Delightful Dancing: Jesus’ Aesthetic Incarnation on the Victorian Stage

Abstract

Considering three of Stewart Headlam’s works integrating theology and dance—particularly The Laws of Eternal Life, The Theory of Theatrical Dancing, and The Function of the Stage—this paper underscores how Headlam centralized dance’s affective dependence on Jesus’ incarnation. With such a high emphasis on Jesus’ aesthetic incarnation, Headlam’s urgently desired for all people to have access to beauty—particularly the industrial poor and marginalized music hall dancers. Thus, the paper closely reads the three aforementioned works in chronological order, ending with Headlam’s synthesis of the theological relationship of the Church and stage. Finally, the paper recognizes how Headlam’s theology of the stage is groundbreaking for both modern Anglicans and theology and art scholars. Nevertheless, the paper is ultimately critical of Headlam’s work. His incarnational Anglicanism rests on eschatological aesthetics—it is utopic and lacks any robust sense of the present human ability to combat sin.