The most eccentric and defining aspect of the Shakers was their form of dance, the earliest of which was spontaneous. They whirled themselves around, trembling and shaking ecstatically until they fell to the floor in a trance. They believed the dance kindled the fire of truth and the shaking warded off evil.
The Shakers danced, either with their arms bent and hands held palm up or clasped in prayer near their hearts. They danced in straight lines, women on one side of the large meeting room facing the men standing in rows on the other side. Several Shaker manuscripts show that Simple Gifts is a Dancing Song or a Quick Dance.
Think about it for a moment. The Shakers danced during church services in the mid 1700′s. Yes they started out in proper lines as was the custom in proper society’s ball rooms but this was not stiff, stilted dancing. The Shakers dancing evolved into an expression of ecstatic joy.
‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free
/ ‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight. / When true simplicity is gain’d, To bow and to bend we shan’t be asham’d,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come ’round right
(Simple Gifts by Elder Joseph while he was at the Shaker community in Alfred, Maine.)
Shaker Sisters demonstrating dance positions from the documentary The Shakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God by Ken Burns, 1984
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