ABSTRACT
Formed by Christianity, which prohibited dance as a means of religious experience and expression, Germany – like many other European countries – does not have a religious dance tradition. Encouraged by the knowledge of foreign religions and cultures, holistic ideas, new age movements, feminist theology and so forth, supporters of dance have made attempts to establish new forms of religious dance. Due to the lack of recourse in their own history, they have orientated themselves towards foreign dance traditions. A particular adopted dance can appear in different religious contexts. Slowly, new music and choreography are being created according to the needs of each group. Some use foreign religious dances as a gateway to a particular religion (for example classical Indian dances, Hawaiian Hula), while others modify foreign religious dances for their own (sometimes non-religious) needs (for example Oriental and African dance). Professional ballet companies have turned to religious topics and to foreign religious dance traditions. They transpose sacred music and use churches as new stages. Dance can also be a means of maintaining ties with the home culture for immigrants (for example Tamil Hindus, Native American Indians). Religionswissenschaft has just started to deal with non-verbal expressions in general and with religious dance and music in particular as serious fields of research.
