Dancing the Word : An Exploration of the Role of Contemporary Liturgical Dance within Catholic Theology

ABSTRACT: In this paper I present the results of an artistic and theological research project called Heart Space. Heart Space is a dance performance that incorporates the liturgical form of the Eucharist and addresses the need for healing after trauma and abuse within church communities. The piece is performed by two dancers, a singer, a poet, and a Catholic priest. The hybrid form of the eucharist-dance performance demands theological reflection about the realness/falseness of the nature of the event. What does this contemporary dance reveal about our perceptions of dance and ritual/Eucharist? What is the role of these experiment, as practice-as-research, for the field of theology? In this paper I will highlight the main structure of the performance in relation to some key insights regarding the themes of "realness", "form", "sacramentality", and "repetition".

Heart Space has been performed in Leuven (March 2023), Antwerp (November 2023) and Frankfurt (December 2023) and will be presented again in Brussels and Würzburg.

Dr Sander Vloebergs is a choreographer and a postdoctoral researcher in theology and religious studies (funded by FWO). His current research is focused on the histories of liturgical dance and the use of choreographic investigation as practice-as-research methodology for Catholic theology. His research interests are mystical theology, medieval art, religion and art, dance history, and theologies of the body.