tag:theconversation.com,2011:/es/topics/dancing-10695/articlesDancing – The Conversation2024-02-15T02:57:24Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2234412024-02-15T02:57:24Z2024-02-15T02:57:24ZRunning or yoga can help beat depression, research shows – even if exercise is the last thing you feel like<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575486/original/file-20240213-16-fi0ivc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1%2C1000%2C664&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/exercise-healthy-concept-fat-woman-feeling-1095177362">SKT Studio/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>At least <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.665019/full">one in ten people</a> have depression at some point in their lives, with some estimates <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749379720301793">closer to one in four</a>. It’s one of the worst things for someone’s wellbeing – worse than <a href="https://www.happinessresearchinstitute.com/_files/ugd/928487_4a99b6e23f014f85b38495b7ab1ac24b.pdf">debt, divorce or diabetes</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-so-many-australians-taking-antidepressants-221857">One in seven</a> Australians take antidepressants. Psychologists are in <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-cant-solve-australias-mental-health-emergency-if-we-dont-train-enough-psychologists-here-are-5-fixes-190135">high demand</a>. Still, only <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003901">half</a> of people with depression in high-income countries get treatment. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/384/bmj-2023-075847">new research</a> shows that exercise should be considered alongside therapy and antidepressants. It can be just as impactful in treating depression as therapy, but it matters what type of exercise you do and how you do it.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-so-many-australians-taking-antidepressants-221857">Why are so many Australians taking antidepressants?</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>Walk, run, lift, or dance away depression</h2>
<p>We found 218 randomised trials on exercise for depression, with 14,170 participants. We analysed them using a method called a network meta-analysis. This allowed us to see how different types of exercise compared, instead of lumping all types together. </p>
<p>We found walking, running, strength training, yoga and mixed aerobic exercise were about as effective as <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-cognitive-behaviour-therapy-37351">cognitive behaviour therapy</a> – one of the <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00004/full">gold-standard treatments</a> for depression. The effects of dancing were also powerful. However, this came from analysing just five studies, mostly involving young women. Other exercise types had more evidence to back them.</p>
<p>Walking, running, strength training, yoga and mixed aerobic exercise seemed more effective than antidepressant medication alone, and were about as effective as exercise alongside antidepressants.</p>
<p>But of these exercises, people were most likely to stick with strength training and yoga.</p>
<p><iframe id="cZaWb" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/cZaWb/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Antidepressants certainly help <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(17)32802-7/fulltext">some people</a>. And of course, anyone getting treatment for depression should talk to their doctor <a href="https://australia.cochrane.org/news/new-cochrane-review-explores-latest-evidence-approaches-stopping-long-term-antidepressants">before changing</a> what they are doing. </p>
<p>Still, our evidence shows that if you have depression, you should get a psychologist <em>and</em> an exercise plan, whether or not you’re taking antidepressants.</p>
<h2>Join a program and go hard (with support)</h2>
<p>Before we analysed the data, we thought people with depression might need to “ease into it” with generic advice, <a href="https://www.who.int/initiatives/behealthy/physical-activity">such as</a> “some physical activity is better than doing none.”</p>
<p>But we found it was far better to have a clear program that aimed to push you, at least a little. Programs with clear structure worked better, compared with those that gave people lots of freedom. Exercising by yourself might also make it hard to set the bar at the right level, given low self-esteem is a symptom of depression.</p>
<p>We also found it didn’t matter how much people exercised, in terms of sessions or minutes a week. It also didn’t really matter how long the exercise program lasted. What mattered was the intensity of the exercise: the higher the intensity, the better the results.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1618986138118803457"}"></div></p>
<h2>Yes, it’s hard to keep motivated</h2>
<p>We should exercise caution in interpreting the findings. Unlike drug trials, participants in exercise trials know which “treatment” they’ve been randomised to receive, so this may skew the results.</p>
<p>Many people with depression have physical, psychological or social barriers to participating in formal exercise programs. And getting support to exercise isn’t free. </p>
<p>We also still don’t know the best way to stay motivated to exercise, which can be even harder if you have depression.</p>
<p>Our study tried to find out whether things like setting exercise goals helped, but we couldn’t get a clear result.</p>
<p>Other reviews found it’s important to have a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31923898/">clear action plan</a> (for example, putting exercise in your calendar) and to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19916637/">track your progress</a> (for example, using an app or smartwatch). But predicting which of these interventions work is notoriously difficult. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04128-4">2021 mega-study</a> of more than 60,000 gym-goers <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04128-4/figures/1">found</a> experts struggled to predict which strategies might get people into the gym more often. Even making workouts fun didn’t seem to motivate people. However, listening to audiobooks while exercising helped a lot, which no experts predicted.</p>
<p>Still, we can be confident that people benefit from personalised support and accountability. The support helps overcome the hurdles they’re sure to hit. The accountability keeps people going even when their brains are telling them to avoid it. </p>
<p>So, when starting out, it seems wise to avoid going it alone. Instead:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>join a fitness group or yoga studio</p></li>
<li><p>get a trainer or an exercise physiologist</p></li>
<li><p>ask a friend or family member to go for a walk with you. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Taking a few steps towards getting that support makes it more likely you’ll keep exercising.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/exercise-is-even-more-effective-than-counselling-or-medication-for-depression-but-how-much-do-you-need-200717">Exercise is even more effective than counselling or medication for depression. But how much do you need?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Let’s make this official</h2>
<p>Some countries see exercise as a backup plan for treating depression. For example, the American Psychological Association only <a href="https://www.apa.org/depression-guideline/">conditionally recommends</a> exercise as a “complementary and alternative treatment” when “psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy is either ineffective or unacceptable”.</p>
<p>Based on our research, this recommendation is withholding a potent treatment from many people who need it.</p>
<p>In contrast, The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists <a href="https://www.ranzcp.org/getmedia/a4678cf4-91f5-4746-99d4-03dc7379ae51/mood-disorders-clinical-practice-guideline-2020.pdf">recommends</a> vigorous aerobic activity at least two to three times a week for all people with depression.</p>
<p>Given how common depression is, and the number failing to receive care, other countries should follow suit and recommend exercise alongside front-line treatments for depression.</p>
<p><em>I would like to acknowledge my colleagues Taren Sanders, Chris Lonsdale and the rest of the coauthors of the paper on which this article is based.</em></p>
<p><em>If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223441/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Noetel receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Medical Research Future Fund, Sport Australia, and the National Health and Medical Research Council. He is a director of Effective Altruism Australia.</span></em></p>Our new study shows you may be able to walk, run, lift or dance away depression. And the more intense your exercise program, the better.Michael Noetel, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2108172023-08-02T15:10:46Z2023-08-02T15:10:46ZWild times in Madrid’s roaring 20s: how Spain’s youth partied hard before Franco took away their dance halls<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540445/original/file-20230801-16611-vs9gal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C11%2C1908%2C1161&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'For a peseta a drink you can dance all afternoon, even if you wear racket trousers, with a line-up of pretty girls'. Photograph by Contreras y Vilaseca illustrating a news item about dances in the magazine 'Estampa' of 31 July 1928.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/hd/es/viewer?id=0e65f3cb-c456-43f4-bf10-31e6a80081e2&page=33">Hemeroteca Digital / BNE</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is often thought that wild dance clubs only arrived in Spain in the late 1970s and 80s, once the dictatorship ended and the country had been freed from the ghosts of Franco’s conservatism. But evidence shows that 100 years ago (or even more) so-called <a href="https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=7992681">“<em>dancings</em>” were happening in Madrid and Barcelona</a>. In these clubs, boys and girls went to move their bodies for hours – and to find someone to end the evening with. </p>
<p>The dictatorship closed down many of them and severely condemned the free and carefree behaviour they harboured. However, traces of their existence can be found today in the country’s historical archives. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512213/original/file-20230224-2021-hria2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An article on dances in Madrid in 1935." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512213/original/file-20230224-2021-hria2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512213/original/file-20230224-2021-hria2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512213/original/file-20230224-2021-hria2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512213/original/file-20230224-2021-hria2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512213/original/file-20230224-2021-hria2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512213/original/file-20230224-2021-hria2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512213/original/file-20230224-2021-hria2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Article in <em>Estampa</em> of 16 February 1935 illustrating the dance fever in Madrid.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/hd/es/viewer?id=ac5c5b61-eb01-46e7-9c08-007ebf012d3e&page=28">Hemeroteca Digital /BNE</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Dance fever</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512188/original/file-20230224-804-upvii2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Crónica magazine report on a dance marathon in Madrid lasting 1,000 hours." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512188/original/file-20230224-804-upvii2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512188/original/file-20230224-804-upvii2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=823&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512188/original/file-20230224-804-upvii2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=823&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512188/original/file-20230224-804-upvii2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=823&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512188/original/file-20230224-804-upvii2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1035&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512188/original/file-20230224-804-upvii2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1035&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512188/original/file-20230224-804-upvii2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1035&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Crónica magazine report on a dance marathon at the Circo Price in Madrid lasting 1,000 hours.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/hd/es/viewer?id=65d3c64b-4b11-471f-b241-1ddc4315f42f&page=12">Hemeroteca Digital / BNE</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The origin of these dance halls goes back to the interwar years (1918-1936). During those frenetic decades, big cities started to host new places for fun and socialising, such as cinemas, cabarets, modern bars and also commercial dances. </p>
<p>At that time, urban youth lived immersed in the “dance craze”, an obsession with dancing that followed the opening of the first <em>dancings</em> “for all audiences”, which, like today, were accessible by paying an entrance fee (cheap, in general, and even more so for girls). </p>
<p>In Madrid, before the outbreak of the civil war, there were around 50 such theatres.</p>
<p>The newspapers of the time were quick to echo this new fashion which, <a href="https://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/hd/es/viewer?id=8d217ba2-7757-4fac-8e4f-f81b8619d857&page=16">they said</a>, had duped the youth: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>What does it matter to those infinite, innumerable crowds of dancers stubbornly parodying totemic monsters suddenly and fantastically animated by African tam-tam or Yankee jazz, the spiritual and aesthetic problem of their respective homelands? Don’t talk to them about books, or art, or science, or nature, or morality, or home, or love other than flirtations in dancing or the cinema, the stadium bleachers and the front seat of the car. What matters to them is to disjoint the body, to seek the grotesque arrhythmia of the forms, to obey the stridencies of what is already very accurately called “a cocktail of music”. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>These commercial dances were closed premises in which, daily in the evenings, and all day on Sundays and holidays, <em>dancings</em> called <em>populares</em> or <em>de modistillas</em> were organised. They were animated by the music of a barrel organ, a gramophone or a modern tango orchestra or jazz band. Halls might be humble or grand but all were defined by a large central dance floor. This could be surrounded by wooden benches or couches, tables, lighting, mirrors, carpets, curtains and other decorative elements, in the finest examples. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512221/original/file-20230224-1850-xbycv0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Reportaje en la revista Crónica de 1931 sobre academias de baile." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512221/original/file-20230224-1850-xbycv0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512221/original/file-20230224-1850-xbycv0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512221/original/file-20230224-1850-xbycv0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512221/original/file-20230224-1850-xbycv0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512221/original/file-20230224-1850-xbycv0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512221/original/file-20230224-1850-xbycv0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512221/original/file-20230224-1850-xbycv0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Report in the magazine <em>Crónica</em> of May 1931 on dance academies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/hd/es/viewer?id=1e195c93-5def-462f-9784-59d846639c7c&page=12">Hemeroteca Digital / BNE</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The love of dancing among young people was not a phenomenon exclusive to the interwar years. Earlier, open-air dances were often organised in picnic areas, parks and open fields. But the appearance of the new commercial halls transformed these informal celebrations – especially because, unlike their predecessors, the new <em>dancings</em> were exclusively for young people. </p>
<p>Boys and girls from very different neighbourhoods of the city went to them to spend time partying far from the gaze of their families. This allowed them to let themselves be carried away by the unbridled rhythms of the new modern music and also to surrender to the weaknesses of the flesh. </p>
<h2><em>Dancing</em> – and flirting</h2>
<p>The new commercial dance halls unleashed open and uninhibited amorous and sexual behaviour among popular youth. To begin with, the very nature of these venues demanded close encounters and contact between boys and girls. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512183/original/file-20230224-991-b4cons.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A newspaper page from 1936 on the subject of open-air dances." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512183/original/file-20230224-991-b4cons.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512183/original/file-20230224-991-b4cons.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512183/original/file-20230224-991-b4cons.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512183/original/file-20230224-991-b4cons.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=803&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512183/original/file-20230224-991-b4cons.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1009&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512183/original/file-20230224-991-b4cons.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1009&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512183/original/file-20230224-991-b4cons.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1009&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Page from the magazine <em>Cronica</em> on 19 July 1936 in which it talks about open-air dances and the opportunity to meet a partner.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/hd/es/viewer?id=5b3da161-816b-4dcd-a989-9ab4404b01df&page=14">Hemeroteca BNE</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Even if you went there alone, you would dance with a partner and finding this partner was the mission of every young man. So much so that for those who were not very fortunate, the service of “taxi-girls” was introduced in some venues: girls who were hired by the venue’s impresario to dance with the unpaired. </p>
<p>Boys and girls took advantage of their proximity to the opposite sex to exchange glances, get closer, talk and touch each other. They went to flirt and find a partner without needing the approval of their parents. </p>
