Thesis Chapter 1: The Church and dance.

From the 9th to the 12th century, we only know about dance through the eyes of churchmen, and above all through their prohibitions on dance practices, for throughout the Middle Ages, the Church fought against and denigrated dance. From the earliest centuries, the Fathers of the Church forbade dancing because the new religion wished to free itself from the old cults; indeed, dance was often used to honor the gods in Antiquity. On the other hand, even in the Bible, dancing appears as a pagan practice. But despite repeated efforts by the Church to eradicate dance, medieval man never stopped dancing, and numerous festivals ensured the survival of dance practices inherited from ancient times. The Church also shunned dancing, as dance and lust were too often closely linked. Indeed, lasciviousness was one of the particularities that the Church reproached to dances in general, and to Salomé's dance in particular. On the other hand, while there's no denying the existence of religious dances in the Middle Ages, we can't say that they were customary in religious services. The Church could not totally condemn dancing, for it also exists in biblical texts with a positive connotation, and David dancing before the Ark of the Covenant is undoubtedly the best-known theme of the "sacred dance". The Church was thus to put forward an idea that was to gain ground throughout the Middle Ages: dancing was in fact a work of the Devil, and its practice outside the limits tolerated by the Church was an impious act. But while the Church's attitude to dancing was unequivocal in terms of its "principles", it was faced with a dilemma that posed problems even beyond the Middle Ages. Although it condemns dancing, the Church can hardly deny that, in biblical texts, dancing is sometimes used to praise the Lord. On the other hand, it seems that human beings, despite the strongest prohibitions, cannot help but dance. So, throughout the Middle Ages, the Church tried to "deal" with dance.