1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,640 Speaker 1: Thing, get thing, get thing, thing getting thinet thinkt thing 2 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:08,479 Speaker 1: think think think thing thing thinking think think thing thing. Okay, 3 00:00:08,760 --> 00:00:10,840 Speaker 1: my mom's side of the family has this little song 4 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:13,159 Speaker 1: and we sing to kids. And I remember when my 5 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:16,599 Speaker 1: youngest cousin, Jesse, was tiny, like maybe nine months old. 6 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:19,439 Speaker 1: Somebody sat around a blanket and did the thinking think song, 7 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:24,119 Speaker 1: and this wet mouthed, grinning kid starts dancing, like really dancing, 8 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:26,439 Speaker 1: and all the women are freaking out because look at 9 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:30,000 Speaker 1: this tiny thing breaking it down. I was a teenager then, 10 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:33,320 Speaker 1: but I was legitimately taken aback, Like, how does this 11 00:00:33,479 --> 00:00:36,159 Speaker 1: brand new, soft little person know how to do that? Already? 12 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:39,360 Speaker 1: She doesn't know any words yet, she can't walk. She's 13 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:41,800 Speaker 1: like a cheese curd with arms and legs. So where 14 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:44,240 Speaker 1: does she learn how to dance? And why does she 15 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:46,880 Speaker 1: do it when we sing the Tinka think song? Why 16 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: indeed does music animate you or me? Why do we 17 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:53,800 Speaker 1: toe tap or chair dance or just not along while typing, 18 00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 1: I'm Dessa, You're listening to deeply human and in less 19 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:01,480 Speaker 1: than half an hour you're going to have a basic 20 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 1: understanding of why people dance. So get ready to impress 21 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 1: everyone at the next raid with your shouted explanations. Oh God, 22 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 1: when you hear music that you like, there's a chill 23 00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:20,240 Speaker 1: that starts from your head and goes all the way 24 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:21,959 Speaker 1: down to your feet and then it comes back up 25 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:26,840 Speaker 1: the other side. And so that chill, that feeling, you 26 00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:29,839 Speaker 1: just take it and ride that right into the movement. Okay, 27 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:35,520 Speaker 1: But then, if you are fortunate, you will experience that 28 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:41,560 Speaker 1: point where you just completely leave your body. Everything gets blurry. 29 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:44,520 Speaker 1: I'll see like um, kind of like an orange light. 30 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:49,320 Speaker 1: Sometimes it's silver, and then it's like I'm at another 31 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: location in the room, and then I'm watching myself dance. 32 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:58,920 Speaker 1: And that's the feeling that every dancer wants, you know, 33 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:02,080 Speaker 1: like you want that feel. It doesn't happen all the time, 34 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:04,800 Speaker 1: but when it does, it's the best thing that's happened 35 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:11,959 Speaker 1: all year. Darien Parker is a dancer and instructor with 36 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: Comb Bay Center for African Diaspora Dance in New York, 37 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: and he is dancing like a cent of the time. Yeah, 38 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:23,560 Speaker 1: even if I'm not teaching or performing, I'm always dancing 39 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:29,799 Speaker 1: in my room or in my head. I'm always making 40 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:35,440 Speaker 1: up choreography or imagining myself doing something or yeah, wait, 41 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:36,880 Speaker 1: are you saying that, like in the way that I 42 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 1: might have a song stuck in my head, you might 43 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 1: have a dance stuck in your head? Oh yeah, all 44 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:47,639 Speaker 1: the time. Darien may pose a particularly intense example, but 45 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:51,359 Speaker 1: there's neuroscientific evidence that all human brains are inclined to 46 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:55,360 Speaker 1: move when we listen to music. When people are simply 47 00:02:55,560 --> 00:03:00,239 Speaker 1: listening to music and yeah, not's moving their body. That's 48 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:02,960 Speaker 1: still in their brain, we see that that there's motor 49 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:07,639 Speaker 1: activation when they listen to music. Our motor cortex becomes activated. 