Liturgical Worship-(Mime)

Psalm 150

The art form of Gospel Mime is a unique praise and worship practice within the African American Church community that combines popular gospel music with the theatrical medium of miming. One of the most recent forms of praise song and dance to emerge in Black congregations' nation-wide, whereas traditional gospel performances are structured around live vocal and instrumental performances, Gospel Mime blends non-verbal communication with pre-recorded gospel music.

As a ministry, Gospel Mime expands the line of liturgical song and dance, which has been an important part of Black Christian worship services since the 1970s, and has sparked debate about the role of dance and the body in worship practices. This thesis seeks to historicize Black gospel performance within the framework of an African American music continuum in order to locate Gospel Mime as a nationally mediated and popularized circuit of Black expressive culture that produces meaning—both celebrated and contested—about race, religion, and gender.

By investigating the history, social meanings, and embodied practices of Gospel Mime as an innovative outlet for creative spiritual expression rooted in traditional gospel practice, this thesis analyzes Gospel Mime as a set of aesthetic values and practices that articulate African American identities through sound and gesture.