<p>Dances thus became true incubators of formal courtships, but also of transient romances or “express boyfriends”, as they were called at the time. <a href="https://hemerotecadigital.bne.es/hd/es/viewer?id=5b3da161-816b-4dcd-a989-9ab4404b01df&page=14">As the magazine <em>Crónica</em> pointed out in July 1936</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“At these dances of our democratic era, where you can find a partner without having to be introduced, […] you girls of today dance with this boy whom you did not know yesterday and you do not know what he may be for you tomorrow.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Although at first sight it might seem an insignificant phenomenon, the appearance of these <em>dancings</em> brought about a cultural change of enormous importance. By making these new forms of meeting and contact between young people possible, these venues helped to widen the margins of what was considered normal or respectable in terms of flirting and erotic exchanges within leisure spaces, and also outside them. Although they did not know it, the foxtrot and tango steps those young people took were helping to build the new culture of modern entertainment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210817/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cristina de Pedro Álvarez receives funding from Complutense University of Madrid.</span></em></p>Let’s take a walk around Madrid a hundred years ago and meet the discotheques, pubs and unrestrained dancing of the roaring twenties.Cristina de Pedro Álvarez, Investigadora posdoctoral. Especialista en historia Urbana, historia de la sexualidad, historia de género y cultura popular, Universidad Complutense de MadridLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2027052023-05-04T12:26:40Z2023-05-04T12:26:40ZProm price index shows cost of celebration is getting relatively cheaper – even at a time of high inflation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524214/original/file-20230503-21-ctbnvr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=65%2C47%2C3928%2C2610&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Prom is more than just a big dance party – and can cost a pretty penny.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/VirusOutbreakProms/4311d31e85444a3d9c1b18f8fcca98b9/photo?Query=prom&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=1676&currentItemNo=41">AP Photo/Paul Ratje</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Going to the prom can be an expensive affair for cash-strapped teenagers. Past estimates and surveys put the average cost anywhere from <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/nation-now/2017/05/25/prom-how-much-do-teens-spend/342865001/">US$600</a> to <a href="https://www.nbc12.com/2019/04/05/how-keep-prom-costs-down/">$1,000</a> <a href="https://www.practicalmoneyskills.com/resources/infographics/2015_prom_spending_survey">or more</a>. Some teens reportedly spend upward of $2,000 on the traditional dancing ritual at the end of high school – and that’s not including an <a href="http://cshsapb.weebly.com/">over-the-top after-prom party</a>. </p>
<p>But with inflation running at the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm">fastest pace since the 1980s</a> over the past year, has the price of prom jumped in cost too? </p>
<p>As <a href="https://blogs.bu.edu/zagorsky/">an economist</a>, I became curious about the cost of proms back in 2014, when my daughter attended the dance. After tallying up how much this rite of passage was costing me, I started <a href="https://theconversation.com/omg-proms-are-actually-getting-cheaper-compared-with-the-price-of-everything-else-40680">tracking the costs</a> over time. What I found surprised me – and will likely delight any parent helping cover the cost of their teenager’s big day.</p>
<h2>A centuries-old tradition</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.history.com/news/prom-invention-traditions">Proms have been around</a> since at least the end of the 1800s and are a signature high school experience. </p>
<p>Proms have been featured in <a href="https://theprommusical.com/">Broadway plays</a> and in <a href="https://www.seventeen.com/celebrity/movies-tv/g30987224/prom-movie/">movies</a> ranging from <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0926129/">horror</a> to <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377092/">comedy</a>. Traditions surrounding prom are changing, with newer twists like <a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/no-prom-date">going without a date</a> or wearing <a href="https://www.seventeen.com/fashion/g42087732/gender-neutral-non-binary-prom-outfits/">nontraditional clothes</a>.</p>
<p>Given the high price of buying dresses, renting tuxedos and even the tickets themselves, <a href="https://www.seventeen.com/prom/prom-style/g216/places-to-find-cheap-prom-dresses/">articles are full of ideas</a> on how to <a href="https://www.seventeen.com/prom/a19062000/how-to-sell-your-prom-dress/">save money</a>.</p>
<p>While the <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Prom-Night-Youth-Schools-and-Popular-Culture/Best/p/book/9780415924283">social and cultural aspects</a> are interesting, my training leads me to consider the more financial and economic aspect of things.</p>
<p>Fundamentally, when the prom’s price goes down, more teens can afford to go, and it becomes a more inclusive shared experience. When the price rises, however, the prom becomes a more exclusive social event attended mostly by those with wealthier parents, resulting in fewer common shared experiences. The high cost is one reason why only about <a href="https://today.yougov.com/topics/society/articles-reports/2014/04/28/proms">half of all Americans attended their prom</a>.</p>
<p>And even for people not directly connected to the high school experience, the price of the prom is important. The U.S. is a melting pot of different cultures, religions and ethnic groups. Tying these disparate groups together is a variety of common shared experiences, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-fireworks-prices-are-skyrocketing-but-there-should-be-plenty-of-bottle-rockets-and-sparklers-for-you-and-your-family-this-fourth-of-july-185182">celebrating the Fourth of July</a>, eating <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-economist-talks-turkey-5-facts-about-thanksgiving-pricing-107057">turkey at Thanksgiving</a> and, for teens, experiencing the prom.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="group of young people hold dresses are suits in a department store" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524194/original/file-20230503-19-mat8cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C17%2C6000%2C3970&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524194/original/file-20230503-19-mat8cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524194/original/file-20230503-19-mat8cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524194/original/file-20230503-19-mat8cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524194/original/file-20230503-19-mat8cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524194/original/file-20230503-19-mat8cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524194/original/file-20230503-19-mat8cf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Clothes are usually one of the pricier parts of going to the prom.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MarketbyMacysFlowerMound-PromShoppingEvent/dba3bd21bee3441196d091fe37087c11/photo?Query=prom&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=1676&currentItemNo=5">Brandon Wade/AP Images for Macy's, Inc.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The prom price index</h2>
<p>Official statistics do not track the cost of going to the prom directly. However, the <a href="https://www.bls.gov">Bureau of Labor Statistics</a> follows the prices of hundreds of individual items from prepared salads to doughnuts. The <a href="https://www.bls.gov/cpi/data.htm">consumer price index</a> includes many things teens typically spend money on for the prom.</p>
<p>I created a <a href="http://businessmacroeconomics.com/">prom price index</a> from 10 of the consumer price index’s components, including dresses, suits, shoes, photographers and haircuts. I even crunched data on the price of beer, which covers the age-old tradition of <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/teen-angst/201703/prom-and-the-afterparty">sneaking in a drink when the adults are not looking</a>.</p>
<p>The consumer price index does not specifically cover common prom purchases like limousine rentals, corsages, boutonnières and bouquets but does track “car rentals” and “indoor flowers,” which are pretty close categories that I included in my index.</p>
<p>The hardest category to match was the cost of prom tickets. This is not as much of a problem as I expected because the price of the ticket turned out to be not the biggest part of the total cost. The closest category was “full service meals,” even though from the stories I heard almost none of the attendees spent much time actually eating.</p>
<p>Besides crunching the data since last year, I also peeked back in time to 1998 to get more data to understand the trends over the last quarter century. </p>
<h2>Prom is getting relatively cheaper</h2>
<p>Averaging these 10 categories shows that the cost of prom isn’t keeping up with overall inflation – good news for today’s teens. </p>
<p>My prom price index climbed about 11% in March 2023 – the latest data available – from two years earlier, which is around the time when inflation began to surge. That compares with nearly 14% for overall consumer prices. </p>
<p><iframe id="GgCa6" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/GgCa6/5/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Going back a bit further, I found that the average price of proms has been climbing at a much slower pace than overall inflation for quite a while. In fact, since 1998, prom prices have risen just 40% through March 2023, less than half the 86% gain in the consumer price index over the same period. </p>
<p>The primary reason the prom inflation is so much less is that the cost of items like clothing and shoes hasn’t increased in price much over the past couple of decades – or even fallen. Since 1998, the average price of men’s shoes, for example, has gained only 12%, while the price of men’s sport coats has actually plunged 25%. Even the cost of one of the most expensive items needed for the prom, women’s dresses, has dropped 12%.</p>
<p>Not every prom category saw price restraint. Full-service restaurant meals and haircuts have approximately doubled in price since 1998, while beer and car rentals have climbed just under the level of overall inflation. </p>
<p>Proms will never be cheap. However, it is nice to know that over time, the real cost of attending this rite of passage is falling even with the recent sharp jump in inflation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202705/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jay L. Zagorsky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Prom can be very expensive, but prices for clothes, photographers and other traditional gear haven’t climbed as much as everything else.Jay L. Zagorsky, Clinical Associate Professor, Boston UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2044282023-04-26T14:31:11Z2023-04-26T14:31:11ZLen Goodman: how the late Strictly Come Dancing star revived the nation’s love of ballroom<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522651/original/file-20230424-25-j2aklw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=515%2C81%2C2479%2C1985&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Len Goodman on the red carpet for Strictly Come Dancing in 2013. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/len-goodman-arriving-strictly-come-dancing-153582521">Featureflash Photo Agency/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With the news of <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-65373373">Len Goodman’s death</a> at age 78, ballroom dancing has lost one of its greatest advocates. But Goodman has left a lasting legacy, spearheading an unlikely revival of the ballroom scene he loved.</p>
<p>As head judge on <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006m8dq">Strictly Come Dancing</a> from 2004 to 2016, Goodman brought a no nonsense honesty to his role, as well as his wealth of expertise. The sparkle, camp and glam of the days of the BBC’s original dance show, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/anniversaries/september/come-dancing/">Come Dancing</a>, was rekindled in his cheeky quips and cheesy one liners – part of its familiar, broad appeal.</p>
<p>For children of the 1970s like me, early memories of ballroom dancing probably came from late night screenings of Come Dancing, the amateur dance contest that inspired Strictly. </p>
<p>In the days before 24-hour broadcasting, in the hazy excitement of staying up later than I should have, I can recall flicking through the channels (all three of them) and stumbling across the curious world of the ballroom.</p>
<p>Almost voyeur-like, I’d entered a world seemingly preserved in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/aspic">aspic</a> – another 1970s favourite. Sequins, frills, shiny hair, patent leather, an overabundance of makeup, tight trousers and a lot of “cha cha chaa”. All fronted by Angela Rippon, whose restrained received pronunciation seemed at odds with this brashness. </p>
<p>What I didn’t realise at the time, was that I was observing a cultural pursuit that was at a nadir in terms of both its popularity and public perception. Although Come Dancing was to stumble on for another decade or so, ballroom dancing looked like it was finished.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-strictly-is-challenging-the-way-people-think-about-dance-192357">How Strictly is challenging the way people think about dance</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>Sure, it had thousands of devotees who competed regularly in town halls and the ever-shrinking number of ballrooms dotted around the country, but its golden age seemed to have gone forever. And boy had ballroom had a golden age!</p>
<h2>How ballroom shaped Britain</h2>
<p>Ballroom dancing was one of the most important <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/going-to-the-palais-9780199605194?cc=gb&lang=en&">social and cultural features of 20th century Britain</a>. While a distinction was to grow between “ballroom dancing” of the type featured on Come Dancing (competitive, semi-professional) and the “social dancing” enjoyed by millions in the dance halls of the country, they both drew from the same cultural roots.</p>
<p>First codified by dance teachers in Britain in the 1920s, the foxtrot, waltz, quickstep and others were later joined by the jive and the twist. In between, fashionable interlopers such as the Charleston, the Big Apple and the jitterbug briefly pushed their way onto the dance floor.</p>
<p>A vast industry grew up to cater for the demand of Britons to dance, as chains of dance halls sprang up in every town and city in the land. Led by groups such as Mecca (latterly of bingo fame), they were catering for the needs of a working- and lower middle-class population with more time and money than ever before and in need of letting their hair down.</p>
<p>In 1950, <a href="https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutput/going-to-the-palais(b53e9ddf-6d5c-44a0-9129-9b885c484724).html">the Daily Mirror estimated</a> that over 70% of people met their future husbands or wives while dancing – my own parents among them. Romantic music, close embraces and dim lighting made the ballroom the place to meet. </p>
<p><a href="https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutput/going-to-the-palais(b53e9ddf-6d5c-44a0-9129-9b885c484724).html">By 1959</a>, 5 million people went dancing every week, in over 3,000 venues. But it was more than just dancing they offered. They served a variety of important social functions.</p>
<p>For women, as my mother attested, dancing was particularly important. Offering a form of peer group independence, it was an important form of exercise, allowed interaction with boys from an early age and entry into the “public sphere”. All that in a venue that was safe and where they were usually better skilled than <a href="https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutput/we-do-not-want-fairies-in-the-ballroom(cc1dd687-05dd-436b-a294-5ce3fa9981d8).html">their male counterparts</a>.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YAbPJIwP-pk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Goodman dancing in 1971.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Learning to dance was a key part of the younger generation’s transition to adulthood and the dance hall offered them a place to experiment with their appearance, identity and friendships. </p>
<p>As Britain grew more racially diverse – particularly from the 1950s onwards – the dance hall was one of the first and most important venues where people of different races came into close contact with one another, with their shared love of dancing. </p>
<p><a href="https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/researchoutput/worlds-of-social-dancing(35373051-9853-4ccf-8114-935515acb3d3).html">From the 1920s</a> to the mid 1960s, dancing was central to the nation’s social and cultural history – Britons were dancing mad.</p>
<h2>Len Goodman’s influence</h2>
<p>Len Goodman was one such dance-mad Brit. Born working class in Bethnal Green, London in 1944, he came to dancing relatively late at 19. He soon made up for this though and by his twenties he was winning dancing competitions up and down the country.</p>
<p>He went on to have <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2023/04/24/strictly-come-dancings-len-goodmans-unlikely-but-glittering-career-18662301/">a stellar competitive dancing career</a>. For most of us though, it took the arrival of the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2004 for Goodman to come to our attention. Adding a touch of irony to the highly codified world of ballroom, the programme has revitalised interest in this kind of dancing.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Len Goodman’s final episode of Strictly’s American counterpart, Dancing With the Stars.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With its combination of high camp, competitiveness, sexy professionals, hapless celebs, pantomime goodie and baddie judges and good old fashioned music and dance spun for the contemporary audience, it has been a remarkable hit. At its height it has attracted audiences of over <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-59719398">11 million</a>. Moreover, it has driven a revival of interest in ballroom dancing that rescued it from oblivion.</p>
<p>Goodman made several television programmes on the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2601434/">history of dancing</a> and published several <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/220969/len-goodman">books on the topic</a> – all reflective of the newfound interest in ballroom. </p>
<p>Perhaps the best way to honour Goodman’s memory would be to reopen dance hall venues across the country, complete with live music, mirror balls and sprung dance floors. In an increasingly isolated society, the revival of such a rich social world would certainly get a “ten from Len” (and from me).</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204428/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Nott does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The sparkle, camp and glam of ballroom days gone by was rekindled in Goodman’s cheeky quips and cheesy one-liners.James Nott, Lecturer, School of History, University of St AndrewsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2008702023-03-20T16:17:56Z2023-03-20T16:17:56ZBallet dancers in sensor suits: new research explores how dance is used as a form of communication<p>Audio guides, maps, traditional and interactive texts help people attending art exhibitions to understand the works in front of them. With dance, however, the audience’s understanding is usually taken for granted.</p>
<p>It’s assumed they will make sense of a performance thanks to the synopsis included in programmes, or reviews published in newspapers and magazines. These supporting materials are optional and do not work during performance. However, the English National Ballet (ENB), for example, has produced <a href="https://www.ballet.org.uk/production/my-first-ballet-sleeping-beauty/">versions of classical ballets for young audiences</a> where dancers perform a shortened version of a well-known classical ballet while a narrator recites the story.</p>
<p>But words cannot translate everything dance expresses. Verbal and movement-based communication can convey similar meanings, but they do so in very different ways. Whereas verbal language is immediately understood, the language of dance can be lost to a general audience.</p>
<p>So how can dance performances become a more accessible source of cultural and social information for people who are not specialists?</p>
<h2>Detecting communication</h2>
<p>Our research group focuses on <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Kinesemiotics-Modelling-How-Choreographed-Movement-Means-in-Space/Maiorani/p/book/9780367641009">Kinesemiotics</a>, the study of meaning made by movement, an area we are developing. Our project, called <a href="https://www.uni-bremen.de/en/fb-10/forschung/institute/bitt/forschung-und-lehre/multimodalitaetsforschung-in-bremen/projekte/kinesemiotic-body">The Knesemiotic Body</a>, is carried out at Loughborough University in collaboration with researchers at the University of Bremen and the ENB.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315621180-9/making-meaning-movement-functional-grammar-dance-movement-arianna-maiorani">The Functional Grammar of Dance</a> (FGD) explains how body parts create meaning by interacting with the space and the people surrounding dancers in a performance. We used it to annotate and interpret data collected from live dance rehearsals.</p>
