SACRED DANCE
VOLUME 4 NUMBER 2
Summer 1979
Ritual dance is not performance as we customarily think of it. Strictly speaking, there is no theater, no audience, no acting. These features suggest an abstraction from life which is not present in this case. Ritual dance is not simply a comment on life, nor a remembrance of things past, nor an entertainment; although some aspect of all of these is present. Ritual movement is part of a highly symbolic process by which life and a way of life for a specific people gains transcendent significance. The process functions to evoke fundamental structures and patterns from the tradition and thereby to establish a meaningful form in which the future may unfold. There is no message in the dance short of the meaning of life itself. --from the editorial Focus
ARTICLES
TO THE UNIVERSE BELONGS TO THE DANCER Elaine H. Pagels
The Jesus Round Dance in the Acts of John.
LABYRINTHS Rosemary Jeanes
Clues to the mysteries of the maze.
A PARADIGM OF NAVAJO DANCE David P. McAllester
Powwow, Disco, and the Enemyway ceremony--is all dance sacred to the Navajo?
BALI: BEHIND THE MASK Anita Daniel
A photographic essay on Balinese dance in lesson and performance.
LEARNING ON THE MOMENT: A Conversation with Peter Brook
The brilliant and controversial director discusses his aim in theater and film.
DYNAMIC BALANCE IN THE SUBATOMIC WORLD
Fritjof Capra
Movement and change paralleled in the sciences of matter and spirit.
TAI CHI--SPIRITUAL MARTIAL ART William L. Prensky
A student of the ancient form describes the conditions of struggle it creates.
ARCS: ALL LIVES... ALL DANCES... ALL IS LOUD...
RITUAL OF REBIRTH Annemarie Schimmel
The origin and experience of the whirling dervish dance.
TANGENTS: Reviews
REFLECTION ON REFLECTION John Anthony West
Keith Critchlow's film demonstrates the underlying structure of all forms.
EPICYCLES: Traditional Stories from around the World
THE PLAIN OF TRUTH Greek
THE NISHAN SHAMANESS Manchu
Retold by Paul Jordan-Smith
THE FIRST DANCE Dogon (African)
Adapted by Winifred Lambrecht
LORD OF THE DANCE Hindu
Retold by D. M. Dooling
KATE CRACKERNUTS Orkney Islands
Retold by Thomas White
