesus: “Stand up, take your bed and go to your home” (Mt 9:2-8) brings not only physical healing but also the spiritual healing through forgiveness of sins. The sick person must have jumped up and danced for joy. When it is situated in a liturgical context, the readings unfold the dancing movement of Jesus, who heals the sick, offers sight to the blind and liberates the suffering. His dance does not put end to life but restores life (Mk 5:22-43). He came that we may have life and have it in abundance (cf. Jn 10:10). Consequently, the feeling of joy, peace and freedom is prevalent everywhere.
16. Grant, Sara. The Lord of Dance (Bangalore: Asian Trading Corporation, 1987), 195. Sara Grant (1922-2002) is a Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, missionary and philosopher. She is one of the pioneers of interreligious dialogue in the 20th century. Worked in India for 46-years since 1956. She also has written a biographical confession called Towards an Alternative Theology: Confessions of a non-dualist Christians (1991).
6.3. Dance of Suffering:
Imagining the cosmos is dancing, it is impossible to ignore the elements of decay, pain, and suffering in the world. In the overall cosmic process, they are moments of transformation in a necessary evolution. Jesus does not go after suffering as a value in itself. He stands for love, freedom and justice. He faces his suffering and death with courage and love. His suffering is redemptive as it enables love. It is expressed as humble service and self-gift. Loving unto death is a radical gesture that demands a radical response on the part of his followers. By facing suffering and death, Jesus shows that they are not the end of life. Jesus rises again. Life continues. Suffering becomes part of a creative process in a world where liberties confront each other. Just as players in football match make strenuous efforts to play and to win, pain and suffering become part of the effort to live and to build community.
The dance of humanity and creation continues also through pain and suffering. It is the dance of life. Therefore, Jesus dances, not only at his resurrection, but also on the cross. Truly Jesus prayed, “Abba, Father, remove this cup from me” (Mk 14:36). Truly Jesus cried, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me” (Mk 15:34). The suffering of Job in the Old Testament echoes with that of Jesus in the New Testament. The fight against death and evil in the world continues. Having faced the cruel challenge of suffering, Jesus offers himself, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Lk 23: 46). A sense of accomplishment- “It is finished” (Jn 19:30) enables this offering of self-surrender at the end. The passion of Jesus contains an inner peace and satisfaction of doing the will of God the Father and of accomplishing the mission that the Father had given him. Jesus has the strong faith that God will vindicate him. This must be the source of deep joy while he was hanging on the cross. Jesus on the cross is not the victim but the hero. Therefore, he does not need our commiseration but our congratulations. We should not cry for him but dance with him. Suffering is an element in the cosmic dance but not the end of it. Shiva- Nataraja, in Hindu tradition, dances in the burial ground and in the hearts of people. It connects with death and life. The One who creates everything evidently destroys everything. Destruction in the hands of creator is only a passage, a transformation, a moment of new creation. Jesus died on the Cross. However, his dance continues. Death, life and love are closely interconnected as the Song of Songs acclaims “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave” (Song 8:6).
6.4. Dance of Freedom
Jesus danced at death for he was dancing through life. He lived as a free person. He did not worry about the legal prescriptions followed by the Pharisees. He questioned their rules about purity and impurity of food, persons and customs. He challenged their interpretations about the Sabbath observance. He freely moved around the lake and the countryside. He saw the trees grow, the flowers bloom, the fields yielding harvest and the shepherds pastoring their animals. He observed the billowing waves of the sea and the boats of the anglers dancing on their crests. He felt the cool breeze in the quiet emptiness of the night in the desert places and on mountaintops. He was free to relate with tax collectors and sinners. He had the liberty to reinterpret the religious tradition. He freed the Temple courts from buyers and sellers. He walked on the water. He raised the dead to life. He forgave sins and freed people from guilt. He liberated people from the illness and oppression. He freely participated in the dancing festivals, religious rituals and celebrations. In brief, Jesus was free to relate to people, free to relate to nature and free to relate to God.
