History of Sacred Dance:
To avoid plagiarism, and to keep this article to a somewhat reasonable length, I suggest you peruse This Article
To list a few examples of Historical Sacred Dances:
- Egyptian dance personifying Hathor
- The Whirling Dervish of Sufism
- The Hula of Hawaii
- The Eagle, Hoop, or Grass dances of the Native American Tribes.
Somatic Components:"Lewis Farnell, an anthropologist, observed that sacred dance has an "extraordinary uniformity" among indigenous peoples all over the world, something that he found so striking that it suggested either "belief in an ultimately identical tradition, or, perhaps more reasonably, the psychologic theory that ... [humans] at the same stage of development respond with the same ... religious act to the same stimuli" from the environment."
There are tangible effects and purposes somatic elements in rituals. A specific gesture, a repeated movement, the perfect angle of ones hand. Some rituals are so particular in their requirements even the slightest misstep (literally) can prove disastrous. If we extrapolate/esoterise the above theory and what we know regarding somatic elements, regardless of their intended purpose, the actual dance of the "ritual" appear produces some form of energy from/within the human body. The ritual directs or binds said power to its intended purposes.
Freeform Dance:
Many sacred dance styles are freeform including Shamanistic Ecstatic Dance and multiple instances described in the Hebrew Bible. The participants are free to let the music guide them toward the intended purpose without the need to follow specific steps. The effects of these rituals are believed to have a wide range of influence. Internal and external to the participants, immediate and for extended time frames. The shared intent of the performance is what shaped its purpose, allowing for more fine-tuned application of the generated energies by the participants. This form does not lend itself to covert intent or unintentional participation of the performer as the meaning of the dance to the dancer is what drives its expression. A group or "coven" of practitioners may be able to use this form to great effect. Keep that in mind the next time you see a flash mob or interpretive dance troupe. There may even be solo practitioners at the local Rave or club really making the night "Magical"!
Guided Dance:
A more hands-on shaping of ritual somatic expression may be evident in the form of Caller led dances. Square, Contra, Irish Set, Circle, and various other folk dances consist of predetermined actions performed at the direction of a "Caller". For our purposes, the Caller is likely the practitioner actively guiding the somatic ritual. Like a conductor, the caller orchestrates a symphony of energy, guiding and shaping it to their intent. Here is where we can lead into unwitting participation by the performers. Only the caller need know what form or purpose the ritual takes, surreptitiously syphoning the generated energies from the participants to their goals.
Popular Rote dance:
There is an equally diverse and extensive history of rote dance styles. The Waltz, the Charleston, the various hops or slides, and who can forget the truly devious Macarena. All manner of prescribed movements to be followed to the letter and in number. Their embodiments are also numerous. The Duality of the Waltz with the lead and follow. The homogony of the slide or macarena. The Chaos of the Harlem Shake. The physical power of the "Gangnam Style" can be seen Here.
Is it possible some of these trends and fads are "artificial"? The Dance itself designed by a very clever practitioner weaving a distributed ritual. Even perhaps adding a small compulsion into the form to pull in as many as possible? (How else do you explain the Macarena!) What sort of power do you suppose a few thousand people performing the same somatic actions in unison set to the same verbal/audible elements would generate? What sort of ritual could you fuel?
The price of Failure:
Of course, any development of a new ritual comes with the risk of adverse or runaway effects. If designed poorly, it could result in something akin to the Dancing Plague of 1518.
In 1518 a woman by the name of Frau Troffea started to dance outside of her home in Strasbourg in what is now France. Some who witnessed her began to mimic her movements and within the day upwards of thirty victims were involved. Dancing constantly, some were so gripped by the event only death could stop them includeing heart attacks and stroke. A total of ~400 people were swept up into this catastrophic overrun that lasted for nearly three months. Some theorize that the method used to free these people of their compulsion was to syphon the energy using the Sacred St. Vitus rituals. St. Vitus is believed to punish sinners by compelling them to dance uncontrollably, so by harnessing the victims in the vestments of St. Vitus' ritual, the runaway energy of the failed ritual was syphoned off and the victims were freed of their compulsion and "Forgiven by Vitus".
In Conclusion:
Humans are social beings and dance brings us close to eachother in a unique way. It is a powerful expression of beautiful beings. My aim with this article is not to cast dacing in a devious light, but to expand our perception of what is possible. What truths can we find in the use of dance as a somatic expression? What possible purposes could such extensive and expansive siphons be put towards? What horrors could concentrating that much energy cause? It is only with eyes and minds open that we may proceed.
Thank you for your time.