50 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 1: So that's the part of the brain that is responsible 51 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:13,799 Speaker 1: for the planning, control and execution of voluntary movements. So 52 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:17,080 Speaker 1: even if we do not move, we are inclined to move. 53 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:21,160 Speaker 1: Our brain wants to move. That's Edith van Dyke. She 54 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: studies the way that people interact with music at Ghent 55 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:27,760 Speaker 1: University in Belgium, and her account of our brains dancing 56 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:30,560 Speaker 1: in our heads reminds me of like an office space 57 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 1: when a good song comes on and everybody's dancing in 58 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: their chairs. It's just this automatic urge to move. Edith 59 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:40,320 Speaker 1: says that our ability to process music might be built 60 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:43,760 Speaker 1: in just like languages. So there's something in our brain, 61 00:03:44,480 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 1: that is their naturally that makes us respond to music, 62 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 1: but so also in the bodily way also moving to music, 63 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 1: there's evidence of the music acquisition module in our brains. 64 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:00,640 Speaker 1: Research indicates that infants, as for the example of baby Jesse, 65 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:04,080 Speaker 1: moved to beats well before they're a year old, which 66 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 1: seems to suggest it's innate, were predisposed to move to music. 67 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: On a personal time scale, you probably made your first 68 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 1: dance move before you can remember it. And on an 69 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 1: anthropological time scale, Edith says the dancing most likely started 70 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:22,320 Speaker 1: with our species Homo sapiens, as opposed with other earlier hominids, 71 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,000 Speaker 1: and dancing has likely been instrumental in binding us to 72 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:29,479 Speaker 1: one another on the long term. Actually, something that has 73 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: been in dance at all times in our history is 74 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:38,200 Speaker 1: the social aspect. So moving together can be regarded as 75 00:04:38,279 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 1: a sort of social glue you increase your social bonding. 76 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:48,760 Speaker 1: Take for example, a rain dance. Probably there were a 77 00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:52,400 Speaker 1: lot of people in the communities who believed that when 78 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:55,800 Speaker 1: times were hearts and there wasn't a lot of rain 79 00:04:56,240 --> 00:05:00,120 Speaker 1: and crops were going to fill, that's when you are 80 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: dancing to the gods, that it would start to rape 81 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 1: some people might have believed that, but it's initially started 82 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:13,280 Speaker 1: from keeping the group together because in hard times, when 83 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:17,000 Speaker 1: there's not enough foods, there might be starvation, which can 84 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 1: leads to fights, to wars and so on. So it 85 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 1: is key to keep the group together to bear all 86 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:28,799 Speaker 1: of this together, social cohesion, motor cortex activation. I admit 87 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:31,920 Speaker 1: that I sort of thought an evolutionary explanation of dance 88 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:34,840 Speaker 1: was going to be mostly about sex, like you know 89 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 1: that whole thing. Dance is a vertical expression of a 90 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:43,839 Speaker 1: horizontal desire that stuff, of course. Yeah, well, okay, when 91 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:46,599 Speaker 1: you dance, it's a sexual display of fitness. You show 92 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 1: that you're physically fits, but also that you have a 93 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:54,960 Speaker 1: good working brain because you can conceptualize about things. You 94 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 1: understand the music when you have good feeling of rhythm. 95 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:02,040 Speaker 1: You could see it like that, moving in sync and 96 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: with style. Maybe the mark of a good mate. Okay, 97 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:09,520 Speaker 1: no anyone who implied. But now let's turn back to 98 00:06:09,560 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 1: our dancer, Darien. His focus is on West African traditions 99 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:19,680 Speaker 1: where specific dances are integral to the culture. So when 100 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:23,240 Speaker 1: you talk about dance West African dances, it's done in 101 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:28,159 Speaker 1: West Africa. You're talking about things that pretty much mark 102 00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:32,679 Speaker 1: every aspect of life, you know, So if someone passes away, 103 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:36,240 Speaker 1: if there's a wedding, if there's a birth of a child, 104 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:40,280 Speaker 1: if there's an initiation ceremony for a young girl or 105 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:43,880 Speaker 1: for a young boy, pretty much all aspects of life. 106 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:49,960 Speaker 1: The dance is very much an articulation of the