Primal Play: Dance
Though it’s an important aspect of the Primal Blueprint, the concept of play doesn’t get enough attention around here. I guess by virtue of its very nature this is to be expected. Play should be spontaneous and freeing, and the regimentation of our leisure time is what we’re trying to avoid! Still, given the time-sucking realities of adult responsibility, maybe we all need a few suggestions for new ways to play. I’m not talking about making play dates or anything, but a few concrete examples could really help. You know, something that’s free, that you can share with friends and family, and that’s fun. How about dancing?
Dancing? Bear with me, here.
Until now, almost everything I’ve suggested in the past as Primal play activities has had an overt physical fitness slant. Pickup basketball, Ultimate Frisbee, hikes, walks with the spouse, random play with dogs/kids/wilderness – these are all great, enjoyable activities, but it’s difficult for some people to separate them from the concept of exercise. Most people see a guy on a hike and think “workout.”
Dancing is different. It can be an awesome workout, sure, but people generally don’t hit up the gym, grab that hairy guy off the elliptical, head to the full length mirror, and bust out the Kid ‘n’ Play routine from “House Party.” I kind of wish that super hairy, extremely gregarious dude at my gym who can’t seem to ever find his pants in the locker room would, just for the comedy of it all. Maybe he’s even got a mean running man in him. I wouldn’t know.
Anyway: dancing is definitely different. It takes skill and athleticism, if you’re talking about advanced techniques or styles, but anyone can dance. Not everyone can be a professional or street performer, but anyone can enjoy dancing, and that’s the whole point of it, in the end. If you’re able to give yourself to it fully (“dance like nobody’s watching”), dancing can actually be extremely rewarding.
Dancing does no harm. Dancing is fun, it’s sexual, and, like singing and music, it is universal. Dance itself can be described as an exposition of human movement patterns; dancers explore the full range of human movements through three-dimensional space, by leaping, contorting, falling, twisting, rotating, spinning. Dance can be rigid and regimented, and it can also be free and fluid. Why not take a dip?
Well, for some people, dancing is a frightening prospect. It may not be quite so dire a situation as that small town in “Footloose,” where dancing was actually banned, but people are definitely somewhat restrained when it comes to dancing. It takes guts to let yourself go, I mean really go, and do so with a smile on your face. Dancing renders the dancer completely vulnerable, to outside criticism and prying eyes, but mostly to his or her own thoughts about what’s expected of a normal adult. Unless the alcohol is flowing, the lights are dimmed, and someone’s daughter is getting married, we’re not supposed to be dancing like wild men and women. We’re supposed to be composed, to – at the most – maintain a polite, inoffensive sway, preferably on beat, or at least adjacent to it. We’re rational, higher animals! We are above the frenzy of the ecstatic or the emotive… aren’t we?
Absolutely not. If we were, life would be incredibly boring and reptilian. Dancing itself is Primal – there’s certainly strong precedent for its inclusion in the human experience. Look at basically every traditional culture and you’ll find dance, along with music. In fact, the two are never really separated. You dance to music, after all. And since music is present in every culture, it’s a safe bet that Homo sapiens were banging on drums or singing chants since at least 50,000 years ago, which is roughly when the widespread dispersal of man out of Africa occurred. Some archaeologists even suggest dance has been around for over a 1.5 million years, perhaps manifesting as a literal “mating dance” between potential partners looking for the right mate. Anyone who’s ever been to a nightclub has seen this phenomenon in action – nothing really changes, huh? Regardless, a musical tradition had been established which spread as man spanned the world, and dance with it.
Even if dancing was useless and purely frivolous – that is, it conferred no concrete physiological benefits – it would still be worth doing, because frivolity is part of what makes us human. We do things for the hell of it. We’ll sing nonsensical songs, make strange noises when we’re alone, twiddle our thumbs, play with our hair, think of distant jokes and laugh all over again. Do we need a reason? No. We just do it to amuse ourselves and occupy our minds.
Dancing should serve the same purpose in our lives. Like other forms of play, it can reduce stress, get us moving, help us spend quality time with loved ones and friends, and improve our coordination, mobility, and flexibility. If you’re learning a particularly complex set of steps or moves, dancing requires concentration and memorization. If you’re dancing with a partner, your brain has to anticipate the other’s movements and respond accordingly. This all works out to exercise for your brain and your body. In potential dementia patients, dancing even reduced the incidence of dementia, better than other leisure activities. And hey, if you’re good enough, dancing can make you pretty damn attractive – talk about the conferment of an evolutionary advantage.
