According to the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, “all dancing, (ballet, children’s gestures as dancing, the clown liturgy) are not permitted to be ‘introduced into liturgical celebrations of any kind whatever.” This statement is based on the 1975, document of the Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship titled Religious Dance, An Expression of Spiritual Joy (Notitae II [1975] 202-205), in which it is described as a “qualified and authoritative sketch” of the subject and said it was to be considered “an authoritative point of reference for every discussion on the matter.” This document forbids the use of liturgical dance in the Latin rite Church and there are no exceptions given to this directive.
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