I’ve Got the Moves
Can we all agree to dance freely in public when this is all over?
When I was three, my parents lost me in a shopping mall. A relatively common occurrence, one might think, given a three-year-olds’ attention span and size. Realizing I was gone, they spun in a panic and retraced their steps. I wasn’t far.
In front of a clothing store, some 100 feet away, stood a child rapt with music. Her body gyrating with innocent awkwardness, she had no sense of time or place. Yes, that child was me. My parents laughed their relief. Apparently, I looked at them and earnestly stated:
“I’ve got the moves.”
One might imagine that this story goes on to say that I became a professional dancer.
Not so.
I take pride in being the most ‘passionate’ dancer on the floor (and anywhere is your dance floor if you want it to be). And I believe the world would be a better place if everyone felt the same.
Dancing is as human as breathing. Search far and wide, you’ll struggle to find a community or culture with no dance. From Maasai adumu to Cuban salsa, people have been moving their bodies to music since time immemorial.
And yet, at some point, dancing became art and you had to be ‘good at it’ to gain a spot on the floor. Moving your body to music became an elite club. For those not so gifted, the only solution seems to be alcohol — to lower the inhibitions enough to move as freely as three-year-old me.
I never understood when everyone adopted this social more, when suddenly our once-free-jiving body parts became onerous and embarrassing. Maybe that part of my brain never grew up. And I’m glad it didn't.
Being entirely comfortable dancing with not a drop of alcohol in my system has been one of my keys to success as a social scientist. Also one of my keys to success as a generally happy person. The health benefits of dancing don’t even play a role in my belief that we would all be better off if we could dance like three-year-olds without requiring several shots of tequila first. One of the best ways to bond with new people in a few minutes? Let them teach you to dance.
First, dancing freely in public good practice for learning to be unselfconscious in everything else. Dancing is only awkward when you’re thinking about how others perceive you. Imagine how much else is awkward when you’re thinking about that.
Second, dancing is the art of turning your brain off and letting your body take the lead. Our bodies hold millennial wisdom that our brains are constantly trying to dominate. When you dance (and I mean really dance) to your favorite music, logic is useless and your brain goes numb. The connection is directly from body to music. Alcohol just dulls this pathway.
Third, if one does care about the science bit — moving your body releases endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. I dare anyone doubting this belief in the innocent pleasure of dance to listen to their favorite song, dance (in private if needed) with complete abandon, and not end up with a smile on their face. It’s almost scientifically impossible.
And finally, what if doing something for the purest joy of it is enough? There is nothing like hearing a contagious beat and letting it pulse through your body. Shakira once said she knows her new song is good when she quite literally can’t stop herself from moving to it.
What else could so honestly reveal the defenseless beating heart of humanity as dance? We were made to dance, with no shame.
I still lose myself in markets dancing. Living in Chile, I’d take twice as long to buy my produce just to bop to the cumbia rhythms at the stands. Life is just too short not to dance with abandon, whenever you get ‘the moves.’