<p>The FGD draws on linguistics and semiotic theories (how people communicate through signs) and is based on “projections”. Projections are the trajectories designed by dancers when extending their body parts towards meaningful portions of the performance space.</p>
<p>Projections connect extended body parts to surrounding people or objects, creating a meaningful visual interaction. Imagine a dancer moving towards a lake, painted on the backdrop of a stage. They extend an arm forward towards the lake and a leg backwards towards a stage prop representing a shed. That extended arm will mean “going to lake” while the leg will mean “coming from shed”.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Junor Souza and Rebecca Blenkinsop wear the black strappy sensors while dancing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514195/original/file-20230308-22-8lce0x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514195/original/file-20230308-22-8lce0x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514195/original/file-20230308-22-8lce0x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514195/original/file-20230308-22-8lce0x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514195/original/file-20230308-22-8lce0x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514195/original/file-20230308-22-8lce0x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/514195/original/file-20230308-22-8lce0x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">English National Ballet’s Junor Souza and Rebecca Blenkinsop wearing special movement sensors.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">M Zecca / Kinesemiotic Body website</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Projections can also be directed to the audience creating an “involving” effect. This is achieved, for example, when a dancer extends their arms towards the audience while facing them with their face and torso. This looks as if they are addressing them directly, acknowledging their presence and breaking the invisible wall between them.</p>
<p>Projections are like speech bubbles made by movement. Our research captured them through sensor suits that dancers wear during our data collection and we decoded them using the FGD. When we annotate the data produced by the suits, we basically fill those speech bubbles with meaning that people can understand without having background knowledge of dance. Our recordings and annotations capture not only movements, but also the intended meaning behind them.</p>
<p>During our sessions, we worked with two pairs of fantastic dancers: Junor Souza and Rebecca Blenkinsop from the ENB, and school graduates Elizabeth Riley and Jamie Constance.</p>
<p>We have achieved interesting results. By annotating choreography with our system, it is possible to discover patterns of movement-based communication. These patterns may not be immediately visible to the naked eye, but clearly inform the message the audience perceives.</p>
<p>We also found out that it is possible to study how movement patterns work in relation to costumes, which is especially interesting when choreographers experiment with innovative clothing and props. </p>
<p>For example, we worked on the effects of movement combined with elastic cloth that covered a dancer’s body almost entirely. This highlighted how a particular type of costume choice would impact on the expressive potential of movement.</p>
<p>Our data also highlighted how dancers playing the same role can create different versions of the same character according to variations they make in performing projections. For example, one dancer might decide to engage more with the audience than another by performing more projections that directly address the viewers.</p>
<p>We can also check how a dancer manages physical balance during a performance in relation to these projections, which is particularly clear in their legwork and footwork. This type of information can be particularly helpful for physical rehabilitation. </p>
<p>An injury can deeply affect a dancer’s or an athlete’s ability to manage body balance and our annotation highlighted the specific choices a dancer makes when managing it. The information provided by our data annotation can therefore provide valuable information on how a dancer works towards recovery. </p>
<p>In future our work will look at whether specific projections can help audiences with different degrees of familiarity with dance to engage with a dance performance more easily.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200870/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Arianna Maiorani receives funding from AHRC. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chun Liu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The language of dance is often lost on a general audience. Now new research has used sensor suits to discover patterns of movement-based communication in ballet performance.Arianna Maiorani, Reader in Linguistics and Multimodality, Loughborough UniversityChun Liu, Research Associate, Loughborough UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1976922023-01-26T23:58:46Z2023-01-26T23:58:46ZLet’s dance! How dance classes can lift your mood and help boost your social life<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505522/original/file-20230120-19742-69xyap.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C0%2C992%2C666&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sporty-women-enjoying-each-others-company-692108224">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If your new year’s resolutions include getting healthier, exercising more and lifting your mood, dance might be for you. </p>
<p>By dance, we don’t mean watching other people dance on TikTok, as much fun as this can be. We mean taking a dance class, or even better, a few.</p>
<p>A growing body of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17482631.2020.1732526">research shows</a> the benefits of dance, regardless of the type (for example, classes or social dancing) or the style (hip hop, ballroom, ballet). Dance boosts our wellbeing as it improves our emotional and physical health, makes us feel less stressed and more socially connected.</p>
<p>Here’s what to consider if you think dance might be for you.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rhythm-on-the-brain-and-why-we-cant-stop-dancing-56354">Rhythm on the brain, and why we can't stop dancing</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The benefits of dance</h2>
<p>Dance is <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1077800417745919">an engaging and fun</a> way of exercising, learning and meeting people. A review of the evidence <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17482631.2020.1732526">shows</a> taking part in dance classes or dancing socially improves your health and wellbeing regardless of your age, gender or fitness.</p>
<p>Another review focuses more specifically on benefits of dance across the lifespan. It <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2021.1950891">shows</a> dance classes and dancing socially at any age improves participants’ sense of self, confidence and creativity.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505521/original/file-20230120-21894-rguh5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Older woman in group dance class" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505521/original/file-20230120-21894-rguh5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505521/original/file-20230120-21894-rguh5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505521/original/file-20230120-21894-rguh5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505521/original/file-20230120-21894-rguh5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505521/original/file-20230120-21894-rguh5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505521/original/file-20230120-21894-rguh5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505521/original/file-20230120-21894-rguh5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It’s never too late to start a dance class.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/elderly-woman-dancing-12086689/">Wellness Gallery Catalyst Foundation/Pexels</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Researchers have also looked at specific dance programs.</p>
<p>One UK-based dance program for young people aged 14 <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14647893.2011.561306">shows</a> one class a week for three months increased students’ fitness level and self-esteem. This was due to a combination of factors including physical exercise, a stimulating learning environment, positive engagement with peers, and creativity. </p>
<p>Another community-based program for adults in hospital <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17533015.2020.1725072">shows</a> weekly dance sessions led to positive feelings, enriches social engagement and reduced stress related to being in hospital.</p>
<p>If you want to know how much dance is needed to develop some of these positive effects, we have good news for you. </p>
<p>A useful hint comes from a <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-015-2672-7">study</a> that looked exactly at how much creative or arts engagement is needed for good mental health – 100 or more hours a year, or two or more hours a week, in most cases.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/kick-up-your-heels-ballroom-dancing-offers-benefits-to-the-aging-brain-and-could-help-stave-off-dementia-194969">Kick up your heels – ballroom dancing offers benefits to the aging brain and could help stave off dementia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Dance is social</h2>
<p>But dance is more than physical activity. It is also a community ritual. Humans have <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/223398">always danced</a>. We still do so to mark and celebrate transitory periods in life. Think of how weddings prompt non-dancers to move rhythmically to music. Some cultures dance to celebrate childbirth. Many dance to celebrate religious and cultural holidays.</p>
<p>This is what inspired French sociologist <a href="https://iep.utm.edu/emile-durkheim/">Emile Durkheim</a> (1858-1917) to explore how dance affects societies and cultures.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FyTqEl1yKbQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Durkheim described how dancing with others cultivated ‘collective effervescence’ – dynamism, vitality and community. (Aeon Video)</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Durkheim <a href="https://archive.org/search?query=external-identifier%3A%22urn%3Aoclc%3Arecord%3A689172179%22">saw</a> collective dance as a societal glue – a social practice that cultivates what he called “collective effervescence”, a feeling of dynamism, vitality and community.</p>
<p>He observed how dance held cultures together by creating communal feelings that were difficult to cultivate otherwise, for example a feeling of uplifting togetherness or powerful unity. </p>
<p>It’s that uplifting feeling you might experience when dancing at a concert and even for a brief moment forgetting yourself while moving in synchrony with the rest of the crowd.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505519/original/file-20230120-11113-w9y9jg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People dancing with arms in air at club" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505519/original/file-20230120-11113-w9y9jg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505519/original/file-20230120-11113-w9y9jg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505519/original/file-20230120-11113-w9y9jg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505519/original/file-20230120-11113-w9y9jg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505519/original/file-20230120-11113-w9y9jg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505519/original/file-20230120-11113-w9y9jg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/505519/original/file-20230120-11113-w9y9jg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">That uplifting feeling: when dancing together helps you forget yourself as you move in synchrony with the rest of the crowd.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-happy-people-dancing-club-nightlife-460028722">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Synchronous <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/529447">collective activities</a>, such as dance, provide a pleasurable way to foster social bonding. This is due to feelings Durkheim noticed that we now know as transcendental emotions – such as joy, awe and temporary dissolution of a sense of self (“losing yourself”). These can lead to feeling a part of something bigger than ourselves and help us experience social connectedness. </p>
<p>For those of us still experiencing social anxiety or feelings of loneliness due to the COVID pandemic, dance can be a way of (re)building social connections and belonging. </p>
<p>Whether you join an online dance program and invite a few friends, go to an in-person dance class, or go to a concert or dance club, dance can give temporary respite from the everyday and help lift your mood.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/are-you-part-of-a-social-group-making-sure-you-are-will-improve-your-health-81996">Are you part of a social group? Making sure you are will improve your health</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Keen to try out dance?</h2>
<p>Here’s what to consider:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>if you have not exercised for a while, start with a program tailored to beginners or the specific fitness level that suits you</p></li>
<li><p>if you have physical injuries, check in with your GP first</p></li>
<li><p>if public dance classes are unappealing, consider joining an online dance program, or going to a dance-friendly venue or concert</p></li>
<li><p>to make the most of social aspect of dance, invite your friends and family to join you</p></li>
<li><p>social dance classes are a better choice for meeting new people</p></li>
<li><p>beginner performance dance classes will improve your physical health, dance skills and self-esteem</p></li>
<li><p>most importantly, remember, it is not so much about how good your dancing is, dance is more about joy, fun and social connectedness.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>In the words of one participant in our (yet-to-be published) research on dance and wellbeing, dance for adults is a rare gateway into fun:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There’s so much joy, there’s so much play in dancing. And play isn’t always that easy to access as an adult; and yet, it’s just such a joyful experience. I feel so happy to be able to dance.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197692/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tamara Borovica receives funding from VicHealth - Victorian Health Promotion Organisation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Renata Kokanovic receives funding from Australian Research Council (ARC), National Health &Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and Vic Health.</span></em></p>Dancing in a group – in a class, in a club, at a wedding – is social. So it could be just the thing for 2023, if the gym isn’t for you.Tamara Borovica, Research assistant and early career researcher, Critical Mental Health research group, RMIT UniversityRenata Kokanovic, Professor and Lead of Critical Mental Health, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1949692023-01-03T13:27:22Z2023-01-03T13:27:22ZKick up your heels – ballroom dancing offers benefits to the aging brain and could help stave off dementia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500091/original/file-20221209-19531-psjcx1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C0%2C5450%2C3663&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Not only is it good aerobic exercise, but dancing may help the elderly with reasoning skills and memory.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/senior-couple-dancing-together-in-community-center-royalty-free-image/858729852?phrase=ballroom%20dancing%20elderly&adppopup=true">Thomas Barwick/Stone via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em> </p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Social ballroom dancing can improve cognitive functions and reduce brain atrophy in older adults who are at increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. That’s the key finding of my team’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1123/japa.2022-0176">recently published study</a> in the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity.</p>
<p>In our study, we enrolled 25 adults over 65 years of age in either six months of twice-weekly ballroom dancing classes or six months of twice-weekly treadmill walking classes. None of them were engaged in formal dancing or other exercise programs.</p>
<p>The overall goal was to see how each experience affected cognitive function and brain health. </p>
<p>While none of the study volunteers had a dementia diagnosis, all performed a bit lower than expected on at least one of our dementia screening tests. We found that older adults that completed six months of social dancing and those that completed six months of treadmill walking improved their executive functioning – an umbrella term for planning, reasoning and processing tasks that require attention.</p>
<p>Dancing, however, generated significantly greater improvements than treadmill walking on one measure of executive function and on processing speed, which is the time it takes to respond to or process information. Compared with walking, dancing was also associated with reduced brain atrophy in the hippocampus – a brain region that is key to memory functioning and is particularly affected by Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers also know that this part of our brain can undergo neurogenesis – or grow new neurons – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0611721104">in response to aerobic exercise</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/unmbhUvnGow?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Research shows those who regularly dance with a partner have a more positive outlook on life.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While several previous studies suggest that dancing has beneficial effects <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afaa270">on cognitive function in older adults</a>, only a few studies have compared it directly with traditional exercises. Our study is the first to observe both better cognitive function and improved brain health following dancing than walking in older adults at risk for dementia. We think that social dancing may be more beneficial than walking because it is physically, socially and cognitively demanding – and therefore strengthens a wide network of brain regions. </p>
<p>While dancing, you’re not only using brain regions that are important for physical movement. You’re also relying on brain regions that are important for interacting and adapting to the movements of your dancing partner, as well as those necessary for learning new dance steps or remembering those you’ve learned already. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Nearly 6 million older adults in the U.S. and 55 million worldwide <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jalz.2019.01.010">have Alzheimer’s disease</a> or a <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dementia">related dementia</a>, yet there is no cure. Sadly, the efficacy and ethics surrounding recently developed drug treatments <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2022.2129858">are still under debate</a>. </p>
<p>The good news is that older adults can potentially <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30367-6">lower their risk for dementia</a> through lifestyle interventions, even later in life. These include reducing social isolation and physical inactivity. </p>
<p>Social ballroom dancing targets both isolation and inactivity. In these later stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a better understanding of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/23337214211005223">indirect effects of COVID-19</a> – particularly those that increase dementia risk, such as social isolation – is urgently needed. In my view, early intervention is critical to prevent dementia from becoming the next pandemic.