philosophical system, 107 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:52,480 Speaker 1: you know, of the people. Can you explain that what 108 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:55,480 Speaker 1: does that mean? A dance that I'm teaching now is 109 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: a traditional dance for the Malnqua people, and this is 110 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:02,560 Speaker 1: a dance in which young girls mark their right of 111 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:08,560 Speaker 1: passage into womanhood. So there's one movement done, for instance, 112 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,520 Speaker 1: in which you reach to the sky, you come into 113 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 1: your body, and then you put your arms behind you, 114 00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:18,640 Speaker 1: and you keep doing that and repetitions the sky, come 115 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:21,640 Speaker 1: into your body with your arms behind. So essentially what 116 00:07:21,720 --> 00:07:25,920 Speaker 1: you're communicating is I take blessings from God, I bring 117 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:28,960 Speaker 1: them into my body, and then I scattered them throughout 118 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:31,640 Speaker 1: the earth. And then I take what I scattered throughout 119 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:33,960 Speaker 1: the earth, I bring them into my body and then 120 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:36,960 Speaker 1: I give it back as an offering unto God. And 121 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:40,240 Speaker 1: the ma Linqua people believe in that kind of constant 122 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 1: flow between k of the ethereal, the personal, and then 123 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:49,240 Speaker 1: the rest of society. So yeah, that one movement you 124 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:53,280 Speaker 1: kind of expressed that aspect of ma Linque philosophy behind 125 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:59,040 Speaker 1: Sky come Into and West African traditions. The body's movement 126 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:02,360 Speaker 1: is also the adduct of a really tight relationship between 127 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:04,920 Speaker 1: the dancers and the musicians who play with them. Like 128 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:08,120 Speaker 1: I've heard drummers bragging did you see the way I 129 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:11,560 Speaker 1: made him rip his own shirt? Okay, that does not 130 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:14,400 Speaker 1: refer to a dancer who like tears his shirt down 131 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:17,960 Speaker 1: the middle like some cheesy adonis. It's essentially about dancing 132 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:21,360 Speaker 1: a shirt into pieces. So if a drummer notices that 133 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:24,720 Speaker 1: a particular move seems to strain a dancer's garment, the 134 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:27,120 Speaker 1: drummer will get the dancer to do it again and 135 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:30,040 Speaker 1: again and with more and more intensity until the fabric 136 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:40,160 Speaker 1: just can't hold. Drummers are very very observant, skilled people, 137 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:43,719 Speaker 1: and they're like magicians. And I remember one time I 138 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 1: was dancing to Mama die Kata, who is known as 139 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:51,360 Speaker 1: like the pre eminent master drummer of Guinea and dancing 140 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 1: God Rest his soul. But I had the privilege of 141 00:08:55,559 --> 00:08:58,440 Speaker 1: dancing in a class where he was playing the lead 142 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 1: and he had had two drums strapped together and he 143 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 1: was playing them at the same time. And I will 144 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:08,240 Speaker 1: never forget this, the way his eyes were in tuned 145 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:12,959 Speaker 1: to what my body was doing. And it was the 146 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:17,079 Speaker 1: first time in my life that I have ever felt weightless, 147 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:21,000 Speaker 1: like I was doing all these complicated things, but I 148 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:24,599 Speaker 1: didn't feel anything. He was making my body move. Just 149 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 1: feel like being merryonetted. Almost. Yeah, it kind of does 150 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:33,280 Speaker 1: feel like being merrionetted, but it's actually something even more 151 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:39,199 Speaker 1: transcendent than that. It's like you feel nothing. The drummers 152 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:41,880 Speaker 1: can move the dancers, and it's a two way street. 