Rachel Worthington: In-class Reading 1

We spent a good portion on discussing dance and how it can bring about a religious or spiritual essence. Religious dance is a series of movements and counter movements that connect one with the ultimate being. How? Dances almost always originate from something observed within nature, such as the movements and rhythm of flowing water or the trees. Dance is also representative of animal movements, like when birds do their mating rituals. We see the beauty in nature and its creatures and try to mimic the movements so that we may experience a wholeness within our spirit, as we connect to the world around us. All dance is an expression of something, but religious dance is an deep expression of "life" and "all that moves the person," (Van Der Leeuw, 56). The hustle and bustle of daily life can cause people to lose the natural rhythm of cosmos, but when one participates in religious dance, they can come back to nature and are then able to express the nature of the human soul.