In the mainstream medical systems in the United States, mental and physical health are usually addressed separately, and both are thoroughly disconnected from religion or spirituality. But many other systems, historically and today, take a more holistic approach. Ethnomusicologist Rebecca Uberoi examines one such approach, the idea of “dancing away sorrow” embraced by the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) of Dublin.
CAC is a Pentecostal denomination formed by Yoruba people in Nigeria in the early twentieth century. In 2012 and 2013, Uberoi, a white British Pentecostal Christian, attended services at the Dublin church and interviewed leaders and congregants. The congregation’s 150–200 weekly worshipers were almost all Yoruba people from the Nigerian immigrant community.
Many of Uberoi’s interviewees contrasted dancing in church with going out to pubs or nightclubs. In those secular settings, they said, dancing “for fun”—combined with drinking alcohol—could only make a person feel happy in the short term.
Dancing away sorrow is a different matter. It relates to a holistic view of mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. The church’s senior pastor, Dr. Adewale Kuyebi, told Uberoi that, in his view, some but not all illnesses have spiritual causes.
He and others told Uberoi that they viewed themselves as being in a spiritual battle with evil forces that requires great strength and forcefulness. In worship, this means loud voices and vigorous movements.
“The physicality of prayer in CAC Dublin reflects a belief in the interconnectivity of the material and spiritual realms,” Uberoi writes.
One of the manifestations of the forces of evil that the CAC congregants see themselves in battle with is depression. As in many African spiritual and healing systems, mental symptoms can reflect a disruption of human interactions with the spirit world—in this case the relationship with God. Or it may reflect an attack from an outside force of evil, either people practicing witchcraft or Satan himself.
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The CAC congregation models its sacred dance on the actions of King David, who, in 2 Samuel 6:16, dances before God as a sign of humility and thanks. They employ particular postures, including stooping, prostrations, and rolling on the floor as ways of embodying thankfulness to God. Another set of gestures—waving arms and punching into the air—represent the aggressive confrontation of Satan. More intense motions are understood to be more effective in fighting evil.
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Crucially, dance in the church takes place in the context of community, with the energy of fellow congregants lifting the spirits of those who are suffering. At the same time, music and dancing helps unify the community in shared emotion and spiritual feeling. Uberoi describes a woman who took her hand to dance with a smile and said, “This is fun, isn’t it?”
“The actions of this member were intended both to draw me into community through dance and to direct my attention to joy,” she writes.
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