153 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:45,480 Speaker 1: The dancers can influence the drummer's performance too. The goal 154 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:49,000 Speaker 1: in West African dance or the styles that I do, 155 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:53,199 Speaker 1: is to have a perfect connection with the music and 156 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:56,439 Speaker 1: the live musicians. There has to be kind of like 157 00:09:56,600 --> 00:10:00,720 Speaker 1: perfect synchronicity between you and the musicians. That conversation has 158 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:05,000 Speaker 1: to be fluid. When that is the case, you will 159 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:15,880 Speaker 1: feel a physical kind of healing of your body. When 160 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:17,959 Speaker 1: I was in my early twenties, I helped teach a 161 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:20,640 Speaker 1: salsa class, which makes me sound like a way better 162 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:23,520 Speaker 1: dancer than I am. Essentially, I would just show up 163 00:10:23,559 --> 00:10:26,520 Speaker 1: early and learn the moves from Don, the real instructor, 164 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 1: so that he could demonstrate them to the class with 165 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:34,000 Speaker 1: the help of a female lead. And Don was this 166 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:37,120 Speaker 1: gay dude who, by his own description, would go dancing 167 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:41,240 Speaker 1: flaming like butane, and so to make it look like 168 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:43,680 Speaker 1: we had chemistry when we danced in front of an audience, 169 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:48,160 Speaker 1: he'd sometimes whisper threats like um he would say, I'm 170 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:51,120 Speaker 1: going to cut you the nature of a dip, and 171 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:54,920 Speaker 1: I'd giggle, and that would sell our rapport to the crowd. Anyway. 172 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:58,679 Speaker 1: I remember struggling to get this really flashy spin. It 173 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:01,599 Speaker 1: was a fast double turn that involved ducking under the 174 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 1: dude's arm, and it was awesome. It was super hard. 175 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:07,760 Speaker 1: I asked Don to slow it down. I'm real cerebral, 176 00:11:07,920 --> 00:11:10,240 Speaker 1: and I wanted to talk through each step one by one, 177 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:14,280 Speaker 1: and he just flatly refused. You can't learn it that way, 178 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:17,040 Speaker 1: he said, you gotta feel it. Just let the music 179 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:20,120 Speaker 1: guide you, close your eyes and humble your mind to 180 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:27,439 Speaker 1: your body. How old were you when you started performing 181 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:32,080 Speaker 1: as a musician in dance classes? Nineteen when I played 182 00:11:32,200 --> 00:11:35,280 Speaker 1: dance for a dance studio do you remember the first day? No, 183 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:40,000 Speaker 1: and what instrument did you play piano? And what kind 184 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:42,160 Speaker 1: of stuff did you play on the piano. Dance teacher 185 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:46,400 Speaker 1: was a French lady. She liked the Greek movie Sober 186 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:49,240 Speaker 1: of the Greek. She got fixed safe and I sat 187 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:53,720 Speaker 1: played different versions of the Greek. That is Craig Harris. 188 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:56,199 Speaker 1: He's loved music and rhythm since he was a kid. 189 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 1: He studied composition and even though he grew up to 190 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:02,200 Speaker 1: pursue a totally different career path, he always wrote music 191 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:05,679 Speaker 1: for dance on the side. But then something started to 192 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:16,160 Speaker 1: change in Craig's body. H In around two thousand six 193 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:20,520 Speaker 1: or two thousand five. I had weird imbalance and strange 194 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:23,560 Speaker 1: kind of heavy body feeling, and it was a mystery 195 00:12:23,640 --> 00:12:26,560 Speaker 1: that no one could diagnose. It's like everything has weights 196 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:29,160 Speaker 1: on it. My body feels a little heavier, so anything 197 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:32,880 Speaker 1: you do is a little harder, a little more work. 198 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:37,600 Speaker 1: There was also a marked stiffness, a sense of rigidity. 199 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:42,280 Speaker 1: It would be like, um, if you're really cold. Then 200 00:12:42,559 --> 00:12:45,319 Speaker 1: a tremor in his left hand. Craig went back to 201 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:49,000 Speaker 1: the doctor. He's a German doctor and he's very straightforward, 202 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:51,040 Speaker 1: and he said, well, I'm sorry to tell you this, 203 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:56,520 Speaker 1: but I'm afraid you have Parkinson's. Parkinson's disease is a 204 00:12:56,559 --> 00:13:00,800 Speaker 1: progressive nervous system disorder that affects movement, and it can 205 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: make everyday motions difficult. People with Parkinson's might not swing 206 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:07,800 Speaker 1: their arms when they walk, or have difficulty writing or 207 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:12,720 Speaker 1: making facial expressions. Movement can be especially difficult to initiate. 