Social dancing could be a particularly timely way to overcome the adverse cognitive and brain effects associated with isolation and fewer social interactions during the pandemic.</p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>Traditional aerobic exercise interventions such as treadmill-walking or running have been shown to lead to modest but reliable improvements in cognition – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617707316">particularly in executive function</a>. </p>
<p>My team’s study builds on that research and provides preliminary evidence that not all exercise is equal when it comes to brain health. Yet our sample size was quite small, and larger studies are needed to confirm these initial findings. Additional studies are also needed to determine the optimal length, frequency and intensity of dancing classes that may result in positive changes. </p>
<p>Lifestyle interventions like social ballroom dancing are a promising, noninvasive and cost-effective path toward staving off dementia as we – eventually – leave the COVID-19 pandemic behind.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194969/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helena Blumen receives funding from National Institute on Aging</span></em></p>Dancing requires physical, social and cognitive engagement and, as a result, it may bolster a wide network of brain regions.Helena Blumen, Associate Professor of Medicine and Neurology, Albert Einstein College of MedicineLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1783992022-05-20T12:55:16Z2022-05-20T12:55:16ZThe Martinican bèlè dance – a celebration of land, spirit and liberation<p>On May 22 each year, when the eastern Caribbean island of Martinique observes <a href="https://www.martinique.org/22-mai-1848-histoire-culture-et-memoire">Emancipation Day</a>, drums beat from sunrise until the break of dawn the next day.</p>
<p>Participants at open-air, starlit gatherings dance, sing, play drums and feast for ancestors who fought to break the chains of bondage. The uprising that eventually led to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316181669.005">the abolition of slavery</a> on the island in 1848 was sparked by the arrest of Romain, an enslaved man who refused to comply with his master’s ban on beating drums.</p>
<p>Today, drums are still a symbol of rebellion and freedom. The traditional dances that span the island each May 22, at performances called “swaré bèlè,” are filled with an electrifying aura of reverence and honor.</p>
<p>But the bèlè is not only a genre of ancestral Afro-Caribbean drum-dance practices. Rather, it is “an mannyè viv:” a lifestyle and worldview through which many people <a href="https://doi.org/10.2979/meridians.16.2.10">find healing and empowerment</a> for themselves and their communities.</p>
<p>My first encounter with bèlè occurred when I was a graduate student <a href="https://facultydiversity.umbc.edu/camee-maddox-wingfield/">in anthropology</a>, conducting fieldwork in Martinique. As a former dancer, I was drawn to how bèlè drummers, dancers and singers experience spiritual and cultural freedom. Performers tell me their participation feels transformative, sacred and otherworldly.</p>
<h2>Bèlè linò</h2>
<p>Martinique is <a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/w/wsfh/0642292.0034.018/--citizenship-and-assimilation-in-postwar-martinique?rgn=main;view=fulltext">an overseas region of France</a> in the Lesser Antilles islands. Most of the 400,000 people living there are descended from Africans brought to the islands by the slave trade, whose traditions have left a deep imprint on Martinican culture.</p>
<p>Centuries of history have given bèlè a complex set of symbols, only understood by those deeply immersed in the practice.</p>
<p>Swaré bèlè gatherings typically begin with a few matches of “ladja/danmyé,” a martial art tradition between two combatants in the center of a circle, which warms up the energy of the space as guests are arriving.</p>
<p>The remainder of the event involves an improvised rotation of performers playing and dancing sets from the “bèlè linò” repertoire. These square dances use <a href="https://doi.org/10.5406/blacmusiresej.30.2.0215">the quadrille configuration</a>, with four pairs of female and male dancers. After the opening sequences, each pair takes turns dancing in a playful exchange in the center of the circle, then dances toward the drummers to salute them.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/j.ctt1xcfh4">Bèlè traditions</a> use the “tanbou,” a goat-skinned conical drum. There is also the “tibwa”: two wooden sticks beaten on the side of the drum with a steady tempo.</p>
<p>The ensemble of dancers, drummers and singers is normally encircled by a crowd of spectators who clap their hands, sway their bodies and join in the song’s refrain. </p>
<p>All dancers master the base repertoire. Yet the order and style of interactions between partners is improvised – making it remarkable that the drummers can match their rhythm to the dancers’ intricate footwork.</p>
<p>In the playful, flirtatious and at times competitive game of certain bèlè styles, the woman is the object of her male partner’s pursuit, and she ultimately decides if she will welcome his affections. This aspect of bèlè performance, whereby women are admired and praised for their sensual dance prowess, <a href="https://doi.org/10.2979/meridians.16.2.10">brings female performers a sense of affirmation</a>.</p>
<h2>Repressed, then embraced</h2>
<p>Martinique has been under French control since 1635. Even during the post-colonial era, many Black Martinican folk traditions <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/can.1997.12.1.3">faced repression</a>, as leaders imposed mainland French culture on the population. For example, bèlè practices were often denigrated as “bagay vyé nèg,” “bagay djab” and “bagay ki ja pasé”: primitive, indecent and outdated, in the Martinican Creole language. To many in the church, traditional drumming and dance symbolized heathenism. In a country where the vast majority of people belong to the church, it was difficult for devout Catholics to support bèlè.</p>
<p>Many practitioners see bèlè as a dance of the earth that reinforces human connections with the land, divine spirits and ideals of freedom. Touted as a fertility ritual for both humans and the land, the dance reflects sensuality between partners. Other symbolism suggests <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/9781478013112-010">sacred connections</a> with the soil, vegetation and water on which Martinicans’ enslaved ancestors labored and survived. Many dance movements represent agricultural labor.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A woman in a bright floral outfit does a traditional dance." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464414/original/file-20220520-13-ca8w6p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464414/original/file-20220520-13-ca8w6p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464414/original/file-20220520-13-ca8w6p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464414/original/file-20220520-13-ca8w6p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464414/original/file-20220520-13-ca8w6p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1161&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464414/original/file-20220520-13-ca8w6p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1161&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464414/original/file-20220520-13-ca8w6p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1161&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The history of folk dances in Martinique stretches back centuries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/danse-folklorique-martinique-news-photo/945918434?adppopup=true">Sylvain Grandadam/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During the 1980s, student activists and youth groups led initiatives to revive traditions that had nearly dissolved as a result of French pressure to assimilate. Today an ever-growing community <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203493052-19/musical-revivals-social-movements-contemporary-martinique-ideology-identity-ambivalence">has embraced bèlè</a> as they challenge the legacy of colonialism and racism in Martinique.</p>
<p>Bèlè performance is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/9781478013112-010">increasingly visible</a> in the Catholic Church. “Bèlè légliz” or “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo80O6pw0CY">church bèlè</a>” fuses the liturgy with references to Martinicans’ African and diasporic heritage.</p>
<p>Some bèlè activists weave in symbols of ancestor reverence and land stewardship, which are also found in Caribbean religious traditions such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-haitian-voodoo-119621">Haitian Vodou</a>, Cuban Santería, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2013/09/16/216890587/brazilian-believers-of-hidden-religion-step-out-of-shadows">Brazilian Candomblé</a> and <a href="https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.18574/9780814728253-010/html?lang=en">Quimbois</a>, Martinique’s tradition of folk healing. </p>
<p>An increasing number of practitioners assert that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/9781478013112-010">bèlè is a “secular spirituality</a>,” viewing it as a form of social healing from subjugation. Many of the people I have interviewed speak about bèlè as an “otherworldly” experience with unique energy that helps them cope with their society’s shadows of colonialism and slavery, and the post-colonial transition.</p>
<h2>Solidarity and hope</h2>
<p>The bèlè drum and its associated dances have become the rallying cry around which many bèlè cultural activists organize daily life, such as by <a href="https://www.am4.fr/aprann-danmy%C3%A9-kalennda-b%C3%A8l%C3%A8/">teaching classes</a> and participating in mutual aid projects.</p>
<p>Swaré bèlè gatherings are often associated with community, and have become key opportunities for attendees to express cultural pride, political solidarity and hopes for change. These events often pay homage to historical figures who made contributions to struggles for Black liberation, such as poet and politician <a href="https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/blogs/books/remembering-life-legacy-aime-cesaire">Aimé Césaire</a> and philosopher <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/frantz-fanon/">Frantz Fanon</a>.</p>
<p>Over the last 13 years, my research has probed how traditional dance expresses resistance, emotions, spirituality and even feelings of transcendence. I have also explored how bèlè complicates black-and-white ideas about what is “sacred” versus what is “secular.”</p>
<p>Bèlè dances on the line between the two, reflecting the complex legacy of colonialism that continues to shape life in the Caribbean.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/178399/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>For this research, Camee Maddox-Wingfield received funding from the Institute of International Education (Mellon Foundation Graduate Fellowship for International Study), a grant from the Ruth Landes Memorial Research Fund (a Program of the Reed Foundation), and UMBC's Center for Social Science Scholarship Summer Faculty Fellowship.</span></em></p>After years of marginalization, the bèlè dance has been embraced by a growing community who see it as a form of social and spiritual healing.Camee Maddox-Wingfield, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Anthropology, and Public Health, University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1668232021-09-01T04:12:44Z2021-09-01T04:12:44ZWhat art are you engaging with in lockdown? Australians are mostly watching TV — but music, singing and dancing do more for your mood<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418571/original/file-20210831-15-1bsou92.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=46%2C0%2C5133%2C3411&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">y Kinga Cichewicz/Unsplash</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>How have you been passing the time during lockdown? Have you been taking an online drawing class, or did you join an online choir? Perhaps you focused on gardening, or finally picked up that guitar in the corner to have a go?</p>
<p>We have long known creative activities <a href="https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/329834/9789289054553-eng.pdf">help us cope</a> during hard times. Engaging with the arts <a href="https://www.culturehealthandwellbeing.org.uk/appg-inquiry/Publications/Creative_Health_Inquiry_Report_2017_-_Second_Edition.pdf">enhances physical and mental well-being</a>, can boost our sense of accomplishment and meaning, and strengthen our resilience to cope with life’s challenges. </p>
<p>The arts help give life beauty.</p>
<p>So we wanted to explore how Australians turned to art during lockdowns in 2020. We wanted to know which art forms most appealed to Australians, and which ones were helping Australians cope with the lows of lockdown.</p>
<p>In our <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.696202/full">newly published research</a>, we found many Australians improved their mood using the arts. But the activities we turned to the most frequently weren’t necessarily the ones which could most improve our sense of well-being.</p>
<h2>What makes us feel better?</h2>
<p>In an online survey, we asked Australians which artistic creative activities they had been undertaking during the lockdown, and which activities they normally participated in but weren’t under lockdown. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418578/original/file-20210831-27-z84weq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An Asian girl and mother bake." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418578/original/file-20210831-27-z84weq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418578/original/file-20210831-27-z84weq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418578/original/file-20210831-27-z84weq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418578/original/file-20210831-27-z84weq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418578/original/file-20210831-27-z84weq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418578/original/file-20210831-27-z84weq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418578/original/file-20210831-27-z84weq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cooking and baking was one of our favourite lockdown creative activities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also asked our participants to rank their activities from most to least effective at making them “feel better”. Measures for anxiety, depression, loneliness and emotion regulation were taken to help us identify any relationships between mental health and well-being and arts engagement. </p>
<p>The most popular activities were watching films and television, listening to music and cooking and baking. Listening to music was ranked as the most effective activity at making our participants feel better — but watching films and television ranked more than halfway down the list, at 18 out of 27.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/great-time-to-try-baking-sourdough-bread-136493">Great time to try: baking sourdough bread</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Of the most effective activities, singing took second place and dancing came in third.</p>
<h2>The power of music</h2>
<p>Three of the four most frequently undertaken activities (watching films and television, listening to music and reading) are usually considered passive or receptive activities: engaging with the artistic creation of others, rather than creating our own new art. </p>
<p>It comes as little surprise the most prevalent activities were receptive ones, since they could be easily done from home. But passive activities were often not the ones which were effective in helping us through trying times.</p>
<p>Active arts activities are beneficial partly because they involve seeking out novel ideas, experiences and possibilities, which in turn have positive <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1440-1630.12190">cognitive</a>, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0164027514568103">physical</a>, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24009169/">emotional and social</a> effects.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/great-time-to-try-learning-to-draw-135298">Great time to try: learning to draw</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But listening to music seemed to be different from other passive arts activities. </p>
<p>Music has long been regarded as an <a href="https://www.austmta.org.au/journal/article/music-and-mood-regulation-historical-enquiry-individual-differences-and-musical">effective coping tool</a>. We use music to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2015.1021750">regulate</a> our emotions and to create <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Music-Asylums-Wellbeing-Through-Music-in-Everyday-Life/DeNora/p/book/9781472455987">a refuge</a> for healing and imaginative play.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418593/original/file-20210831-23-1bg268z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman on a lounge chair with headphones." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418593/original/file-20210831-23-1bg268z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418593/original/file-20210831-23-1bg268z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418593/original/file-20210831-23-1bg268z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418593/original/file-20210831-23-1bg268z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418593/original/file-20210831-23-1bg268z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418593/original/file-20210831-23-1bg268z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418593/original/file-20210831-23-1bg268z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Most passive activities didn’t improve our moods — but listening to music was an exception.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Listening to music can also accompany daily activities such as cooking or doing household chores much better than activities such as watching television or reading. Some of music’s well-being benefits may originate in this combination of aesthetic and practical elements.</p>
<p>We also found anxious and depressed Australians seem to be turning to music as a coping mechanism or emotional crutch significantly more than others. People <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1029864913478305">often report</a> specifically listening to sad music to help improve their mood. </p>
<p>While this might seem counter intuitive, listening to sad music while in a negative state can produce a positive outcome as a form of processing or catharsis. </p>