Now, I’m not suggesting that you necessarily incorporate bi-weekly dance sessions, but they can’t hurt. Just think of dance as a potential tool in your bag of tricks. Take your wife or husband to salsa lessons. Turn off the TV and blast some music one night, and just let loose. Gather some friends and do the bonfire/drum circle thing at the beach or in the woods somewhere. Pass around a bottle of wine, if you have to, and dance. It might even be enough to just bob your head when a favorite song comes on, or dance with your upperbody while at a stoplight. You may look silly, but who cares? You’ve got to get over that stuff, especially when it stands in the way of you truly enjoying life and all it has to offer. Recall the last person you saw rocking out behind the wheel; did you laugh at and pity him, or were you slightly envious of his obvious joy? Exactly.
Dance is many things, simple being foremost among all other characteristics. It doesn’t have to be deep or overly technical. Just dance for fun. It should come naturally, ideally. This last bit of advice might be the toughest to follow, but it’s also the most crucial.
What do you think about dance? Does it have a playful place in the Primal lifestyle? Do you let go every now and again? Share your thoughts in the comment board and Grok on!
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
James Brown teaches you to dance. You know you are going to try this when no one is looking;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdz88MBWomo
I LOVE to dance. I’ve been line dancing for 11 years, since I was 10! It’s a great workout and so much fun. If I had the time I would do a class every day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJew4fxHl1U …take the sunscreen part with a grain of seas salt
Since I’ve been standing at work,
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/standing-at-work/
it’s been easy to break into spontaneous dancing (especially with a little too much caffeine). Check out these guys:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeqPA9zmqF0
Word up. Nothing’s felt more real for me ever than dancing. It was on once I got the Thriller album when I was 4 or 5. I’ve actually been reconnecting with my dancing presently and it feels so awesome and primal. I break dance / freestyle dance and it’s clear that every element of the human being aligns from the body to the emotions to the spirit and creative intelligence when you dance. Dance is so raw, such a basic vehicle to connect with your whole being.
I’m almost 45 years old, and I’m determined to learn Pop & Lock dancing:)
Insane cardio + insane strength + lots of spontaneous fun = BREAKDANCING. IMHO one of the best fitness modalities out there (and unlike most workouts, development of courage is a huge factor).
Interestingly, dancers seem better equipped to handle random physical challenges than Athletes of the same level. Check out this article about how some dancer beat the stuffing out of some NCAA D1 Athletes:
Dancers vs. “Athletes”: The state of the current athlete
http://movetofit.tumblr.com/post/393367727/dancers-vs-athletes-the-state-of-the-current
This is an article by Charlie Reid, B.S., CSCS, CPT.
I would not know what the spirit of a philosopher might wish more to be than a good dancer. -Nietzsche
I haven’t gotten fully primal on my way of living but the more I read about it, the more I realize I have already been doing it. My husband and I lift weights, we walk around our neighborhood, hike and I’ve started with working on my sprinting when I jog.
Dancing.. I truly believe that dancing is such a good way to get fit. I enjoy my Saturday morning, music on full blast crazy dancing. It’s a good way to let loose of all the tension from work, and to be ok with making a fool of oneself.
Dancing is a beautiful thing and a great workout. I love dancing on my own I feel so creative and in the moment. Still gotta get over nervousness of dancing in public though.
I teach a dance class at a local club. Members come to me constantly saying they can’t dance. I tell them by the end of the hour, you Will be dancing. Doesn’t have to be perfect, just feel the rythem and move! We burn upwords of 500 calories an hour, and have so much fun we forget that we are excersising. Dance like no one is watching and watch the pounds fade away!!! Excellent Post!
There is a reason that Michael Jackson was such a phenomenal success…his dance moves were mesmerizing…yeah, he was talented and could sing..but..THOSE MOVES! Oh, Yeah! We all love dance…all of us…admit it.
Woo! so glad to see this finally come into the picture. Dancing is totally thrown in my big of tricks:P. I may not be the best dancer, but I do like to move!