208 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:18,640 Speaker 1: In late stage Parkinson's, people can experience freezing, rendering someone 209 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:22,920 Speaker 1: temporarily unable to move or walk at all. People sometimes 210 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:26,839 Speaker 1: describe it is feeling glued to the floor. There's no cure, 211 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:31,160 Speaker 1: but medication can help treat Parkinson's symptoms, and rhythm can too. 212 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:34,760 Speaker 1: Music can actually help people lock into a more natural 213 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:39,040 Speaker 1: walking gate, taking longer, more confident steps. There's even a 214 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:42,480 Speaker 1: new smartphone app that uses ankle sensors to collect data 215 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:45,520 Speaker 1: on the gate of Parkinson's patients and then plays music 216 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:49,200 Speaker 1: at a tempo designed to keep them moving smoothly. Craig 217 00:13:49,480 --> 00:13:52,920 Speaker 1: enrolled in a dance class designed for people with Parkinson's disease. 218 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:58,240 Speaker 1: I talked to one of Craig's instructors, Maria Walsh from 219 00:13:58,280 --> 00:14:01,400 Speaker 1: Motion Pacific Dance, and she said that If a dancer 220 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:04,840 Speaker 1: freezes midstep in class, introducing a little bit of rhythm 221 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:07,599 Speaker 1: can help break the hold. She'll have them home a 222 00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:11,000 Speaker 1: little rhythm, then try to stomp it and eventually walk 223 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:14,679 Speaker 1: to it again. Craig doesn't suffer from freezing, but he 224 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:18,160 Speaker 1: does notice that dance eases his symptoms. I moved a 225 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:21,120 Speaker 1: little easier and lighter, and I felt a little lighter 226 00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:27,080 Speaker 1: psychologically but physically too. Dance is both therapy and a 227 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:30,040 Speaker 1: way to elevate my spirits. It seems to have the 228 00:14:30,120 --> 00:14:35,000 Speaker 1: effect of making things more fluid physically and mentally for me, 229 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:38,520 Speaker 1: and rhythm holds the same magnetism for him that it 230 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:40,960 Speaker 1: did as a teenager. It feels like pretty much the 231 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:43,960 Speaker 1: same as it does when you don't have Parkinson's. You know, 232 00:14:44,480 --> 00:14:48,440 Speaker 1: it just feels good. So how exactly do music and 233 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:52,800 Speaker 1: dance therapy help people with conditions like Parkinson's. Back to Edith, 234 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:56,280 Speaker 1: our Belgian researcher for a bit of neuroscience. Keeping the 235 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:58,920 Speaker 1: beat is believed to be hardwired in her brain too, 236 00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:02,440 Speaker 1: So we actually we see that our neurals the connections 237 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:05,120 Speaker 1: in our brain that they can synchronize their firing to 238 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:10,080 Speaker 1: musical beats. When we move, we tend to synchronize in 239 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:12,880 Speaker 1: certain ways to music. We tend to connect to the 240 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:24,320 Speaker 1: sounds and to the vibrations and so on. A research 241 00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:26,760 Speaker 1: suggests that when we listen to a song, some of 242 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:29,800 Speaker 1: our brain waves can actually sink to the tempo. Are 243 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:33,800 Speaker 1: synapses fire and time with the music. Okay, a quick 244 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:37,120 Speaker 1: reminder here that the phrase it's all just vibrations man, 245 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:40,080 Speaker 1: is not allowed on this program. If all of a 246 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:43,520 Speaker 1: person's brain waves were perfectly aligned, it wouldn't mean they 247 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:46,400 Speaker 1: were enlightened. It could mean that they're having a seizure. 248 00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:50,200 Speaker 1: So let's just keep it empirical. But yes, it is 249 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:53,520 Speaker 1: pretty awesome that our brain waves are believed to align 250 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:57,000 Speaker 1: with what's on the stereo, and that neurological alignment may 251 00:15:57,040 --> 00:15:59,640 Speaker 1: be part of what prompts us to dance. The electrical 252 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:02,760 Speaker 1: impact is passing through the parts of our brain responsible 253 00:16:02,840 --> 00:16:07,000 Speaker 1: for movement are already dialed into the tempo, which maybe 254 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:10,320 Speaker 1: why it is really challenging to dance out of sync 255 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:14,440 Speaker 1: with the beat. I'm not dancing to the music. I 256 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:17,960 Speaker 1: can sometimes jump in rhythm with the music. I can 257 00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:22,960 Speaker 1: go against it. I can completely forget about the music 258 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:28,080 Speaker 1: and do something else. Is it difficult to avoid the 259 00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:31,720 Speaker 1: temptation to dance to be just because that's kind of 260 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:35,680 Speaker 1: maybe naturally what we're inclined to do. Yeah, it's interesting, 261 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:38,440 Speaker 1: I think it is. I think it takes training and 262 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:42,560 Speaker 1: retraining too long to do that. This is Vangeline. She 263 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:46,360 Speaker 1: specializes in a form of dance called Bhutto. Bhutto is 264 00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:48,960 Speaker 1: an art phone that came from Japan in the nineteen fifties. 