Dance as a physiological/psychological need

[pygmalion]

Okay. So I admit I'm getting a bit philsophical here. But I've noticed that virtually every culture has dance in it. It may ritualized. It may be religious. It may be casual, or even prohibited. But virtually every culture has dance in it, in one form or another.

Why do you think that is? Is dance a psycological or physical necessity of the human condition? Or does it fill some other need? Why do people dance? Almost everybody does. What's that about? :wink: 8) :D

[Sagitta]

Depends on what you consider dancing, if you say that almost everyone does it. Dancing is a form of passionate expression, whether done ritualistically or socially. Almost everyone has passions. One way to express them is verbally and the other is non-verbally through bodily expression and movement, that is dance.

[squirrel]

:) I think dance is supposed to fulfill both needs... it appeals to our souls and is done using our bodies... the sensation of freedom and relaxation is similar to no other experience... except for love-making...

[Genesius Redux]

There's not a doubt about it. Chimpanzees spontaneously dance at times, twirling in circular patterns (which makes you wonder about the deeper meanings of turning basics, spins, line of dance, etc.) See Wolfgang Kohler, The Mentality of the Ape--he talks about individual chimps engaged in a game of whirling dervishes, and then about the entire group of chimps engaging in what he calls "elaborate motion patterns." He writes:

[T]wo would wrestle and tumble near a post; soon their movements would become more regular and tend to describe a circle round the post as a center. One after another, the rest of the group approach, join the two, and finally march in an orderly fashion round and round the post. The character of their movements changes; they no longer walk, they trot, and as a rule with special emphasis on one foot, while the other steps lightly, thus a rough approximate rhythm develops, and they tend to "keep time" with one another....

Joseph Campbell, commenting on this passage, actually compares the central pole of the chimpanzees to the Cosmic Tree, world mountain, or axis mundi of so many religious symbologies. The stations of the cross, in Catholic ritual, are also organized in a roughly circular pattern around the edges of the Church. You can wonder at the deeper connections between the stations of the cross enacted around the cruciform Church, the maypole dance, the chimpanzees around their tree, and the rush of a Viennese waltz.

Don't even get me started on dogs.... :wink:

[salsachinita]

Don't even get me started on dogs.... :wink:

:P I am interested......... :wink:

[Genesius Redux]

Don't even get me started on dogs.... :wink:

:P I am interested......... :wink:

Well, you've seen dogs dancing, Salsachinita. You know what I mean? When they suddenly have to run in a huge circle? My Airedale, every now and then, when he's in a particular mood, gets so excited he has to do what we call a tuckbuttrun. Tucks his butt underneath him and tears around in a circle. Isn't that dance?

Or take Christina75's avatar--beagle dancing.

Isn't all that circular running an approximation of the curving strands of the double helix, like the entwined serpents of the caduceus around the Tree of Life? Or even a reflection of energy (i.e. life) at the atomic or even the subatomic level?

Space is curved, objects are in orbit, line of dance travels in a circle to return to its point of origin, knee bends as legs straighten, opposites are reflected in the tao, dance is life. 8)

[LindyKeya]

When they suddenly have to run in a huge circle? My Airedale, every now and then, when he's in a particular mood, gets so excited he has to do what we call a tuckbuttrun. Tucks his butt underneath him and tears around in a circle. Isn't that dance?



Oh yes! With my Toy Fox Terrier we call this "DragButt." My husband has actually made this into a game with my dog. He loves it! And at other times, he just runs himself in one little circle, usually when he is excited (like when he's getting a treat or something).

[Genesius Redux]

Oh yes! With my Toy Fox Terrier we call this "DragButt." My husband has actually made this into a game with my dog. He loves it! And at other times, he just runs himself in one little circle, usually when he is excited (like when he's getting a treat or something).

DragButt! What a great term! Yes, it does seem to be a specific terrier thing--my parents' wire fox used to do the same thing. :lol:

[Sagitta]

From dance as a need to dragbut!! :roll:

[Sabor]

lets try this hypothesis ..

dance is emotion, expression and art. All of which are a natural basics of being human and alive. People and all forms of developed life for that matter need communication ... words are not enough.. action is stronger.. hence, dance becomes one of the necessities of feeling alive.

[JohnK]

Many if not most animals perform some sort of motion oriented dance-like courting ritual prior to mating (if you ever have the Nature Channel on for awhile, they seem to work an example in on a regular basis). Guess that's where the term "mating dance" comes from. Good way to demonstrate neuromuscular health to a potential mate. So I'd speculate that the need to dance is hardwired deep in our "primal" brains, though we humans have certainly elaborated it way past its original function(s).