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Author Topic: Is Ballet Immoral?  (Read 1649 times)

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Offline Ladislaus

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Re: Is Ballet Immoral?
« Reply #90 on: Yesterday at 08:14:20 PM »
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  • I think that there are only a very limited few forms of dance that do not violate Catholic modesty, and even that must be accompanied by modest dress.  Finally, even with these, it's inappropriate for someone who's already committed (a married person) to be paired up with someone other than his or her spouse, since there can be much more to immodesty than merely looking and touching.  There can be inappropriate emotional interaction, looks, facial expressions, etc.

    IMO ... just avoid dance altogether.  There's very little benefit to that nonsense that isn't completely offset by the potential dangers.

    I've also long felt that there's something unbecoming about frenetic physical activity.  Why?  Since it's a sitution where people are letting their bodies, and the rhythms that move their bodies effectively taken on a life of their own, where their bodily nature aren't directly subordinate to reason.  Where is reason involved when you're flailing around like that.  It's largely an unthinking type of endeavor.  I can't imagine either Our Lady or Our Lord dancing, ever, regardless of the type of dance, since it's beneath their dignity and unbecoming.  Just as it would be disedifying to see a priest or a nun dance ... despite the Novus Ordo turning such into celebrities, I think that all Catholics are called to be holy also, and while certain forms of dance may not be sinful, it's also undignified, i.e. beneath our dignity as temples of the Holy Ghost.

    Voodoo, for instance, infamously entails getting into a frenzy as the result of frenetic body movement that puts them into an altered state of consciousness (combined also with some drugs) ... that then enable them to "get in touch" with dark entities.

    I liken it to someone who, say, walks around farting and then laughing about it.  While not necessarily sinful, and perhaps venial at most, due to causing disedification, that too woudl be beneath the dignity of a Catholic who's trying to be holy.  Could we imagine a priest or nun walking around farting?

    St. John Vianney famously refused absolution to those who continued to participate in dances, and those dances were far more modest than anything people tend to do today.

    Offline Ladislaus

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    Re: Is Ballet Immoral?
    « Reply #91 on: Yesterday at 08:26:05 PM »
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  • Saint Joan of Arc, pray for us.

    Yeah, yeah.  Just because God will occasionally raise someone up to an extraordinary calling does not mean that, generally speaking, something is to be recommended to all.  St. Rose of Lima disfigured herself to ensure that no one might be tempted by her beautify, but most theologians hold that generally speaking self-disfigurement would be sinfulf.  She, however, had evidently been acting under the influence of the Holy Ghost in order for God to communicate with the world the importance of modesty in a dramatic way.

    Similarly, despite St. Joan's particular calling, it's generally contrary to and harmful for female nature for women to be involved in combat.  So you can stop "white knighting" (pun intended) now, as many Trads tend to do.  She was raised up to lead battle for God to send a message, several messages ... in way that nothing short of her dramatic example could have communicated.


    Offline Miseremini

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    Re: Is Ballet Immoral?
    « Reply #92 on: Yesterday at 08:37:44 PM »
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  • Remember the story of St Jean Vianney about the girl at a dance?

    "The Scapular – A Powerful Weapon against the Devil
    Sep 28, 2021 / Written by: America Needs Fatima
    Abbé Francis Trochu, in his book, The Cure D’Ars, relates a story of a young lady who, having decided to consecrate her life to religion, sought the holy pastor of Ars, Saint John Vianney, for a general confession.

    When she finished relating her sins, St. John Vianney asked her if she was not forgetting something. The girl, upon recollecting her thoughts, could not recall anything else. The holy priest then proceeded to refresh her memory.

    He asked her if she remembered a certain dance where she encountered a handsome young man with whom she desired to dance, but who, in turn, only danced with the other girls, passing her up.

    Surprised, again she replied in the affirmative, that such was indeed true. The Cure D’Ars then asked her if she remembered how downcast she had felt at the snub, and how, upon leaving the ballroom, she had glanced back once more and had seen the young man dancing with a girl, but this time there were two small blue lights under his feet.

    Again she agreed and confirmed that in fact she had seen the two blue lights under the youth’s feet, but that, finding them strange, she could not account for them.

    Saint John Vianney then explained to her that the young man was in fact the Devil in human form, and that the only reason why he would not dance with her was because she was wearing the holy Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel."
    If the holy Cure had her remember that specific occasion during a general confession he must have considered her desire to dance a sin.


    "Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered: and them that hate Him flee from before His Holy Face"  Psalm 67:2[/b]