265 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:51,960 Speaker 1: It's an avant garde art phone and it's kind of 266 00:16:52,080 --> 00:16:55,160 Speaker 1: like the dance of the subconscious, exploration of the unconscious. 267 00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:59,360 Speaker 1: Photo is sometimes called the dance of darkness, and it 268 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:03,400 Speaker 1: is unlike any dance you've ever seen. Tatsumihi Jakata, one 269 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:07,240 Speaker 1: of the choreographers who created Bhutto, would sometimes fast before 270 00:17:07,320 --> 00:17:11,920 Speaker 1: performances for a dramatic, emaciated look. He and other dancers 271 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:15,160 Speaker 1: would often cover their bodies in bone white paint before 272 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:18,680 Speaker 1: taking stage. I'd only run across Bhutto once years ago, 273 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:22,399 Speaker 1: having accidentally stumbled across a YouTube link, and in it, 274 00:17:22,840 --> 00:17:26,440 Speaker 1: the body of a tall, hairless man painted lunar white 275 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:31,000 Speaker 1: falls down a stone staircase. He pieces himself back together 276 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:36,080 Speaker 1: at the bottom, moving with so many tightly controlled, isolated movements. 277 00:17:36,359 --> 00:17:39,359 Speaker 1: It's as if there were tiny rotors spinning in each joint. 278 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:43,119 Speaker 1: He doesn't look human. He looks like a first failed 279 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:46,960 Speaker 1: hybrid of machine and man, able to suffer but not survive. 280 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:49,399 Speaker 1: And one gets the sense that the kind thing to 281 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:51,560 Speaker 1: do would be to find a rock and put the 282 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:54,040 Speaker 1: thing out of its misery, but also that you'd never 283 00:17:54,119 --> 00:17:57,120 Speaker 1: be able to summon the grit to do it yourself. Booto. 284 00:17:57,880 --> 00:18:01,359 Speaker 1: It's it's just intense man. She was purely Japanese. Then 285 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:04,280 Speaker 1: it moved to Europe in the seventies, and then it 286 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:09,600 Speaker 1: exploded all over the world. Vangeline is from France, but 287 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:12,960 Speaker 1: she studied in Japan and Mexico. When I asked about 288 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:16,120 Speaker 1: the aesthetic of bhutto, it seems like I just sort 289 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:18,680 Speaker 1: of missed the point. It's also much about how it 290 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:23,600 Speaker 1: looks as how it feels. So if you're watching you 291 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:27,600 Speaker 1: budo performance, probably you you're having some kind of people 292 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:31,040 Speaker 1: have very violent response. They hate it, they love it, 293 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:36,040 Speaker 1: they go into a deep trance, they relax, some people leave, 294 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:39,159 Speaker 1: and I really offended. Like I think when it began, 295 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:42,480 Speaker 1: people were fainting when they were watching bud So there's 296 00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:44,840 Speaker 1: that kind of visceral response from the body when you 297 00:18:44,920 --> 00:18:49,959 Speaker 1: actually watch it, Bhutto often moves faster or slower than 298 00:18:50,040 --> 00:18:52,320 Speaker 1: the way we do in our normal lives, and it 299 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:56,560 Speaker 1: incorporates some gestures and expressions that aren't really allowed in public. 300 00:18:57,040 --> 00:18:58,800 Speaker 1: And when you think about it, we've got a pretty 301 00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:02,240 Speaker 1: narrow band of just and expressions that are allowed in public. 302 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:05,560 Speaker 1: Like if a person blinks too frequently, that might be 303 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:09,200 Speaker 1: enough to weird you out. Let alone, twisting or bending 304 00:19:09,280 --> 00:19:13,040 Speaker 1: their torso, or curling and unfurling their toes. There's a 305 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:16,160 Speaker 1: lot that's just off limits. All day long, we watch 306 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:19,400 Speaker 1: people moving a certain way in the way that society 307 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:22,960 Speaker 1: has kind of taught us to move walking down the street, 308 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:25,119 Speaker 1: Like right now we're talking to each other, were standing 309 00:19:25,119 --> 00:19:27,920 Speaker 1: in a specific way. So if I start doing movements 310 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:31,119 Speaker 1: that are a little bit strange or different, or that 311 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:36,160 Speaker 1: are considered scary or possibly sexual, or you know, outside 312 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:39,639 Speaker 1: of the realm of what's socially acceptable, then that immediately 313 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:44,520 Speaker 1: provokes the viewer. So there's that aspect to bule of 314 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:48,119 Speaker 1: that da and consciousness of the body brings types of 315 00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:51,359 Speaker 1: movement that we're not really accustomed to seeing in public. 