Proper gestures, signs, and rituals were important for orthopraxis in the Middle Ages; they affected the way religion was “lived out,” since the body was a site where religion was experienced. Analyzing fifteenth-century pastoralia from Vadstena Abbey in Sweden, this article argues that didactic textual representations of dancing reveal elements of lived religion. The imagined dancing in preachers’ exempla served as a warning against illicit behavior, while for the audience it could evoke corporeal praying and an alternative way of celebrating liturgical feasts. Both perspectives have in common, however, an understanding of dancing as a shared experience and intercorporeal communication that created spiritual communitas.

You do not currently have access to this content.