Chapter 4 Making Sense: Dance in Ancient Greek Mystery Cults and in Acts of John
In: ChoreonarrativesSearch for other papers by Karin Schlapbach in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Abstract
This chapter discusses how dance is able to make sense via the body in ancient Greek ritual contexts down to Gnostic Jesus-communities. It explores in particular the interplay between physical and emotional states provoked by witnessing dancers—e.g. desire or a sense of wonder—and processes of interpretation that aim to translate new or unsettling physical states into familiar and acceptable ones. In the imperial period the complex narrative genre of pantomime dominated the stages. All the more fascinating were non-representational dances and their power to captivate audiences with displays of sheer formal beauty and physical mastery. The first part of the chapter briefly traces this development and argues that the strong interest in non-representational dance we find in a number of literary texts from this period, especially the novels, betrays a refined awareness of the specific, pre-narrative expressivity such dances possess, which allows for powerful emotional experiences. The second, longer part underpins this claim with a scrutiny of the scant sources on dancing in ancient mystery cults and in early Jesus-communities. It shows that in these contexts, dances served both to unsettle the participants and to convey the experience of sense. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the episode of Jesus’ dance with the disciples in Acts of John (94–102). This dance and its subsequent explanation by Jesus himself illustrate perfectly well how the physical medium of dance, all the while being in need of interpretation, serves as a major tool in the construction and transmission of an overarching narrative.