316 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:57,240 Speaker 1: I went to Vangeline Studio to try it for myself. 317 00:19:57,800 --> 00:19:59,880 Speaker 1: It's a single room in Brooklyn and a building near 318 00:19:59,920 --> 00:20:03,040 Speaker 1: the train. Soft rubber mats on the floor fit together 319 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:05,760 Speaker 1: like puzzle pieces, and a sign on the door says 320 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:11,760 Speaker 1: no shoes. Okay, full disclosure. I find Vangeline almost pathologically likable. 321 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:14,080 Speaker 1: You will hear that in my voice while we are dancing, 322 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:18,560 Speaker 1: and I am not sorry. She is just so likable. Yeah, 323 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:21,080 Speaker 1: And you can totally use the mirror because it's there. 324 00:20:22,080 --> 00:20:24,040 Speaker 1: The mirror is awesome. Is that helpful or is that? 325 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:30,440 Speaker 1: I like the mirror? Vanity is good? Why not? At 326 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:33,639 Speaker 1: first Vangeline said I could move anyway I wanted. We 327 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:37,399 Speaker 1: were just going to experiment with rhythm. Okay. So the 328 00:20:37,520 --> 00:20:39,719 Speaker 1: first one is you just try to move with the beat. Anything. 329 00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:54,000 Speaker 1: Now I'm going to try it to move against the beat, okay, okay, 330 00:20:54,440 --> 00:21:00,080 Speaker 1: so no, because it's home. It's really hard, man. It 331 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:02,760 Speaker 1: is so hard. It's like patch your head and rub 332 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:05,800 Speaker 1: your tummy hard. Your body just does not want to 333 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:09,560 Speaker 1: do it. Also, it became clear how impoverished my own 334 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:13,359 Speaker 1: inventory of movements is. I was reusing moves already like 335 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:16,320 Speaker 1: half a minute in, but Vangeline was doing all sorts 336 00:21:16,359 --> 00:21:20,239 Speaker 1: of stuff simple steps to like zombie vibes. You can 337 00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:23,760 Speaker 1: have very tiny tremors and movement that in Japanese they 338 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:28,760 Speaker 1: call faint soft fructuations, like something's passing through your face, 339 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:33,280 Speaker 1: one little movement of your fingertip, and then you can 340 00:21:33,359 --> 00:21:36,359 Speaker 1: go from macro to micro, and you can go from 341 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:41,560 Speaker 1: the very exclusive to total stillness. I'm not sure I 342 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:44,359 Speaker 1: would have been bold enough to try bootle with just anyone, 343 00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:48,480 Speaker 1: but Vangeline was so compassionate and also really smart. She 344 00:21:48,600 --> 00:21:52,040 Speaker 1: made me feel comfortable enough to risk looking foolish. And 345 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:54,600 Speaker 1: if Booto's aim is to invite the full scope of 346 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:58,120 Speaker 1: our humanity to the dance, well, fear and foolishness, they're 347 00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:00,639 Speaker 1: surely part of it. There was is also just a 348 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:04,720 Speaker 1: joy contagion. Vangeline is electrified by bhutto, and I was 349 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:15,480 Speaker 1: near enough to catch some sparks. YEA, thank you so much. 350 00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:19,000 Speaker 1: The effort it takes to dance against the beat in 351 00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:22,120 Speaker 1: a form like bhutto is evidence of just how sensitive 352 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:25,280 Speaker 1: we are to rhythm. We are primed for music, so 353 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:28,840 Speaker 1: for instance, just nature sounds or sounds on the streets 354 00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:32,560 Speaker 1: or something can become musical to you. That, of course 355 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:35,840 Speaker 1: was Edith. Again. I make my living as a musician, 356 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:37,840 Speaker 1: and when I'm in the van with my band and 357 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:40,160 Speaker 1: we're stopped at a red light waiting to make a turn, 358 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:42,960 Speaker 1: I have noticed on more than one occasion that all 359 00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:45,440 Speaker 1: of us are like grooving to the clicking of the 360 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:50,680 Speaker 1: turn signal. Edith says, there's another theory about why we're 361 00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:53,960 Speaker 1: compelled to dance, one that's totally different from anything we've 362 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:56,320 Speaker 1: heard so far, and it has to do with our 363 00:22:56,359 --> 00:23:00,560 Speaker 1: appetite for control. Well, there is a thing called agency. 364 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:04,960 Speaker 1: That's a theoretical idea about the fact that when you 365 00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:07,960 Speaker 1: feel in control of things, it makes you feel good. 366 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:12,359 Speaker 1: It's motivating, it's fun. So you're kind of imitating your music, 367 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:16,160 Speaker 1: but it can also feel as if you are creating. 