DANCE. — I. It consists of a complex of ordered bodily movements, especially of the feet, in accordance with the musical time marked by song or instruments. It may be an artistic performance, as in ballet, or a popular exercise.
Among primitive peoples, the use of dance—a manifestation of physical order restructured by certain rhythmic factors—is widespread, varying in its determining motives among peoples of natural cultures. Ethnologists distinguish, first of all, masculine, feminine, and mixed dances; collective and individual; occasional and periodic. All of these, with rare exceptions, find their deepest meaning in religion (v. PRIMITIVE, RELIGION OF). Usually, dances are not accompanied by music, but are nonetheless rhythmically marked by crude instruments, hand-clapping, finger-snapping, stamping, or guttural cries.
The frenetic dances of sorcerers among various Australian tribes and of the dervishes aim to induce a true state of self-intoxication (which produces ecstasy), in which the dancer acquires the ability to perform extraordinary feats (e.g., prophesying). A similar will to excite underlies various types of war dances: on one hand, the desire to exalt courage, and on the other, the execution of a kind of symbolic combat against supposed adverse supernatural forces. Nor is the inner meaning different in agricultural dances, intended to facilitate the growth and development of seeds, and in magical dances in general, which, through mimesis, seek to obtain something necessary (e.g., rain). Within the broadest sense of the religious phenomenon are placed certain types of initiation dances (in which the death and ritual rebirth of the initiate are represented), while outside this sphere stand love dances that preside over betrothals and marriages, often intended to exalt female fertility.
In Sacred Scripture, dance appears as a collective manifestation of joy (Ex. 15:20; Judg. 11:34; 1 Sam. 18:6), as an act of celebration (Judg. 21:21), and as a sign of honor to God (Ps. 67:26; 149:3). In the episode of the golden calf, the Hebrews sin by dancing around it, and thus Moses finds them (Ex. 32:19). The best-known passage in the Old Testament on dance is that of David and the Ark of the Covenant (2 Sam. 6:14). Overall, dance appears more as a spontaneous phenomenon than as a fixed element of ritual.
At the beginning of this century, due to a progressive relaxation of morals, certain dance systems originating from the indigenous customs of the Negroes of South America were introduced. In these, the varied movements of the feet and the various positions of the partners often lead to easy contact between the lower parts of their bodies. Owing to the diversity of certain movements in these modern dances, they have acquired various names: one-step, two-step, turkey trot, pas de l'ours, tango, spirituel, Charleston, foxtrot, rumba, carioca, boogie-woogie, samba, raspa, etc.
2. In itself, however, dancing is not an illicit act: it is a manifestation and almost an explosion of joy; enjoyment is realized in seeing one’s own body and another’s respond with rhythmic movements synchronized to the notes of music. Malice is not intrinsic to dance, unless it prescribes deliberately obscene acts, though it may be added by those who perform it; often, today in particular, it is cunningly devised and arranged by creators, composers, and organizers to facilitate and enhance the sensual aspect.
From these solemn dances, the ballroom dance developed as early as the Renaissance, and in the following centuries it became increasingly impoverished of folklore and individualized between a single gentleman and a single lady. From a moral standpoint, the great revolution occurred in the 18th and 19th centuries, under the influence of a liberalism that also affected customs: from dances in which the gentleman touched only the lady’s hand, there developed embraces of the upper body of the couple moving in continuous turns (danses tournantes). The dances thus performed took different names according to the various movements of the body: waltz, polka, galop, mazurka, redowa, schottische, cancan, cotillon, cakewalk, etc.
From this point onward, the ecclesiastical authority also took an interest in dance as a moral issue, issuing decrees from the Sacred Congregations and letters from the pontiffs, both as universal pastors and as sovereigns of the Papal States, not to mention the pastoral measures taken by bishops.
