Flood lights of white show the crowd, intermixed with laser beams of green and red. An awe-inspiring display of LED lights illuminate the darkness of the bay leading out to the Atlantic Ocean. Although it’s March, the salt air is warm and humid. I can feel the sweat on my neck jumping off my skin as my whole body shakes with the bass coming from the mainstage. My muscles are weirdly relaxed as I dance. I can still hear the bar progression of the melodic synths: quick drum kicks, heavy drawn-out basslines, the sound effects of a phaser building up the hype and anticipation. The harmonic vocals, “Raise your hands up,” repeat over and over as the music continues building. All of my senses are engaged in this moment. Among the crowd of 50,000 people are my brother and a couple of friends, all cheering and feeling the buildup. As the bass drops, I hear the cheers everywhere, and, looking around, see everyone dancing in sync to electronic dance music — EDM for short.
I remember feeling a sense of freedom, ecstatic joy and communion that I had only experienced one other time before: World Youth Day (WYD) in 2008 in Sydney, Australia. I realized I was having a spiritual experience, encountering God in a place most wouldn’t ever imagine finding God: dancing to EDM at Ultra Music Festival!
Shocking much? You betcha! Growing up, I never saw dancing as a way to encounter God. It wasn’t until graduate school at the University of Notre Dame where I studied theology that I began thinking differently about dancing and EDM. During an onboarding session, one of my professors talked with my cohort about the mystery of the Trinity. She described the love shared between the three Persons of the Trinity as a divine dance, kinetic and moving, not stuck or static. I was struck with wonder and awe thinking about God’s love as a divine dance. That moment reconciled my own perceived conflict between my faith and my love for EDM, which often received negative reactions from my church friends.
I realized I was having a spiritual experience, encountering God in a place most wouldn’t ever imagine finding God.
Having danced at countless raves and as a DJ now myself, I’ve reflected a lot on how I find our Triune God through EDM and dancing. It is a full-bodied, sacramental experience that engages all of my senses, including movement similar to Catholic liturgy. From the lasers and flood lights shining through the fog, to feeling the bass from the speakers, to the haunting melodies and harmonic vocals that give me goosebumps, EDM places me into a state of trance similar to what a beautiful liturgical experience does.
I’ve also discovered that dance is a universal human experience that connects us deeper to one another. Special moments of the human experience are marked by dancing; the celebration of high school seniors with proms or the union of a marriage with wedding receptions. One of my favorite scenes from the television series “The Chosen” is the Wedding Feast of Cana where we see Jesus dancing with his apostles. Rather than sitting on a throne away from the wedding guests, it is beautiful to imagine Emmanuel, God with us, bringing us all together on a dance floor! Being connected with 50,000 plus people at Ultra dancing to the same music (much of it instrumental) reminded me of being with 500,000 Catholics at WYD. While we couldn’t speak the same language, we are all still connected. All human. All beloved.
For me, DJing has bridged two worlds I don’t think most people would imagine ever seeing as connected. My favorite conversations are when EDM friends discover I work for the Catholic Church. There is nothing like dropping Catholic bangers like the “Ave Maria” in your set and then afterwards having a spiritual conversation at 2 a.m. in a nightclub! I’ve found consolation discovering other faith-based DJs, such as Kaskade (a Chicago native and practicing Mormon) and Padre Guilherme (a Portuguese Catholic priest).
Interacting with the youth retreatants I DJ for through my ministry and seeing that they also find God through EDM is a grace, too. Recently one of my Catholic friends asked me to take him to a rave so he could experience it once before he joins the Franciscans. While he is a runner and regularly exercises, he said there was something particularly freeing for him to “dance the stress and tension away.” DJing EDM has brought my EDM and Catholic communities together through countless interactions like these, which ultimately has brought me closer to God.
John’s letter gives us the simplest definition of God: “God is love.” (1 John 4:8). One of my all-time favorite EDM tracks, “Thing Called Love” by Above & Beyond, says:
“There’s a thing called love that we all forget. And it’s a wasted love that we all regret. You live your life just once, so don’t forget about a thing called love. Don’t forget about a thing called love.”
I don’t know another image more beautiful than imagining the Trinity as that ancient “divine dance.” EDM is how I enter into that divine dance that is love. St. Ignatius invites us to find God in all things. Maybe consider EDM and the dance floor as a place of encountering God!
