Dancing Bodies, Walt Whitman, and the Gloria: Queer Sacramentality in Paul Taylor’s "Beloved Renegade"

Paul Taylor’s "Beloved Renegade" is a modern dance choreographed to the music of Francis Poulenc’s "Gloria." Even though the words and music are liturgical, Taylor’s choreography is based on the life of Walt Whitman, a poet who largely eschewed traditional religion. Building on this unexpected combination, this paper examines the conversation between the liturgical text/music and the choreography in this piece as an example of the Catholic sacramental imagination. The "queerness" of the piece transforms a prayer of praise and petition into a celebration of incarnational theology.