This paper traces the history of the dance as a religious expression. Dance rituals identifying with a deity predate written history and have persisted in all cultures up to modern times. Individual and group ecstacy induced by dancing enacted man's relationship to God as well as interpreting God to people of widely different cultural backgrounds. The ancient pagan rite of dancing as a religious expression was so deeply ingrained in the human need for vivid and enthusiastic experience that it was carried into the very early Christian church. Gradually, as church organization and authority grew, it became formalized and at length repressed. While spontaneous dancing remains a part of ritualized religion in primitive cultures, with the exception of a few minor cults it is no longer a feature of western religions. Recently, however, interest in the dance incorporated into liturgical worship has revived. It presently takes the form of structured religious interpretation by professional dancers. (JD)