Latter-day Saints and Dance

Latter-day Saints love dance.

Thou shalt be diligent in preserving what thou hast, that thou mayest be a wise steward; for it is the free gift of the Lord thy God, and thou art his steward.

If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving.

If thou art sorrowful, call on the Lord thy God with supplication, that your souls may be joyful (Doctrine and Covenants 136:27-29).

History of Dance in the Church of Jesus Christ

Dancing was already firmly established in the Latter-day Saint culture. “In 1830 when the Church was organized, many Christian denominations were hostile toward recreation and play, particularly dance. However, the Prophet Joseph Smith and his successors advocated dance and participated in recreational dancing. Joseph Smith was a skillful dancer and enjoyed hosting dances in his home (Holbrook, p. 122). Brigham Young and the Quorum of the Twelve “danced before the Lord” to the music of a small orchestra in the Nauvoo Temple after long days of joyous participation in temple ordinances. ^[1]

Said Brigham Young:

Our work, our everyday labor, our whole lives are within the scope of our religion.This is what we believe, and what we try to practice. Recreation and diversion are as necessary to our well-being as the most serious pursuits of life. If you wish to dance, dance, and you are just as prepared for prayer meeting as you were before, if you are Saints. ^[2]

“‘Dance is part of our culture,’ says Lee Wakefield, former chair of Brigham Young University’s dance department. ‘Mormons danced when they crossed the plains to Utah, and one of the first buildings they built was a dance hall.'”[1]

A practice that was part of LDS culture for many years had to do with dancing and departing missionaries. Shortly before the young elder left for the mission field, a dance in his honor took place in the cultural hall of the church. In the February 1904 issue of the Improvement Era, Don C. W. Musser explained why the Latter-day Saints would find this appropriate. He said:

They find nothing incompatible with their ideas of true religion, in the innocent pleasure of dancing. In fact, like God’s people of ancient times, they find this one way of rejoicing together, and of giving vent to their feelings of gratitude for blessings daily received. In early times, while pushing their handcarts across the plains, they frequently danced under the light of the moon and stars, and around their camp fires, because their hearts were so full of praise, words could not express it, and they had to dance. And it has always been a custom with them, to give their departing missionaries a farewell . . . , and in no way can this end be better accomplished than in a dance. [Don C. W. Musser, “A Peculiar Custom of a Peculiar People,” Improvement Era 7, no. 4 (February 1904): 297–98]

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