368 00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:20,160 Speaker 1: It's because you're dancing more strongly, fiercely, and so on. Yeah, 369 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:23,080 Speaker 1: that's something you can clearly have when you're listening to 370 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:26,320 Speaker 1: music and you play the musical director. That sense of 371 00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:30,959 Speaker 1: agency all over, so you act as if you are 372 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:34,399 Speaker 1: making the music yourself, which feels awesome. What do you 373 00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:36,720 Speaker 1: mean when you act as a musical director. You're talking 374 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:40,200 Speaker 1: about like air guitar. Yeah, I was talking about like 375 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:43,359 Speaker 1: a director of a symphonic orchestra. But yeah, air guitar 376 00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:47,199 Speaker 1: is exactly the same, of course. Yeah. For all her 377 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:51,600 Speaker 1: knowledge about the complex neurological and psychological underpinnings of dance, 378 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:55,720 Speaker 1: Edith has a pretty simple takeaway message. We should all 379 00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:59,119 Speaker 1: dance more. People who think that it's just some past 380 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:02,840 Speaker 1: time are so wrong, because it's much more than that, 381 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:07,119 Speaker 1: and it can help us in so many ways. I 382 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:11,679 Speaker 1: sort of dance almost every morning when my kids are up, 383 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:15,320 Speaker 1: everybody's downstairs. I usually shower a little bit later than 384 00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:17,960 Speaker 1: the rest. I put on my music and I danced 385 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:22,600 Speaker 1: in the bethroom, and I usually come down for breakfast 386 00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:25,600 Speaker 1: in the way more positive states than when I got off. 387 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:31,040 Speaker 1: If we can all get over our self consciousness, dancing 388 00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:34,000 Speaker 1: just feels good, and we do it because it connects 389 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:37,320 Speaker 1: us to one another like social glue. We sometimes dance 390 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:40,560 Speaker 1: because it's sexy and proves we are too. And dancing 391 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:43,960 Speaker 1: has become folded into our big cultural rituals. The first 392 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:48,119 Speaker 1: slow dance at weddings ringed by wet eyed spectators, the waltz, 393 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:52,960 Speaker 1: the new dresses and borrowed car for prom, the doofy 394 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:55,600 Speaker 1: Congo line, at a work party that started ironic and 395 00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:58,960 Speaker 1: ends up awesome. We dance because our bodies are built 396 00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:02,040 Speaker 1: to move to music, and maybe also because shredding and 397 00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:09,439 Speaker 1: air guitar solo feels red. Well. You know that end 398 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:11,920 Speaker 1: of program sound as well as I do. But we 399 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:15,200 Speaker 1: cannot shut down this show about music and dance without 400 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:17,960 Speaker 1: a killer dance jam. We used to call that stuff 401 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:20,000 Speaker 1: boots and pants music when I was a kid, because 402 00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:23,560 Speaker 1: you know, boots and pants and boots and pants and boots. Okay, 403 00:25:23,800 --> 00:25:27,160 Speaker 1: we're not technically allowed to use commercial music on this program, 404 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:29,800 Speaker 1: but that will not stop us. I hit up my 405 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:31,800 Speaker 1: friend Laser Beak to ask if he could hook me 406 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:34,239 Speaker 1: up with a Dink a Dink dance remix, and oh 407 00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:44,600 Speaker 1: my goodness, did Beaks a legend God come through? DNC 408 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:50,200 Speaker 1: ding ding? Come on? Are you hearing man? This is 409 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:53,320 Speaker 1: gonna own the club circuit Ma York to Miami, Pop 410 00:25:53,359 --> 00:25:57,560 Speaker 1: of the Summer Guarantee. Deeply Human is a BBC World 411 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:01,160 Speaker 1: Service and American Public Media co production with I Heart Media, 412 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:05,800 Speaker 1: and it's hosted by Mesa. Find me online, Tessa on 413 00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:10,160 Speaker 1: Instagram and Tessa Darling on Twitter. This one's for you, baby, 414 00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:27,840 Speaker 1: Jesse Hey, I just want to see you dance for 415 00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:36,440 Speaker 1: me on the next Deeply Human, why is the human 416 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:40,119 Speaker 1: animal modest? We're so modest, in fact, that we can 417 00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:42,960 Speaker 1: be reluctant to undress even to save our own lives, 418 00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:47,120 Speaker 1: say in a case of exposure to a biotoxin. Join 419 00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:49,480 Speaker 1: me next time to find out why you are not 420 00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:50,960 Speaker 1: naked and neither of mine.