Indeed, strong condemnations of dance are not lacking in patristic literature (St. Peter Chrysologus, Serm., 127, 174; PL 52, 452, 654; St. Ambrose, De Elia et ieiunio, ch. 12; In Ps. 40, 24; PL 14, 711, 1078; St. Jerome, Ep. 70 ad Heliodorum: PL 22, 601, etc.) and in conciliar legislation of the Middle Ages. However, these writings reflect a different situation. While the Fathers confronted dance as a remnant of paganism (Arnobius, Adversus gentes, ch. 6; PL 5, 1118) and, often, as attested by pagans themselves, as a display of shameless obscenity (Ammianus Marcellinus, XIV, ch. 5, 6), medieval councils condemned dances that took place in cemeteries and churches, more than anything else *ratione loci*.
(from V. JALABERT, LOUIS, *Les sacramentaires et missels des bibliothèques publiques de France*, Paris 1924, pl. 8)
From that time onward, one also notes the interest of ecclesiastical authority in dancing as a moral issue, reflected in the decrees of the Sacred Congregations and in the letters of the popes, both as universal pastors and as sovereigns of the Papal States, not to mention the pastoral measures taken by bishops.
Indeed, strong condemnations of dancing are not lacking even in patristic literature (St. Peter Chrysologus, *Sermons*, 127, 174; PL 52, 452, 654; St. Ambrose, *On Elijah and Fasting*, ch. 12; *On Psalm 40*, 24; PL 14, 711, 1078; St. Jerome, *Epistle* 70 to Heliodorus: PL 22, 601, etc.) and in the conciliar legislation of the Middle Ages. Yet these writings reflect a different situation. While the Fathers confronted dancing as a remnant of paganism (Arnobius, *Against the Pagans*, ch. 6; PL 5, 1118) and, often with testimony from pagans themselves, as a source of unbridled obscenity (Ammianus Marcellinus, XIV, ch. 5, 6), medieval councils condemned dances held in cemeteries and churches more on account of the *ratione loci* than the act itself.
g) the meeting of men and women alone after dancing (*solus cum sola*) and the consequent excitations that may arise in the imagination.
These circumstances, in whole or in part, can more easily be avoided in private dances than in public halls, since in the former the participants are invited, and at least outwardly, are persons of decent reputation.
3. To determine when dancing is a proximate or remote occasion of sin cannot be established *a priori* by fixed rules, but only reconstructed on the basis of experience—that is, the frequency or infrequency of falls into sin—and according to this, the confessor must guide penitents. Collective experience shows that very often (though not always) the more modern dances, to which reference has been made above, are a proximate occasion of sin. Hence the frequent pastoral letters of bishops against dancing, and the strong admonition of Benedict XV in the encyclical *Sacra propedelem* of 6 January 1921, which classified modern dances as «barbaric, each worse than the last,» and declared that «no better means could be found to strip away every last vestige of modesty» (*AAS*, 13 [1921], p. 39). This warning was repeated by Pius XI in the encyclical *Ubi arcano Dei* of 23 December 1922 (*ibid.*, 14 [1922], p. 679), where he deplored the immodesty of women «especially in their attire at dances.»
In practice, when dancing for an individual is a proximate occasion of sin, it must either be avoided or, if attendance is necessary, entered into with all natural and supernatural safeguards; when it is a remote occasion, participation is permitted only under certain precautions that prevent the occasion from becoming proximate.
The frequent use of dancing, especially of the more modern kinds, is in any case to be discouraged, as it fosters moral laxity and exerts a deleterious influence even on mental health, given the excessive stimulation of the nerves.
The moral principles we have set forth apply to all. As for clerics, canon 140 not only forbids their attendance at dances that are in themselves unbecoming, but also at those where their presence would scandalize in any case.
In light of the above, even if dances are in themselves honest, promoting them for charitable purposes is unbecoming for a priest or Catholic organizations, and the Church has sought to eliminate this abuse where it had taken root (cf. *Acta et decreta Concilii Plenarii Baltimorensis III*, Baltimore 1886, n. 290; Sacred Congregation of the Consistory, decree of 31 March 1916, in *AAS*, 9 [1916], pp. 147–48; decree of 10 December 1917, *ibid.*, 10 [1917], p. 17).