Why We Dance at Mass

Fr Jean-Baptiste Mpuni OMI: Point of Liturgy – A  professor of liturgy and anthropology at a Roman institute asserted in his lecture: “In some parts of the world, and especially in Africa, dancing during Mass becomes like a performance, a disturbance and just a noisy interruption.” He continued to say: “Many African people, including clergy, think that the liturgy of the Mass is just about playing drums, dancing and performing, instead of being an encounter with God.”

I challenged the professor, arguing from my experience of dance in liturgy — since my childhood in the DRC and in my ministry in South Africa — the extent to which movement and dance engages the community in celebration, raising body, mind and heart in praise and thanksgiving to God in the liturgy of the Eucharist. For sub-Saharan Africans in particular, dance is a natural part of life, culture and identity, and cannot be dissociated from divine worship.

Being back home in Africa confirmed for me the beauty and the vibrancy of liturgies that incorporate meaningful cultural communication and expression, in song and rhythmic movements of dance that have nothing to do with “performance”, but are genuine ways of prayer and worship.

In many ways, the Western tradition has promoted an unfortunate separation between the sacred “disembodied” realm of relationship with God, and the secular realm of profane, sensual and passionate embodiment. In most sub-Sahara African cultures, dance is associated with “religious values” and is part of the liturgy. When the faithful dance during some parts of the Mass, it expresses their joy, their gratitude to God. Dance also fosters their encounter with God and prepares them to joyfully listen to Jesus who is about to speak.

However, not any cultural dance can be introduced in the liturgy. There should be a difference between the type of dances used in church and  those performed by local musicians or in cultural ceremonies. It would be a disgrace to introduce profane dance into our celebration of the Mass, for the sake of culture. However, the use of a proper and dignified dance during Mass becomes an expression of “a communal prayer of adoration, praise, offering and supplication”. Whenever people sing and dance at Mass, it reinforces the communion between the Triumphant Church in heaven and the Pilgrim Church on earth.

For most Africans, it is not conceivable to celebrate Sundays Masses without dancing. It seems like Christ is not risen and is still in the tomb if they don’t move. But people must not have the idea that coming to Mass is to dance only. The celebration of the Mass is above all about the worship or glorification of God and the sanctification of the people.

 Performance at the altar

Some time ago I watched a video of a priest performing on the altar. He preached for only about four minutes — the rest of his homily was just about dancing and jumping around the altar. Even the faithful joined in, and started screaming. My impression was that the celebration of the Mass had turned into a wild concert. After the dancing, the whole congregation applauded the priest for his performance. After seeing that video, I became deeply concerned about the manner in which we, as priests, understand and exercise the office of presiding over the gathered assembly. At Mass, a priest is not a performing dancer but the presider who acts in persona Christi.

The General Instructions of the Roman Missal advises that when a priest celebrates the Eucharist, in persona Christi, he must serve God and the people with dignity and humility [and] convey to the faithful the living presence of Christ”. As an ordained minister who incarnates the presence of Christ, the priest should make sure that the faithful benefit spiritually and sacramentally from the Mass.

There has been a remarkable improvement in the celebration of the Mass in Africa. We can refer here to the “Africanisation”, or inculturation, of the liturgy. Today we can celebrate Mass and sing in our own languages. Many efforts have been made, but more work has still to be done. There is still a need for thorough study before we introduce any cultural or traditional values into our liturgical celebration.

The most important work required here is to give liturgical and theological meaning to those cultural values. A priest or parish liturgical committee cannot bring into the Mass whatever dance they find from their culture.

Today, priests and laity are called to worship God in liturgical celebration with a sense of creativity and in the cultural context of the people. Respectful and modest dance contributes to that. However, the tendency of bringing into the liturgy Pentecostal and charismatic styles of worshipping God could separate the celebration of Mass from its true meaning and originality.

Fr Jean-Baptiste Mpuni OMI serves in the archdiocese of Durban.