The Redemption of Bathsheba - "A collection of dances that evoke the spirits of the Bible's most intriguing women." - Saint John Chrysostom Byzantine Catholic Church, Pittsburgh, PA. Even if done outside the Liturgy, is this appropriate inside a sanctuary? Discuss.
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No, this is not an acceptable use of the space. The temple is for the worship of God, it isn't a dance hall.
ReplyDeleteTrue. I am very disappointed that this church allowed this. I have been there and thought it traditional.
DeleteOuch. It seems like some of the Latin abuses are rubbing off on the Byzantine Catholics.
ReplyDeleteLiturgical dance - if there is something I cannot stomach it's liturgical dance. Just a question though. We have very little room in our Fellowship Hall so our Church School Nativity Play is always held in the temple, as well as Annual Meeting, retreats, lectures, etc... The Nativity Play often has a children's dance or ballet type piece in it (Russians, you know). I do not find this offensive in the same way I find this Bathsheba junk. Should there be a difference and why?
ReplyDeleteThat was Andy Warhol's parish.
ReplyDeleteThe inappropriateness of dancing aside, one has to wonder who thought those costumes would be appropriate for wearing inside the church as well.
ReplyDeleteI was recently visiting an Orthodox church where they had no separate fellowship hall. Out of necessity the kitchen opened up onto the sanctuary and the post liturgy meal was eaten on tables that were hastily set up in the sanctuary after the service ended. Meanwhile the kids in the Greek dance troop practiced their dances over on the other side of the room.
ReplyDeleteThere may be a difference between what I witnessed and what is depicted here, but I'm still not sure what to think about either one.
Answer: No.
ReplyDeleteOn one of the pilgrimages I went on to the monasteries of Meteora I remember a person in our group taking a photo of some people by an icon of St. Haralambos and scolding the young lady when instead of standing beside the icon she sort of stood in front of it. He told her she shouldn't have her back to the icon and so she promptly moved to the side. (Turning your back on someone is a particularly rude thing to do to someone in Greek culture. I've observed people always apologize if they had to turn their back to you while doing something or speaking to someone).
ReplyDeleteAll of this is just to say that that photo where the ballerina's foot looks like it's on Christ's head is a perfect example of why this practice is irreverent. Their intentions probably aren't bad, but the result is irreverence.
I agree with Matushka Constantina: It is visually incongruous and my first response was to be startled and slightly embarrassed for the young women who are allowed to think that it is fit for them to turn their back on the altar and pose in graceful provocation.
ReplyDeleteI also understand the ambivalence that happens when we think about ourselves standing before the Creator, standing before the Trinity, naked and ashamed. Is He ashamed of us at that point? I don't believe so. So that however we meet him, we are loved. And then as an addendum, I noted that they have on more yards of fabric than many young women in the communion line...as a point of some noteworthy comparison.
So it seems to me that the difficulty is not with being offensive to God, but of what happens when we choose things of the earth over things of the Kingdom, and these photos make it perfectly clear in material content and in posture, which is which. And there was no matter of choice in terms of space and possibility here. This was a clear preferential choice to stage the performance and the photo shoot right there.
And then there was the odd thing that happened as I was looking at the photos: I kept waiting for a figure to appear with a bloody head resting on a gold plate...slightly out of time with the intended performance but perhaps indicative of something greater......In Christ, M.
My last parish had to have meals in the sanctuary because there was nowhere else to do it. The neighboring parish had a single building with simple movable dividers so that meals were somewhat artificially separated from the sanctuary. We do what we must. Communal meals in the house churches of the apostolic fathers so there is some precedent.
ReplyDeleteI'll chime in to say that, to me, if another location is not available (e.g. church hall or neighboring space) then something like this dancing event shouldn't be done at all.
Sigh. I don't know how things work in the BCC. Could the pastor decide this on his own or would he need a blessing from Metropolitan William? I imagine the parish old timers at Rus'ka Dolina were not amused. I could see a choral concert of religious themed music, even a Warhol retrospective in the vestibule if properly catalogued and curated, but this? No way.
ReplyDeleteno- I find this to be an outrage- rent a tent and put it in the parking lot if there is no fellowship hall- it doesn't matter if the content was 'okay'- the format was not (my girls are singers and dancers- I would never allow them to do this)
ReplyDeleteThis church does have a fairly large fellowship hall in the basement. The church is large, but the parishioners are few due to many young moving from Pittsburgh.
DeleteI attended this event.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, it was not held during Divine Liturgy or any of the Divine Services, therefore it was not liturgical dance. So, get over it.
Secondly, for a church to act as as venue for other performances is not something new, just something rarely done in the west.
Thirdly, I feel for a Byzantine Church to hold such an affair opens the church to people who may have never set foot in one and may hopefully be moved and intrigued to return some Sunday to see how worship of God in this particular church occurs - very good form of evangelization! Which I must say the Byzantine Catholic Church as a whole does not do - they don't even have an office for it...you can confirm that by calling their Chancery Office.
1. No. I won't.
Delete2. It's not so rare. It's rather common in fact. This goes beyond that.
3. I don't see how this can intrigue anyone towards church attendance any more than a Metallica concert at an elementary school would prompt parents to send their children there. Heavy metal has little to do with children's education - leotards and evocative dance before the high place has little to do with the sacrifice of the Eucharist.
This is very damaging to Ecumenical dialogue with the Orthodox. I think the papal nuncio should be informed about this event.
ReplyDeleteTypical Catholic. No, being Eastern doesn't make you Orthodox. Once you separate yourself from the Chalcedonian Orthodox Church (ie, fleeing to Rome), anything goes.
ReplyDelete