<p>(However, people living with depression should approach listening to sad or negative music with caution. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1525/mp.2015.32.4.313">Emerging research</a> indicates those with clinical depression may find the outcome of sad music to be more negativity instead of positive release.)</p>
<h2>Get up and moving</h2>
<p>Participants who reported exercising more during the pandemic compared to their pre-pandemic routine fared significantly better in terms of mental health and well-being compared to those undertaking less or the same amount of exercise than prior to the pandemic. </p>
<p>This finding supports a <a href="https://www.jsams.org/article/S1440-2440(20)30838-0/fulltext">growing body</a> of research showing increased physical activity during lockdown is a robust method for maintaining mental wellness. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418574/original/file-20210831-17-2yjbs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two young Black girls dancing" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418574/original/file-20210831-17-2yjbs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/418574/original/file-20210831-17-2yjbs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418574/original/file-20210831-17-2yjbs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418574/original/file-20210831-17-2yjbs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418574/original/file-20210831-17-2yjbs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418574/original/file-20210831-17-2yjbs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/418574/original/file-20210831-17-2yjbs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dancing is both art and exercise, and can have a hugely positive impact on our mood.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ilona Virgin/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It also indicates why participants found dancing to be so beneficial. Not only is dance a form of artistic expression, it can be more effective than other forms of exercise at <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ijpo.12117">reducing body fat</a> and is linked to numerous <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27390986/">physical</a> and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03630242.2016.1243607?journalCode=wwah20">psychological</a> benefits.</p>
<p>Sadly, dancing was the activity most likely to have ceased under lockdown, followed by theatre rehearsals and performances, and singing.</p>
<h2>Your own artistic helper</h2>
<p>There are clear public health and safety reasons for why so many people had to stop dancing, singing and making theatre during the COVID-19 pandemic. But these activities are very effective in helping us navigate difficult times.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/great-time-to-try-knitting-your-first-woolly-scarf-136618">Great time to try: knitting your first woolly scarf</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>With this in mind, artistic creative activities — and in particular active activities such as singing and dancing — warrant additional support and consideration as an important and efficient aspect of Australia’s mental health response to COVID.</p>
<p>For those interested in incorporating singing and dancing into your lockdown routines, there is no shortage of inspiration for <a href="http://musicacrossthebalconies.com/">how to do so</a> online. The arts always seem to find a way.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166823/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was a collaboration between the Creativity and Wellbeing Hallmark Research Initiative (CAWRI) at the University of Melbourne and the MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development at Western Sydney University.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Frederic Kiernan has previously received funding from the former Australian Government Department of Education and Training as well as the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions CE1101011.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthony Chmiel and Jane Davidson do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Active arts activities where you are an active participant will best help you through the long days of lockdown.Frederic Kiernan, Research Fellow, Creativity and Wellbeing Hallmark Research Initiative, The University of MelbourneAnthony Chmiel, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney UniversityJane Davidson, Deputy Director ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1563692021-03-22T12:25:21Z2021-03-22T12:25:21ZWhy Christianity put away its dancing shoes – only to find them again centuries later<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389675/original/file-20210315-21-tgpdyc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C11%2C934%2C907&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Medieval Christians believed that heaven was a realm filled with dancing. Italian painter Fra Angelico's 'Last Judgment' showing dancing angels.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Angelico%2C_giudizio_universale_01.jpg">Fra Angelico's Last Judgment/Wikimedia</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the PBS documentary series “<a href="https://www.pbs.org/show/black-church/">The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song</a>,” scholar <a href="https://aaas.fas.harvard.edu/people/henry-louis-gates-jr">Henry Louis Gates Jr.</a> shows how African Americans introduced new rhythms, music and dance to Christianity from the days of slavery to the present. African American <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-power-of-a-song-in-a-strange-land-129969">spirituals</a> and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/african-rhythms-ideas-of-sin-and-the-hammond-organ-a-brief-history-of-gospel-musics-evolution-90737">ring shout</a>, a type of religious dance, provided some enslaved people with hope and perseverance. </p>
<p>While the Black Church enlivened Christian worship, there is an even older story of Christian dance that I tell in my 2021 book, “<a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/ringleaders-of-redemption-9780197527276?cc=us&lang=en&">Ringleaders of Redemption: How Medieval Dance Became Sacred</a>.” </p>
<p>Evidence from the ninth through 15th centuries in Western Europe suggests that Europeans not only tolerated dance, but incorporated it into religious thought and practice. </p>
<h2>Authorizing dance</h2>
<p>The tradition of Christian dance did not happen overnight. For the first five centuries of Christianity, the <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/ringleaders-of-redemption-9780197527276?cc=us&lang=en&">church opposed dancing</a>. According to church leaders and early theologians such as Tertullian and Saint Augustine, <a href="https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1201.htm">dance incited idolatry, lust and damnation</a>.</p>
<p>Moreover, early Christians were more likely hostile to dance because it reminded them of their pagan counterparts in the Roman Empire, as Augustine’s book “<a href="https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1201.htm">The City of God</a>” made clear. For example, Augustine wrote: “the worshippers and admirers of these (pagan) gods delight in imitating their scandalous iniquities… . Let there be heard everywhere the rustling of dancers, the loud, immodest laughter of the theater; let a succession of the most cruel and the most voluptuous pleasures maintain a perpetual excitement.” </p>
<p>Indeed, dance was an <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/performance-and-culture-in-platos-laws/8E36892BA00287007467A09ECB26BCB0">important part</a> of cultural and civic life in Greco-Roman antiquity. Christians, however, needed to distinguish themselves from pagans and set an example of pious behavior.</p>
<p>Much to the annoyance of medieval clergy, <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674031920">some Christians would even skip Mass</a> for the theater or gladiatorial games, which formed a larger part of ancient dance and entertainment culture.</p>
<p>Despite centuries of dance prohibitions that came from church councils, ancient and medieval Christians would not stop dancing. Ritual manuals of the 13th century and beyond reveal how church authorities <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0009640709990412">turned dance to the service of Christendom</a>.</p>
<p>Within the spaces of churches, cathedrals and shrines, dance could help generate collective worship. For example, following healing miracles that saints supposedly enacted, <a href="https://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/1735.html">community members would erupt into song and dance</a>. From the church’s point of view, such pious performances could actually enhance orthodoxy. In other words, dance could work in the service of conversion and rituals.</p>
<p>By the 12th century, Christian theologians would look to the Bible to obtain evidence that dance was permitted. For example, in <a href="https://vulgate.org/ot/exodus_15.htm">Exodus 15:20</a>, Miriam, the sister of Moses, dances with other Israelite women to praise God. For medieval Christians, Miriam’s dancing signified Christian worship and rituals.</p>
<h2>Dance of King David</h2>
<p>Additional biblical evidence for sacred dance came from King David, an Old Testament monarch. The Bible contains a scene in which David humbles himself before his subjects by <a href="https://vulgate.org/ot/2samuel_6.htm">dancing for the Lord</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389681/original/file-20210315-21-1pdo9iw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="King David dancing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389681/original/file-20210315-21-1pdo9iw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389681/original/file-20210315-21-1pdo9iw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389681/original/file-20210315-21-1pdo9iw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389681/original/file-20210315-21-1pdo9iw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389681/original/file-20210315-21-1pdo9iw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389681/original/file-20210315-21-1pdo9iw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389681/original/file-20210315-21-1pdo9iw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">King David dancing. Victoria and Albert Museum.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/David_dancing_before_the_Ark-Victoria_and_Albert_Museum.jpg">Yair Haklai via Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>According to the Latin Bible, <a href="https://vulgate.org/ot/2samuel_6.htm">David danced while he was naked</a>. Medieval commentators interpreted this dance as a Christian expression of humility.</p>
<p>In a 13th-century manuscript called the “<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Bible_Moralisee/h3u9wQEACAAJ?hl=en">Bible Moralisée</a>,” or The Moralized Bible, the dance of David, according to the author, “signifies Jesus Christ who celebrated Holy Church and celebrated the poor and the simple and showed great humility.” </p>
<p>Moreover, as I discovered in my archival research, an image from a 14th-century biblical picture book of sorts, juxtaposes the dance of David with the Crucifixion of Christ. </p>
<p>Although a Jewish figure from the Old Testament, medieval Christians began to see David and his dance as <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Futures_of_Dance_Studies/vPy9DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=futures+of+dance+studies&printsec=frontcover">prophesying the “Passion of Christ</a>.” Because David danced naked – in a way unbefitting of a king – they believed, it had a resemblance to the humiliation of one who had to suffer and die. </p>
<h2>Sanctifying dance</h2>
<p>Since at least the ninth century, dance became integrated into Christian devotion. During pilgrimages to the shrine of Saint Faith, a child martyr from the third century who had a strong following in medieval France, <a href="https://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/1735.html">Christians would break into dancing and singing</a>. </p>
<p>And 13th-century friar Francis of Assisi <a href="https://dmdhist.sitehost.iu.edu/francis.htm">was said to dance in a dramatic fashion while preaching</a>. For Francis, who was later canonized as a saint, it animated his image. </p>
<p>Actual dances began to be performed in churches and cathedrals during public worship. Ritual manuals from the 13th century testify to a variety of dances that Christians and clergy performed during sacred days, <a href="https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9780801449567/sacred-folly/#bookTabs=1">especially during Christmas and Easter</a>.</p>
<p>From the 14th through 16th centuries at the Auxerre Cathedral in France, religious men danced and played a ball game on the cathedral’s labyrinth every Easter Monday. <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674013636&content=reviews">They sang a sacred hymn about Christ’s triumph over death</a>, as they danced.</p>
<p>Moreover, dance appeared in the literary arts as well. Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy,” composed in the 14th century, contains exquisite poetic renderings of dance in <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=HerF9O8UFb4C&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&pg=PT47&dq=dante+paradiso+divine+comedy+durling&hl=en&source=newbks_fb#v=onepage&q=dante%20paradiso%20divine%20comedy%20durling&f=false">purgatory and paradise</a>.</p>
<p>Medieval women enacted sacred dance too. Sister-books, or documents produced in German nunneries during the Middle Ages, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/By_Women_for_Women_about_Women.html?id=bgMaAAAAYAAJ">provide textual evidence for the existence of dancing at convents</a>. For example, one German sister-book tells how a nun named Irmendraut began to dance in a spiritual manner after she recovered from a long illness: “this sister became so deeply enraptured that she jumped off the pillow where they had laid her and into the middle of their circle with quick straight legs. And then, in the presence of the community, she danced so lovingly in God’s praise that all who saw and heard it felt longing and anguish for the joy that was so unknown to them.”</p>
<p>In the 13th century, female mystics such as Mechthild von Magdeburg and Agnes Blannbekin were <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/ringleaders-of-redemption-9780197527276?cc=us&lang=en&">reported to have danced erotically with Christ or envisioned heavenly dancers</a>.</p>
<p>For medieval women, dance allowed them a proximity to divine presence during a time when no more women were being ordained into important ministerial and leadership roles. According to religion scholar <a href="https://www.scu.edu/cas/religious-studies/faculty--staff/gary-macy/">Gary Macy</a>, the church stopped ordaining women around the 13th century. As <a href="https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195189704.001.0001/acprof-9780195189704">Macy writes</a>, “by the 13th century, it was assumed in both law and theology that women could not be ordained and indeed had never been ordained.”</p>
<h2>Lost in history</h2>
<p>By the 16th century, however, the cultural landscape of Christian dance changed dramatically. There were many reasons.</p>
<p>The Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation began to <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Les_chr%C3%A9tiens_et_la_danse_dans_la_Franc.html?id=fdsTAQAAIAAJ">critique dance and declare it idolatrous</a>, much like the early church did. Moreover, starting in the 14th century, women were suspected of, and persecuted for, practicing witchcraft. During the European witch trials, witches were accused of dancing with the devil during a <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/E/bo3629693.html">satanic ritual known as the Witches’ Sabbath</a>.</p>
<p>By the time the first slave ships set sail to Virginia in 1619, <a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/63tbp8dz9780252065903.html">Christian dance was largely lost to history</a>. Over time, enslaved Africans, with their traditions of sacred song and movement, would put the dance back into Christianity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156369/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathryn Dickason does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Despite opposition from the early church, dance was an integral part of Christian devotion for many centuries before falling out of favor.Kathryn Dickason, Visiting Scholar, School of Religion, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1557042021-03-12T13:44:21Z2021-03-12T13:44:21ZHow the Nazis used music to celebrate and facilitate murder<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389115/original/file-20210311-14-1ww1v0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C10%2C2954%2C1888&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Prisoners are forced to play music as they lead a fellow prisoner to his execution at the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/prisoners-are-forced-to-give-company-to-fellow-sufferers-news-photo/503021537?adppopup=true">Votava/Imagno via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In December 1943, a 20-year-old named Ruth Elias arrived in a cattle car at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. She was assigned to Block 6 in the family camp, a barracks that housed young women and the camp’s male orchestra, an ensemble of incarcerated violinists, clarinet players, accordion players and percussionists who played their instruments not just when the prisoners marched out for daily labor details, but also during prisoner floggings.</p>
<p>Performances could be impromptu, ordered at the whims of the SS, the paramilitary guard of the Nazi Party. <a href="https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn539109#?rsc=138104&cv=0&c=0&m=0&s=0&xywh=-1756%2C-201%2C6109%2C4002">In a postwar interview</a>, Elias discussed how drunken SS troops would often burst into the barracks late at night. </p>
<p>First, they’d tell the orchestra to play as they drank and sang. Then they would pull young girls from their bunks to rape them. Pressed against the back of her top-level bunk to avoid detection, Elias heard the terrified screams of her fellow prisoners. </p>
<p>Before her tormentors engaged in these acts, she recalled, “The music had to play.”</p>
<p>Music is often thought of as inherently good, a view exemplified in the playwright Wilhelm Congreve’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Mourning-Bride">oft-cited aphorism</a> “music hath charms to soothe a savage breast.” It is also often seen as a form of art <a href="https://www.theodysseyonline.com/thebeauty-music">that ennobles those who play and listen to it</a>. Its aesthetic qualities seem to transcend the mundane and horrific. </p>
