𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨-𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐭𝐬 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞
Abstract: Dance held a complex and often morally ambiguous role in the Greco-Roman world, especially within the context of pagan religious rituals and public spectacles. While it was used for entertainment and religious expression, dance was also associated with eroticism, emotional excess, and idolatrous rites. This paper examines how these negative connotations influenced early Christian perceptions of dance, contributing to its exclusion from Christian worship practices despite its earlier prominence in the Old Testament. Introduction In the ancient Mediterranean world, dance functioned as a powerful form of ritual, cultural expression, and entertainment. However, unlike its generally celebratory and sacred use in Old Testament worship, dance in Greco-Roman paganism carried associations with sensuality, theatrical excess, and religious syncretism. The early Church, emerging within this cultural context, distanced itself from such expressions, emphasizing moral purity, ord...