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The Why Factor: Dance

Dance

21/03/2014

BBC World Service - The Why Factor, Dance

It’s thought that dance predates language. 
But why do we have an innate desire to move, and what are we trying to communicate?

Dance exists in every culture. It’s thought that humans were dancing before we learned to speak. 

But why do we have this desire to move, and what are we trying to communicate? Mike Williams explores the idea of ‘muscular bonding’ – that moving together creates communities. He hears how Indian Kathak dance connects body and soul, how a Northern Australian society uses dance to blur gender divides, and how watching others dance makes us move too.

Picture: Dancers perform 'Bharatanatyam' on wheelchairs, a classical Indian dance at an event in Bangalore. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

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