<p>Yet it’s also been used to facilitate torture and punishment, a topic I think is worth exploring.</p>
<p>When I was researching my book “<a href="https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501754197/drunk-on-genocide/#bookTabs=1">Drunk on Genocide: Alcohol and Mass Murder in Nazi Germany</a>,” I was struck by the ways in which music accompanied deaths in the camps, the ghettos and the killing fields. </p>
<p>Beautiful music accompanying murder and rape is a bizarre and disturbing juxtaposition. But its use by the perpetrators to torture their victims and to celebrate their acts reveals not only the darker side of its use but also offers insights into the festive mindset of the killers as they participated in genocide.</p>
<h2>The ‘joy’ of killing</h2>
<p>Stories of the integration of music and song into acts of torture and killing can be found throughout the interviews and memoirs of survivors. As in Auschwitz, the SS detail at the Belzec killing center organized a prisoner orchestra for its entertainment. Every Sunday evening, <a href="https://holocaustmusic.ort.org/fr/places/camps/death-camps/belzec/">members of the SS forced the ensemble to play</a> for their enjoyment as they held a drunken party.</p>
<p>One of the SS troops amused himself by having the orchestra repeatedly play a melody while the other prisoners were forced to sing and dance, without respite. </p>
<p>Another Jewish survivor <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/I_Survived_a_Secret_Nazi_Extermination_C.html?id=1RPusgEACAAJ">remembered listening to that same orchestra</a> as it accompanied the cries of those being murdered in the camp’s gas chamber.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389091/original/file-20210311-15-nhb7m3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Performers form a circle around a man as guards observe." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389091/original/file-20210311-15-nhb7m3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389091/original/file-20210311-15-nhb7m3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389091/original/file-20210311-15-nhb7m3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389091/original/file-20210311-15-nhb7m3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389091/original/file-20210311-15-nhb7m3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389091/original/file-20210311-15-nhb7m3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389091/original/file-20210311-15-nhb7m3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Prisoners play ‘The Tango of Death’ during the execution of Soviet citizens at the Janowska concentration camp in Ukraine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/undated-picture-taken-in-the-lvovs-concentration-camp-news-photo/1159896185?adppopup=true">AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>In the absence of an orchestra, troops could nonetheless spontaneously break into song.</p>
<p>Genia Demianova, a Russian schoolteacher, was interrogated, tortured and gang raped in August 1941. After the initial assault, <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/comrade-genia-the-story-of-a-victim-of-german-bestiality-in-russia-told-by-herself/oclc/1161203223?referer=di&ht=edition">she wrote of hearing the clinking of glasses as her rapist toasted</a>, “The wildcat is tamed!” Other German soldiers then took their turns with Genia, who lost count of the number of assailants. As she lay battered and bleeding on the floor, she heard the voices of her attackers crooning to “the sound of a sentimental [Robert] Schumann song.”</p>
<p>And SS Col. Walter Blume, a commander in the <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/einsatzgruppen">Einsatzgruppen</a>, the notorious SS death squad, <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/eichmann-kommandos/oclc/1221055">was known to gather his men</a> after a day of murder for evening singalongs around a campfire. </p>
<h2>Carnivals of carnage</h2>
<p>The single largest massacre of prisoners in a concentration camp occurred on Nov. 3, 1943, at Majdanek. </p>
<p>Planned under the celebratory code name “<a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/aktion-erntefest-operation-harvest-festival">Operation Harvest Festival</a>,” German soldiers shot some 18,000 Jewish men, women and children. During the executions, Viennese waltzes, tangos and military marches blared from the camp’s loudspeakers. </p>
<p>During a postwar interrogation, <a href="https://www.amazon.de/Aktion-Erntefest-Rekonstruktion-Massenmords-Aktuell/dp/3935811160/ref=sr_1_5?__mk_de_DE=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&crid=4LIC7FHRXZXS&dchild=1&keywords=stefan+klemp&qid=1615502530&sprefix=Stefan+Klepm%2Caps%2C264&sr=8-5">one policeman recalled</a> hearing a colleague at the time exclaim, “It’s really nice to shoot to military march music.”</p>
<p>Afterward, the troops returned to their quarters for a “wild party,” during which they swilled vodka and celebrated in uniforms covered in the victims’ blood.</p>
<p>In September 1941, a group of German policemen prepared to execute 400 Jewish men, women and children near the Ukrainian town of Cutnow. In postwar testimony, one of the policemen described the presence of a band as the Jews were marched to the grave site. </p>
<p>“It was loud,” <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/533472/pdf">he testified</a>, “just like a carnival.”</p>
<p>I came across this often during my research – mass killings described as carnivals or evoking a “<a href="https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/10.5771/9783835344198-7/introduction-the-holocaust-in-the-borderlands-interethnic-relations-and-the-dynamics-of-violence-in-occupied-eastern-europe">wedding atmosphere</a>.” The recollections of these heinous acts as part of some sort of macabre celebration have appeared during other genocides, too. </p>
<p>After the Rwanda genocide, <a href="https://www.routledge.com/New-Directions-in-Genocide-Research/Jones/p/book/9780415495974">one Hutu perpetrator remarked</a> that “the genocide was like a festival,” and he remembered celebrating a day of murder with beer and a barbecue with his fellow killers. A female Tutsi survivor described intoxicated perpetrators singing as they hunted for their victims and engaged in mass rapes.</p>
<h2>Wine, murder and song</h2>
<p>The fusion of alcohol, music and song with mass murder shows how violence was normalized – even celebrated – by the Nazis.</p>
<p>Under the Nazi regime, <a href="https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501754197/drunk-on-genocide/#bookTabs=1">music and song forged community</a>, camaraderie and shared purpose. In unit bars, around campfires and at the killing sites, the addition of music was more than just a form of entertainment. It was also an instrument for promoting a common purpose and bringing people together. Through rituals of song, drink and dance, the Nazis’ actions could be collectivized and normalized – and their larger project of violence that much easier to pull off. </p>
<p>Ultimately, <a href="https://www.hmhbooks.com/shop/books/hitlers-furies/9780544334496">genocide is a societal endeavor</a>; music and song – like political philosophies – are part of a society’s cultural artifacts. </p>
<p>So when mass murder becomes a central tenet of a society, perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that these atrocities are carried out against a backdrop of stirring song, a rousing military march or a sentimental Schumann melody. </p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155704/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Edward B. Westermann does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Music is supposed to transcend the mundane and horrific. Yet it has also served as an accompaniment to torture and punishment.Edward B. Westermann, Regents Professor of History, Texas A&M University-San AntonioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1134362019-03-14T10:33:02Z2019-03-14T10:33:02ZFrom busking pigeons to head banging sea lions – can animals feel the beat?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/263871/original/file-20190314-28475-5pk40x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C6%2C4513%2C3546&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Funky pigeon.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/full-body-speed-racing-pigeon-bird-610981688?src=00gJLZ5ZiRxS7xMTU0rebQ-1-0">Stockphotomania/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A pigeon bopping along to a busker playing <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg6sfTefD0U">Blurred Lines</a> by Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams set Twitter abuzz recently. It’s certainly a catchy tune that I can’t help but tap my foot along to, but is that really what the pigeon is doing?</p>
<p>This pigeon seems to hop to the beat on one foot, or he may only have one leg. Either way, this would mean that it and other pigeons are capable of beat matching – thought to be a precursor to dancing and a uniquely human skill. <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2014/04/01/297686709/the-list-of-animals-who-can-truly-really-dance-is-very-short-who-s-on-it?t=1552490010774">In order to beat match</a>, an animal must be able to match a complex pattern across a range of beats at different speeds (or tempos) and replicate the beat in a different format, known as a modality. In the pigeon’s case, this would mean hearing the music – sound is one modality – and dancing in response – movement is another modality. It would also need to predict when the beat is coming.</p>
<p>Many animals make repetitive, rhythmic movements, such as head bobbing in lizards and birds, chirping in crickets and frogs, and flashing in fireflies. When many of these animals come together, the rhythms of their songs and movements can align. This can be seen in fireflies, which <a href="https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04581.x">flash on and off together at the same time</a>. This is called rhythm entrainment. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1104299580265545728"}"></div></p>
<p>But this is simpler than beat matching. The fireflies flash in complex patterns and tempos, so it’s not just a simple rhythm but they aren’t capable of quickly changing between tempos. And the entrainment is all in the same modality – they see flashing and produce flashing, which could just be simple mimicry.</p>
<p>Another important criteria for beat matching is that humans can predict when the beat is coming. When I tap along to Blurred Lines, I tap directly on the beat because I predict when it’s coming. Many animals, such as rhesus monkeys, can change the timing of their beats so they’re roughly in time with music, but most of their taps will occur after the musical beat, and will <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19812296">not be as accurate as a human doing it</a>.</p>
<p>Many scientists think that <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/mp.2006.24.1.99?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">only animals with vocal learning skills</a> should be able to tap along to a beat. These are animals that can learn complex vocal signals like human speech and mimic sounds. They include parrots, hummingbirds, elephants, some whales and dolphins, seals and bats. This is because scientists think that brain areas controlling sound-mimicking are likely also to be <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1001821#pbio.1001821-Patel2">involved in detecting a rhythm</a>.</p>
<h2>On camera</h2>
<p>There are some <a href="https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=birds+dancing+to+music">convincing videos</a> of parrots bobbing along to a song, and being able to talk quite proficiently, too. A pigeon, however, is a non-vocal learner, so would it have the capacity to perceive the rhythm that it is supposedly bobbing along to? </p>
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<p>There is evidence that some non-vocal learners are able to tap along to beats, including sea lions and chimpanzees. As someone who spends time working with seals and sea lions, the study with <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23544769">Ronan the California sea lion</a> really caught my attention. </p>
<p>Researchers at the University of Santa Cruz in the US showed, after months of training, that Ronan could <a href="https://theconversation.com/dancing-seal-is-first-non-human-mammal-to-keep-a-beat-13182">nod her head to different tempo beats</a>, including those in Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) by the Backstreet Boys. This suggests that vocal learning isn’t essential for beat matching – careful training and exposure to beats and sounds can also help to develop this behaviour.</p>
<p>Ronan took a long time to learn this behaviour and did not show evidence for spontaneous beat matching – she couldn’t hear a rhythm and instinctively move to the beat, she had to be trained to do so. I was really interested in exploring whether other sea lions could do spontaneous beat matching. A previous study I worked on showed that sea lions made repetitive, cyclic, rhythmic movements <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25138923">during ball-balancing to keep the ball on their noses</a>. In particular, they did “keepie-uppies” or large head sways <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJyZafR382w">to keep the ball balanced</a>. I decided to focus on these movements and measure whether they changed pace with the tempo of a complex beat.</p>
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<p>To design the beat, I partnered with <a href="https://www2.mmu.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/story/7323/">Jingyu Chen</a> – a composer from the Royal Northern College of Music. Jingyu designed some songs that matched the tempo of slow, medium and fast-moving head motions during ball-balancing. So far, it looks as if spontaneous beat matching does not happen in sea lions. Rather, with a lot of patience, training, fishy treats and exposure to music, some animals just appear to get there in the end.</p>
<p>Now let’s think back to the pigeon. It’s likely to be untrained and is not a vocal learner – you’ve never heard a pigeon “parrot” a sentence back to you – so it’s probably unable to perceive the beats in the music. In fact, on close inspection of the video, it looks as if the pigeon isn’t really bobbing in time to the music.</p>
<p>While the music is complex, the pigeon’s bobbing is a simple rhythm that is likely to fit a number of different tunes. Therefore, the pigeon in this video is unlikely to be dancing. Despite first appearances, it does not move like Jagger.</p>
<p>This does not mean that pigeons cannot bob along to music. They naturally make rhythmic head-bobbing behaviours, and may, like the sea lion, be able to bob along to music. They just need a bit of time, treats and exposure to music.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113436/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robyn Grant does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Can animals find the beat in music and dance along?Robyn Grant, Senior Lecturer in Comparative Physiology & Behaviour, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/702952016-12-15T11:31:04Z2016-12-15T11:31:04ZWhy Ed Balls deserved the Strictly glitterball<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149913/original/image-20161213-1625-1wsp3n4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">BBC/Kieron McCarron</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>This year has been a shocker. The memory of 2016 will be, after all, skewered in perpetuity by the image of Nigel Farage and Donald Trump, standing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/13/donald-trump-nigel-farage-picture-trump-tower#img-1">grinning in a golden lift</a>. Above all, it is a year in which all the wrong people kept winning for all the wrong reasons. From an internecine power struggle among the Tory party leading to an exit from Europe, the consequences of which no one has the faintest idea, to a brash, belligerent reality TV star being elected US president, I wake up every morning to the horrible realisation that it really wasn’t all a dream.</p>
<p>In a world where everything seems to be falling butter side down, the cosy escapism offered by the BBC in its two ratings juggernauts <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/the-great-british-bake-off-12314">The Great British Bake Off</a> and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006m8dq">Strictly Come Dancing</a> is at its most welcome. One could argue that their respective focus on home baking and ballroom dancing offers more than a subliminal nod to the longing for a return to a fantasy Britain of jam, Jerusalem and military two-steps that drove the vote of many a Brexiter itching to take back control. But both shows also offer a view into another, more hopeful world – one in which winning isn’t actually everything, one where people can make fun of themselves.</p>
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<span class="caption">Finest glitter distraction.</span>
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<p>Sure, this year’s Strictly has delivered a climax that no one could argue with. The final will see the very cream of this year’s contestants compete for the Strictly trophy. Nineties pop starlet <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkiaNCTCKfs">Louise Redknapp</a> will dance it out with Hollyoaks’ heartthrob <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CABJfSW6MXE">Danny Mac</a> and TV sports presenter <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSq3Hr62-Ig">Ore Oduba</a>. All are brilliant dancers who have delivered some spectacular routines with their partners over the past 12 weeks.</p>
<p>Yet, honestly, shamefully, I’m bored with them all. I’m bored of their predictable, identikit excellence and almost professional levels of ability, and I don’t care who wins Strictly’s <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/strictlycomedancing/entries/7b3927d5-1a2e-4144-8428-6425c9255748">Grand Final</a>. Strictly in 2016 has for me – and going by social media, <a href="http://www.dailystar.co.uk/strictly/565482/Strictly-Ed-Balls-gives-Zoolander-Blue-Steel-for-tango">many, many others</a> – been all about the wrong man. This year’s oldest, squarest male contestant, someone who traditionally would have had to have packed up his dancing shoes and got his coat by around week two, is in fact 2016’s breakout star.</p>