He freely forgives a sinful woman (Cf. Lk 7:47), exemplifying the forgiveness that precedes love. This is an example of the prevenient love of God: that is, God loves us first before we respond to God in love. Jesus frees people by reinterpreting the Law and he demands interior commitment rather than external behaviour alone (Mt 5–6). He calms down the storm and the fear of the disciples (Mk 4:35-41). He empowers the socially marginalized by reaching out to the Samaritans (Jn 4:1-42), to tax collectors like Matthew (Mt 9:9), and to Zacchaeus, who commits himself to justice (Lk 19:1-10). Thus, the free action of Jesus would have caused celebrations of singing and dancing with what has happened to Samaritan woman in her village, Matthew in his house, and Zacchaeus in his community. Jesus is dancing through life, leading the people in dance and healing them and making them wholesome. He frees them from social and religious institution that oppress. The people who were healed must have danced for joy. This joyful dance culminates when the crowd leads Jesus into Jerusalem, with branches in their hands, proclaiming: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Mt 21:9). There must have been singing and dancing in that festive procession.
6.5. Dance of Harmony
Just as dancing promotes and achieves self-integration, Jesus encourages personal harmony. Harmonizing our intention and action, our word and deed, our talk and walk is fundamental in the life of dance. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus exhorts that our action correspond to intention (Mt 5:21- 6-21). Jesus suggests a harmony between interiority and outside action. He promotes harmony by announcing forgiveness, love and service to others. He radically demands his disciple to love their enemies by setting his Father as a model (Mt 5:48).
Jesus experiences the harmony of oneness with God the Father. He says, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:9) and “the Father and I are one” (Jn 10:30). This union is manifested by the fact that Jesus does the will of his Father (Jn 10:37-38). In other words, the dance is harmonious by living in accordance with the plan of God. Doing the will of the Father leads Jesus to a total emptying of himself and exaltation (Phil 2:7-11). His harmony of fellowship is not only with God but also with his disciples: “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them” (Jn 14:23). This opens the possibility of having mutual indwelling and harmony between God and us: “That they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us” (Jn 17:21). The Spirit of God is there in this communion: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Moreover, I will ask my Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth” (Jn 14:15-17). The experience of truth, justice and peace are not different and disconnected. There exist dancing harmony- a harmony within oneself, with others, with Jesus, with the Spirit, and with the Father is the source of peace (Jn 16:33) and joy (Jn 16:24) and creativity (Jn 14:12). This harmony is dynamic movement or dance. Jesus is not only a cosmic dancer but makes the whole universe dance.
07. Theology of dance
In theology and spirituality heart is a symbol, which goes beyond the biological entity, signifying the core of human existence. Similarly, dance is a symbol, which validates the deeper meanings of body movement. It is a choreography of human response to interior impulse or fleshing of one’s spiritual quest. It has strong influence of human consciousness. It synchronizes the human interior emotions with the exterior physical expressions. There is a perfect simultaneous fusion of spirit and body, action and experience, desire and actuality. God is the Ultimate Dancer or mover who moves the human dancer to dance. Human vocation is to participate in the divine dance and attain God’s salvation. Jesus is the Word Incarnate who perfectly executes the dance of salvation to whole humanity and the universe. Jesus through his body continues to execute the cosmic dance. Christian call is possible to see Christ in dance and to dance in Christ. While we reflect on Matthew 11:17 and Luke 7:32, we can see that the kingdom that Jesus proclaims has the divine music of God. Jesus is that music and the cosmic dancer. Those who have a sacred sensibility and who are open to discover the music of Christ, courageously participate in the cosmic dance of Christ which occurs through body, the temple of Holy Spirit (1Cor 6:19-20).
17. Asian Jesus p-157
18. Asian Jesus p-158
Michael Amaladoss, S.J
Institute of Dialogue with Cultures and Religions,
Loyola College, Chennai, India.