<p>Scourge of the judges and provider of some of the most memorably joyous performances, former Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Ed Balls has owned 2016. While by the end of the series, Danny Mac and Louise Redknapp will have racked up any number of nines and tens with their sizzling sambas and elegant quicksteps, it is Ed and his partner Katya Jones’s recreation of the K Pop smash hit <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=9bZkp7q19f0">Gangnam Style</a> which will sit forever in the Strictly hall of fame. </p>
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<p>Despite the judging panel’s constant refrain that Strictly is a dancing competition, Balls personifies what it is that makes the series such an engaging and absorbing experience. While the likely winners of this year were already evident from week one, who could have predicted the nimble footwork, pitch perfect comic timing and cheeky, laddish bravado that Balls would bring to his wittily ingenious routines? Before his performances, there was always a genuine buzz of anticipation. No one knew what he was about to do next. While he did not technically win the competition, leaving in week ten, Strictly 2016 was Ed Balls’s show.</p>
<p>In the light entertainment, shiny-floor show world of Strictly, sometimes we don’t always want the best man (or woman) to win. Strictly after all has always thrived on results that go against the predicted grain. In 2005 and 2006, for example, there were two thrillingly unlikely winners in the shape of cricketers <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/1sjjGdqygCZfdkfg7WWC3hZ/darren-gough">Darren Gough</a> and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/26ggnvYXTfcVn27SL8mycFX/mark-ramprakash">Mark Ramprakash</a>. </p>
<p>First, bluff, matter-of-fact Gough transformed into an elegant, assured ballroom dancer, and then shy, self-effacing Ramprakash revealed an undiscovered talent for sultry, sexy Latin routines. While neither man was necessarily the best or most natural dancer of their respective series, the draw for the audience was the unexpected pleasure of what they achieved in a few months, set against the experienced, stage school-trained contestant who of course hits the ground running on week one.</p>
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<p>Ed Balls’s hand-knitted, homespun amateur charms also had other rather more significant implications in a 2016 when not an only exit from Europe but also questions of British identity itself have been continually under the spotlight. Set against the angry troubled images of conflicted nationhood that the year has confronted us with, Balls, with his endearingly imperfect dancing, serves as a reminder of some of the positive qualities which have long been associated with Britishness. His popularity drew fundamentally upon his ability to laugh at himself and to take a weekly slating from the judges in good heart. </p>
<p>At the same time, in the best tradition of the gentleman amateur, he genuinely gave it his very best shot every week. And who could miss the spirited twinkle in his eye that showed he was enjoying the pop-culture joke along with everyone else? For a few minutes on Saturday nights, Balls banished 2016’s Brexit Britain gloom with a long forgotten sprinkle of 1990s Cool Britannia insouciance. What a pity that the year that took a TV star to the top of the political tree couldn’t also send a politician the other way. </p>
<p>Oh well, that was 2016 it seems.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70295/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mary Irwin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Strictly Come Dancing final looks to be somewhat dull – all glitter, no Balls.Mary Irwin, Senior Lecturer in Media, Northumbria University, NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/689482016-11-16T17:31:21Z2016-11-16T17:31:21ZJungle boogie: five dancing animals who know how to strut their stuff<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146268/original/image-20161116-13521-137ibst.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">No, I can't see the supermoon either.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gooney_Bird_Dance.jpg">Gary Edstrom/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Strictly Come Dancing is no longer the only must-watch weekend TV show where viewers are entertained with impressive moves. The second edition of nature documentary Planet Earth II featured footage of grizzly bears that appeared to be dancing against trees. The “pole-dancing” bears appeared to seek out specific trees then rub their backs up and down them. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, it’s doubtful the bears were performing a routine that would take them to the much-coveted Blackpool Tower Ballroom. Instead, they were actually scratching their backs against the trees to help them shed their thick winter coat. The moves also help them to <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070909221303.htm">spread their scent</a> so that other bears know who is around and potential lethal fights can be avoided.</p>
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<p>Plenty of other animals perform what looks like a dance for specific reasons, whether this is to attract a mate, lure prey or as a form of communication. The dance rituals have evolved because animals that behave this way gain some sort of competitive advantage, so are able to live longer and pass their “dancing” genes on when they reproduce.</p>
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<p>For example, gulls do a <a href="http://animalbehaviouraberdeen.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/seagull-rain-dance.html">kind of Riverdance</a> that simulates the vibrations of rain on the ground. This draws worms up to the surface where they are easily picked off and eaten by the gulls. The individual gulls that undertake this apparent dancing behaviour gain food and so decrease their chance of starvation, leading to the survival of the fittest.</p>
<p>Here are just a few more animals that dance:</p>
<h2>Honey bees</h2>
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<p>Could you tell your friends where to find food just by dancing? Honey bees perform an interpretative “<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8176000/8176878.stm">waggle dance</a>” for members of their hive to show where a food source of nectar is. The dance consists of waggles (vibrations) and loops, where the direction of the waggle indicates the direction of the nectar source in relation to the position of the sun in the sky. The length of the waggle indicates how far away the nectar source is.</p>
<p>For example, a dance containing two seconds of waggling in a vertical direction indicates that other bees should head out directly towards the sun for roughly two kilometres to find the source of the nectar. Many performances on Strictly tell a story but perhaps not to quite the same extent as the waggle dance.</p>
<h2>Stoats</h2>
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<p>Strictly viewers were mesmerised by Ed Balls’ salsa to Gangnam Style. There was even footage of Darcey Bussell gripping her fellow judges and freezing in either delight or terror.</p>
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<p>In a similar way, prey can be mesmerised by the dance of the stoat. When capturing large or difficult-to-catch prey, the stoat performs <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0074tkf">a fast, bizarre dance</a>, creeping closer and closer until it is able to pounce and deliver a killing blow. They prey is transfixed until it is too late to run.</p>
<h2>Grebes</h2>
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<p>Grebes are graceful water birds that are noted for their <a href="http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150417-the-beauty-of-courting-grebes">elaborate courtship dances</a>. Males and females pair up and undertake a dance duet in perfect synchrony, similar to a passionate Argentine tango or possibly a beautiful Viennese waltz. The purpose of this dance is to form bonds between the pairs and show commitment. The more effort your partner puts in, the more effort they should also put in to raising offspring.</p>
<h2>Birds-of-Paradise</h2>
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<p>Most birds-of-paradise, such as the six-plumed bird-of-paradise species, have elaborate mating rituals. The males are <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/earth/story/20150129-why-do-birds-of-paradise-dance">typical show-offs</a>. They are highly ornamented with head plumes and iridescent feathers, and they prance around to attract the drab females. The females choose the highest quality mates, and this is indicated via the quality of their dance performance.</p>
<p>First, the males undertake careful preparation, producing a meticulously cleaned stage to perform on, which they decorate with berries. Then, the males show off their amazing plumage by performing a dance of head bobs, shimmies and turns. They even fan their feathers to produce a skirt or cape that they show off to great effect, similar to the matadors in the Paso Doble dance. The females will only choose the males that they view as “fab-u-lous”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68948/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Louise Gentle works for Nottingham Trent University. </span></em></p>Planet Earth’s bears have nothing on these critters.Louise Gentle, Senior Lecturer in Behavioural Ecology, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/584172016-05-01T19:57:54Z2016-05-01T19:57:54ZWriting movement: why dance criticism matters<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120309/original/image-20160427-30946-731c1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Chloe Chignell's dance piece Deep Shine in the 2016 Keir Choreographic awards.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gregory Lorenzutti</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Internationally, dance criticism has an illustrious literary past. Writers such as <a href="http://www.britannica.com/biography/Paul-Valery">Paul Valery</a>, TS Eliot, and Edwin Denby, amongst others, have all written on dance performance. </p>
<p>Denby, a <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/edwin-denby">poet and acclaimed dance critic</a> for The New York Herald Tribune in the early 1940s, influenced Deborah Jowitt’s decision to embark on a career in dance criticism as far back as the early 1950s. Jowitt is particularly renowned and revered for her long service as dance critic for the New York <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/">Village Voice</a>, starting in 1967.</p>
<p>At The Voice, like <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-return-of-arlene-croce">Arlene Croce at The New Yorker</a>, Jowitt was allocated an amount of space for her reviews undreamt of in any Australian newspaper. There, she was able to develop a sensibility for dance, educated by the work she saw, and to refine her criticism as a distinct form of literature. </p>
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<span class="caption">Deborah Jowitt.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Supplied.</span></span>
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<p>Jowitt is in Australia this week as an invited contributor to the wider program surrounding the second <a href="http://keirfoundation.org/project/keir-choreographic-award-2016/">Keir choreographic awards</a> (the first having taken place in 2014). The finals of the award will be judged at Carriageworks in Sydney this week.</p>
<p>Jowitt was, and remains, committed to writing about the dance aspect of dance performance: how it communicates through the materials of movement, the nuances of style, and the way these are handled by the performers. In her review At home in the body (1977) Jowitt wrote of a performance by the widely influential dancer Simone Forti that it felt as though you had,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>all the time in the world…Once, she took her right hand off the floor, and, as if her weight had been equally distributed between four points, acknowledged the sudden imbalance by toppling over. You could say that not much happened; or you could say that within a few concrete actions, everything happened. </p>
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<span class="caption">Alice Heyward, Before The Fact, Keir Awards 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gregory Lorenzutti</span></span>
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<p>There is no ready-made language for describing the effects on a viewer of dancing itself – whatever the style of that dancing. Even well known dance critics internationally, such as Cyril Beaumont, who wrote for The Sunday Times, regularly failed to say anything much about the dancing in their reviews, concentrating instead on other aspects of the production.</p>
<p>The so-called “descriptive” approach developed by Jowitt has influenced later generations of critics to describe what it was like to be there – as a witness to the qualities and effects of a dance’s dancing.</p>
<p>Jowitt’s distinctive style also encoded an ethic of reviewing that was generous, intimate, avowedly subjective, and “not in the business of rating and ranking”. This didn’t mean that she was never critical: rather she was incisive.</p>
<p>Her reviews stand as important documents for the archive of dance history: Jowitt was there at the first revivals of <a href="http://marthagraham.org/about-us/our-history/">Martha Graham</a>’s early 20th century works; she became interested in writing at the same time <a href="http://www.mercecunningham.org/merce-cunningham/">Merce Cunningham</a> was founding his company. </p>
<p>She has witnessed the development of the oeuvres of several generations of American choreographic artists and dancers and has become familiar with countless works through multiple viewings and casts over decades – something that any music critic, for example, would take for granted but which is rare in dance. </p>
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<span class="caption">Sarah Aiken, (tools for personal experience), Keir Awards 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gregory Lorenzutti</span></span>
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<p>Dance performances are too often seen as a series of “one-offs”, without knowledge of their relation to a whole historical field of works and processes. A dedicated and informed reviewer can help an audience to both remember what a work was like, in its sensuous particularity, and to place the performance they have seen within a context of other works. </p>
<p>The reviewer can convey something of the work’s lineage. Most fundamentally, perhaps, an informed review is an indication that the work should be taken seriously.</p>
<p>As Richard Watts <a href="http://performing.artshub.com.au/news-article/features/performing-arts/richard-watts/why-we-need-dance-criticism-251124">pointed out recently in ArtsHub</a>, substantial reviewing is crucial to the development of a discerning public, which in turn supports the artform. </p>
<p>The Australian print media has largely failed to recognise this. All the more should we acknowledge the efforts of some long-standing and former dance reviewers around the country, including <a href="http://ausdance.org.au/contributors/details/jill-sykes">Jill Sykes</a> and Mary Emery in Sydney, particularly at a time when Melbourne dancers were suffering the reviews of The Age’s Neil Jillet.</p>
<p>In an optimistic turn, online forums and the Australia Council funded <a href="http://www.realtimearts.net/">Realtime</a> are now providing a much needed opening for writers on the arts to develop their reviewing approaches and languages. </p>
<p>Jowitt’s visit for the Keir program will include her conducting a week-long dance writing seminar at Melbourne’s Dancehouse. We may see a much needed revitalisation of the dance critic’s craft.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58417/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sally Gardner has received numerous Australia Council grants for travel, dance creation and production. She is co-editor of the occasional publication Writings on Dance, which has been supported by Arts Victoria and the Australia Council. </span></em></p>Legendary critic Deborah Jowitt’s visit to Australia for the Keir choreographic awards is focussing attention on the paucity of our dance criticism. Yet informed reviews are vital to the health of an art form.Sally May Gardner, Senior Lecturer, Dance, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/537892016-02-12T11:10:17Z2016-02-12T11:10:17ZWhy music education needs to incorporate more diversity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111202/original/image-20160211-29180-lj4nkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Classrooms are becoming more diverse. So, why is music education focused on Western music?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/statefarm/6786057275/in/photolist-bkEjpv-EqpdW-bkEix8-bkEhnD-fmzSbr-p6f3ha-8Pomnt-nM78WC-5gV2QB-8vBW7x-8vBW22-BtcWbK-5zYqyR-AUh7cY-u6cA2g-7pUoXX-cvupTE-2kyBS2-cvurUA-cvupeQ-cvur8b-raMuxU-qVyoJd-qVE8xg-rd5WEr-rXf5Sd-uyWGZG-7LyPHJ-7LyMSS-7LuLFr-Eqp7L-8x9CJG-7LyNG3-cHBxX-7LyPqf-4F24dt-pXUqby-pHzjtM-pXUpb7-8289hq-nCfnL2-nUBAJ1-nUE18o-dH1xQd-q18Rtq-b8787z-p2sQGw-b878EZ-brcTpp-pFRQRu">State Farm</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As controversy over immigration continues, it’s essential we consider this: <a href="http://fcdus.org/sites/default/files/FINAL%20Children%20in%20Immigrant%20Families%20(2)_0.pdf">one in four</a> students under the age of eight in the U.S. has an immigrant parent. </p>
<p>Classrooms are getting more diverse as the percentage of minority students increases. In the fall of 2014 there were more minority students in the the public education system. According to a <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/08/18/u-s-public-schools-expected-to-be-majority-minority-starting-this-fall/">report</a> from the Pew Research Center, 50.3 percent of students in 2014 were minority, whereas 49.7 percent of all students were white. By 2022, 45.3 percent are projected to be white, and 54.7 percent are projected to be minority. </p>
<p>How can classrooms become more culturally responsive in their teaching practices in classrooms and foster respectful behavior? </p>
<p>As a music educator and music teacher educator focused on culturally responsive teaching, I believe a music classroom is an ideal place to begin. Music is an experience found across all cultures, and music classrooms are a logical place where difference and respect can be recognized, practiced and celebrated.</p>
<h2>Music programs lack diversity</h2>
<p>Music education programs in the high school setting typically bring to mind the images and sounds of bands, orchestras and choirs. In the elementary context, general music classes are viewed as places where children sing, dance, and play the recorder and other classroom instruments. </p>
<p>Each of these experiences is rooted in either a Western view of music that is focused on placement of Western classical music as the highest form of musical experience, or on methods of teaching that grew out of European music education practices.</p>
<p>In my research, I found that the reliance on a method of general music instruction within a classroom where the majority of the students were the children of Mexican immigrants resulted in a the creation of an inherent bias against the students’ culture and a <a href="http://jrm.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/05/13/0022429413485439.abstract">sense of isolation</a> for the students. This bias was the result of the the teacher’s views, which created an environment that did not support the integration of cultural, linguistic and popular music experiences.</p>
<p>This finding was supported by <a href="http://music.unm.edu/faculty/regina-carlow/">music education professor Regina Carlow</a>, who found that when the cultural identity of students in a high school choir setting was not respected or even acknowledged, students developed a <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/40319349?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">sense of isolation</a>.</p>
<p>This isolation can result in an unfair learning environment. </p>
<h2>Teachers lack diversity</h2>
<p>So why don’t classrooms engage students in musical practices that are rooted in their cultural and musical backgrounds? The answer can be found in the traditions of American music education. </p>
<p>In 2011, music education researchers <a href="http://www.miami.edu/frost/index.php/frost/frost_profiles/abril_carlos/">Carlos Abril</a> and <a href="http://www.music.umd.edu/faculty/music_directory/music_education/Kenneth_Elpus">Kenneth Elpus</a> <a href="http://jrm.sagepub.com/content/59/2/128.short">found</a> that 65.7 percent of music ensemble students were white and middle class; only 15.2 percent were black and 10.2 percent were Hispanic. These data demonstrate that white students are overrepresented in high school music ensembles. Students for whom English was not their native language accounted for only 9.6 percent of ensemble members. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111207/original/image-20160211-29198-1y2p2kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111207/original/image-20160211-29198-1y2p2kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111207/original/image-20160211-29198-1y2p2kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111207/original/image-20160211-29198-1y2p2kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111207/original/image-20160211-29198-1y2p2kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111207/original/image-20160211-29198-1y2p2kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111207/original/image-20160211-29198-1y2p2kj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The majority of teachers are white and middle-class.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/andybullock77/3413422661/in/photolist-6cCFCR-9A8XSa-9AbUny-4pj98Z-7CTxiZ-9Ec4Dx-84uLVk-eniZ2d-84xN47-84xUkd-84uQur-omvz61-eVTed9-4LfrBb-eVFP9i-eVTfkq-7htxa-eVFNRF-ffv3PR-ef2sTT-ntCFCD-eVTe2Q-edVyhz-7A5ryG-j1mpK4-j1k6nM-j1oWsq-j1oYr5-3jauew-aexAmq-84uLdB-84xTYS-j1nbQq-j1nbBQ-84uKAV-84xPzU-84uLqZ-j1oWqb-j1oVXY-j1k6jv-j1oYrq-eVTe1q-5wampv-ap9C5X-apcmEq-eVFNna-6mEWny-j1ndGm-aoKQyJ-j1mq4k">Andy Bullock</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Additionally, Elpus found that <a href="http://jrm.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/09/18/0022429415602470.abstract">the majority of music teachers – 86.02 percent –</a> entering the profession were white and middle-class. </p>
<p>Adding to this reality is the fact that the process of becoming a music teacher is rooted in the Western classical tradition. Though the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) <a href="http://nasm.arts-accredit.org/site/docs/Handbook/NASMHB_Excerpt-AdmissionUndergraduateStudies.pdf">does not stipulate</a> a classical performance audition, it is required in a majority of cases.</p>
<p>Based on my experience as a music education professor, aspiring music teachers must pass a Western classical performance audition with an orchestral instrument, classical voice or classical guitar in order to even begin down the path of becoming a music educator, even though no school explicitly states that.</p>
<p>Given this, music education programs not only primarily reflect Western European classical music, but they also create a self-perpetuating cycle. </p>
<h2>Start with understanding music</h2>
<p>In fact, music curriculum can be an ideal place to start culturally responsive teaching. Music crosses cultures and is an experience that can be considered universal. </p>
<p>Education researcher <a href="https://education.uw.edu/people/faculty/ggay">Geneva Gay</a> describes culturally responsive teaching <a href="http://mrc.spps.org/uploads/preparing_for_crt-_geneva_gay-2.pdf">as a practice</a> that supports learning through and about other cultures.</p>
<p>This includes cultural values, traditions, communication, learning styles, contributions and how people relate. It is not just taking a week or month to study the folk music of Mexico. It is about building a curriculum that enables students to experience, discuss, and perform music that is culturally and socially relevant. </p>
<p>This happens when teachers draw on musical styles and genres that are varied. For example, learning to sing the folk song “<a href="http://www.folkways.si.edu/froggie-went-courtin-elizabeth-mitchell-blue-clouds/american-folk-childrens/music/video/smithsonian">Frog Went a Courtin’</a>” based on its American variant, then comparing and contrasting it to the Flat Duo Jets’ rock version of the song.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jGfBhMp25ak?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>In this regard, <a href="http://www.nie.edu.sg/profile/lum-chee-hoo">music education researcher Chee-Hoo Lum</a> recommends that <a href="https://repository.nie.edu.sg/bitstream/10497/4579/3/BJME-26-1-27_a.pdf">music teachers start</a> with the students’ cultural and musical background in order to get them to better understand and interact with different musical experiences. </p>
<p>The cultural values and contributions of diverse musicians and genres provide the perfect avenue to explore and learn about the “other” in a classroom environment. Additionally, the chance to sing, play and listen to the music of other cultures creates an understanding that transcends personal experience, and creates a more global perspective. </p>
<h2>Reimagine and reconfigure</h2>
<p>This is not to say that we should forgo the current practices. Band, orchestra, and choir programs provide wonderful educational experiences for students throughout the country. </p>
<p>And these programs should continue. </p>
<p>However, there are other music programs that focus on guitar as a popular and folk instrument. Such as this one:</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LCjdy2lWXWE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>And there are programs that <a href="https://www.nammfoundation.org/articles/2014-04-10-focus-students-it%E2%80%99s-time-rock-and-roll-revolution-music-education">run rock bands</a> within the school day. Then, there are programs where <a href="http://mwmedvinsky.weebly.com/meet-michael-medvinsky.html">students learn</a> to write songs, sample and compose. In addition, there are <a href="http://www.hiphopmusiced.com/blog">music education blogs</a> that <a href="http://evantobias.net">celebrate</a> the many “other” ways that students learn about music, outside of band, orchestra and choir.</p>
<p>These programs can help us reimagine and reconfigure.</p>
<p>Building walls and excluding groups do not engender respect and democratic growth in our classrooms or in our political arenas. Rather, they foster fear and prevent equality and opportunity. Music classrooms can and should become the places where diversity is embraced and integrated.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53789/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacqueline Kelly-McHale does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The majority of music education teachers in American schools are white, and education focuses on Western classical music. What impact does it have?Jacqueline Kelly-McHale, Associate Professor of Music Education, Public Voices Fellow, DePaul UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/498352015-10-28T09:57:04Z2015-10-28T09:57:04ZLet’s dance: synchronised movement helps us tolerate pain and foster friendship<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99834/original/image-20151027-4963-1rqzpit.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Just do it.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/herribizia/14563528057/in/photolist-obVTvk-obVQ76-obVMaz-obV4rg-otcC2y-8HwJV5-j81jz2-j83oV5-5YBoR2-9tUbr1-9tUaRA-9tRdoe-9tRcYX-dVjQEb-dVefxk-dVjQKu-z1XG7t-zitsVZ-z1Rz5A-z1XCzZ-z1Rwpq-zitnTp-z1SyrC-z1RtC3-z1Rt3q-zgahhU-z1Rrhb-z1Xvoe-ymAaHX-zgadzo-ymqqJ9-zg9di3-z1Ws3D-ymqnRA-zg9ayf-z1W8Eg-z1R6uy-z1R5Rj-ymyKWv-zhoQqW-ymyJia-zirPqk-zjhZ8V-ympXjE-z1PV3A-ymyDWK-z1PTcb-z1PSis-zirH2t-zg8EtG"> Herri Bizia/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>You might not think of yourself as a dancer. In fact, maybe even the idea of dancing makes your palms sweat. But growing scientific evidence suggests that getting up and grooving with others has a lot of benefits. In our <a href="http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/11/10/20150767">recent study</a>, we found that synchronising with others while dancing raised pain tolerance. It also encouraged people to feel closer to others.</p>
<p>This might have positive implications for dance movement therapies, which are already showing promising results in <a href="http://adta.org/Resources/Documents/Harkonnen%20et%20al%20dementia%20extracted.pdf">the treatment of dementia</a> and <a href="http://www.medicaljournals.se/jrm/content/?doi=10.2340/16501977-0362">Parkinson’s</a>. <a href="http://www.musictherapy.biz/Dr._Petra_Kern/Publications_files/KernAdridge_2006.pdf">Music-based therapy</a> is also already used for children with autism, and perhaps synchronised and exertive dance therapy could also help them connect with others. </p>
<h2>The power of music</h2>
<p>Humans are naturally <a href="http://rhythmcoglab.coursepress.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/10/Janataal_2012_Sensorimotor-coupling-in-music-and-the-psychology-of-the-groove.pdf">susceptible to music</a>: when we hear a good beat, it makes us want to move. You might find yourself tapping your finger or foot in time to a song on the radio, or bobbing your head (if not whole body) at a concert. This is something that <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2851927/?tool=pmcentrez">even babies</a> do.</p>
<p>Humans have danced together in groups throughout history. And with a rise in dance activities ranging from Zumba to flashmobs, collective dancing – an activity which involves synchronising with both the musical beat and fellow dancers – shows no signs of letting up.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vF_ghvvIfjU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Flashmob at a Black Eyed Peas concert.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So, why do people do it? There has been much debate about whether there is any evolutionary explanation for our tendency to dance. Most likely it features in our <a href="http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2010/09/06/rsbl.2010.0619">selection of romantic partners</a>, and also in how we <a href="http://anthro.vancouver.wsu.edu/media/PDF/Hagen_and_Bryant_2003_Coalition_signaling.pdf">signal our group membership</a> to other rival groups (think of the highly synchronised <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiKFYTFJ_kw">Hakka</a>). One of the main theories about why we dance is that it offers opportunities to form positive connections with others.</p>
<p>So far, our testing of the “social bonding” hypothesis of dance has focused on one particular aspect: synchronisation with other people. It turns out that when you synchronise even a small movement, like the <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22935329">tapping of your finger</a> in time with someone else, you feel closer and more trusting of that person than if you had tapped out of time. </p>
<p>This is because when we watch someone else do the same thing at the same time as us, our brain ends up with a [merged sense](http://www.cell.com/trends/cognitive-sciences/abstract/S1364-6613(03) of us and them. It feels like we “become one”. Anyone who has ever rowed might be familiar with that moment when you hit a state of perfect synchronisation with your rowing team. Suddenly you feel like you are part of something bigger than just yourself, and that you belong. </p>
<h2>The science of dance and friendship</h2>
<p>In other social animals like monkeys and apes, activities which encourage social connections, or “friendships”, are underpinned by various hormones. It is likely that we use similar chemical pathways to forge our social relationships. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99841/original/image-20151027-5004-1yet9y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99841/original/image-20151027-5004-1yet9y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99841/original/image-20151027-5004-1yet9y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99841/original/image-20151027-5004-1yet9y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99841/original/image-20151027-5004-1yet9y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99841/original/image-20151027-5004-1yet9y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99841/original/image-20151027-5004-1yet9y6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Unlock those endorphins.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Angelika Hubertova</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Called the brain’s “happy chemicals” because of their feelgood effects, endorphins are released when we exercise. They may also be an important chemical in human and other primate’s bonding processes. In fact, the social closeness humans feel when doing synchronised activities may be because they <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4179700/">trigger the release</a> of a cocktail of bonding hormones, including endorphins.</p>
<p>Dance can be both exertive and synchronised, so we wanted to see what the relative effects of both these aspects might be on bonding and on endorphins. As it’s hard to measure endorphin levels directly, we used pain thresholds as an <a href="http://phdtree.org//pdf/19446837-basal-opioid-receptor-binding-is-associated-with-differences-in-sensory-perception-in-healthy-human-subjects-a-18fdiprenorphine-pet-study/">indirect measure</a>. More endorphins mean we tolerate pain better, so measuring relative increases in people’s pain thresholds can indicate whether endorphins are being released (although other chemicals like <a href="http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/38/5/536.full.pdf+html">endocannabinoids</a> are probably also in the mix). </p>
<p>We had 264 young people take part in the study in Brazil. The students did the experiment in groups of three, and they did either high or low-exertion dancing that was either synchronised or unsynchronised. The high exertion moves were all standing, full bodied movements, and those in the low-exertion groups did small hand movements sitting down. Before and after the activity, we measured the teenagers’ feelings of closeness to each other via a questionnaire. We also measured their pain threshold by attaching and inflating a blood pressure cuff on their arm, and determining how much pressure they could stand. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99839/original/image-20151027-4963-fn06e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99839/original/image-20151027-4963-fn06e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99839/original/image-20151027-4963-fn06e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99839/original/image-20151027-4963-fn06e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99839/original/image-20151027-4963-fn06e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99839/original/image-20151027-4963-fn06e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99839/original/image-20151027-4963-fn06e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=554&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Researchers learning new moves for the experiment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">José Roberto Corrêa</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Not surprisingly, those who did full-bodied exertive dancing had higher pain thresholds compared to those who were seated in the low-exertion groups. But curiously we also found that synchronisation led to higher pain thresholds, even if the synchronised movements were not exertive. So long as people saw that others were doing the same movement at the same time, their pain thresholds went up.</p>
<p>Likewise, synchronised activity encouraged bonding more than unsynchronised dancing, and more energetic activity had a similar effect – it also made the groups feel closer. So all in all, moving energetically or moving in synchronisation can both make you feel closer to others when you are dancing, and lead to higher pain thresholds. But dance which combined high energy and synchrony had the greatest effects.</p>
<p>Although there are lots of examples of highly synchronsied and exertive dances around the world (flashmobs are a good example), dance also involves other features like creative expression, improvisation, ritual and cultural significance. These elements no doubt also contribute to why we have such a widespread appreciation and aptitude for dance. </p>
<p>But whatever the reason, if dance helps us build social cohesion and trust, then as a collectively advantageous behaviour it is probably one we should all do more. So the next time you find yourself at an awkward Christmas party or wedding dance floor, wondering whether or not to get up and groove, just do it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49835/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bronwyn Tarr received funding for this research from the European Research Council Advanced Investigator Grant No. 295663 awarded to Robin I. M. Dunbar.</span></em></p>There really is no reason to be a wallflower. Dancing could lower your pain threshold, help you make friends and even find a romantic partner.Bronwyn Tarr, Post-doctoral Research Associate, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.