I belly dance and I also HOOP DANCE! it is so fun and meditative. dancing with a hoop is also a great workout for the arms especially if you are using a heavy one. I like to use the lighter/smaller hoops for tricks and speed. Check it out, this video is a pretty good example of the joy that can flow from movement to movement.
I suggest hooping to EVERYONE and ANYONE.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FUbIPoYR4s
Great post, and quite a number of impassioned replies! I mentioned to Mark in an email a while back that I sometimes use Shiva Rea’s Yoga Trance Dance DVD as a means of getting down like Grok around the campfire. I don’t worry about any particular moves or rhythm, I just let the music take my body where it wants to go. I took ballroom dance my last semester of undergrad, thinking it would be a good social skill to have. It is. I followed that with Cajun dance, a useful skill here in South Louisiana. I put both to good use this past weekend at our annual Festival International de Louisiane, dancing to music from around the world. Between walking and dancing with a number of lovely ladies, I put in around 24,000 steps a day in my Vibrams. Great fun and great exercise! And a good way to combine primal laws #3 &7.
I have always been attracted to African rhythms and have been dancing afro-cuban folkloric and samba – great workouts because of all the isolation! Zumba is also a lot of fun and of course, salsa! Thanks for the great posts
I totally love to dance. My husband totally loves to watch me dance. All my babies (5) have loved to sit on my hip and dance with me, which is no small feat when they get to about twenty pounds or so–great for losing post baby poundage. My 12 year old is slightly embarrassed now when his forty year old mama starts grooving to the techno, but I’ll bet he’ll be glad when I’m dancing with HIS kids on my still intact, limber hip!
GO MARK! LOVE it when a Primal HE-Man sez Dance is GOOD for you & promotes my first Art-form & first LOVE. As a ballet dancer in my teens–I was asked to SECRETLY work with my jr high and high school football teams–after all the New York Jets were doing ballet to be better athletes! DANCERS are the PEAK PERFORMERS of the Art world. In ’98–when I was told I’d be permanently blind, brain-damaged & disabled–MD’s pushing for a board & care–it was my early ingrained training & habits that had become not just second nature but NATURE–including HOW to take care of myself “lifestyle”-wise–what I ate, massage, SELF-care–as well as my daily Dance practice that SAVED my life & let me GET WELL AGAIN despite the MD’s prognoses and all the odds! Still DANCE daily. An intergral part of Zeeva’s Art of Wellness For my fitness, the Health & Wellness of my Body-Mind & Spirit–and the pure JOY of it!
dancing relieves so much stress!
Dancing is my passion and always has been! I do it because I love it, and the fact that it is great exercise is a plus! It is fun. I believe some people are born with natural rhythm, but everyone can learn to dance. I’m 38 yrs. old and take jazz dance classes at the local community college. They have amazing instructors, teach sound technique and it is an excellent stress reducer for me. It’s my “me time”. Even though I’m 20 yrs. older than most of the kids in the class, I don’t really care. Try dance. If you’ve never tried it, you will learn something new and broaden your horizon. If you used to dance as a child, why not look into taking adult classes at the local parks and rec, community college or dance studio. (Although I find that dance studios don’t generally offer much in the way of adult classes.)
I love this post! And I believe in dance as a spontaneous, freeing form of exercise. So much so that I started my own weekly dance session called Dance It Off! Here’s my website. If you live in Chicago, please come check it out – it’s a blast.
http://www.danceitoffchicago.com
bellydance! it’s the best!
I loooove swing dancing with my hubby. I’m sending this to him, hopefully it will help get him up & dancing with me more!
Everybody can dance. Just because you can’t dance *well* doesn’t mean you can’t dance. And anything worth doing is worth doing badly. (Unless you’re getting paid, and then you have a responsibility to do it well. Other than that? Who gives a damn?)
If you ask any class of kindergartners “Who here can dance?” “Who here can sing?” “Who here can draw?” every hand in the class will go up. Of course we can dance! Of course we can sing! Of course we can draw!
But somewhere on the path to middle school they learn all the things they “can’t” do. It’s sad.
You can dance, you can sing (great for your wind, totally primal), you can draw, you can do all sorts of things. Just because you don’t do them well enough to make ‘em your profession doesn’t mean you can’t do them.
Just have fun, and when you’re afraid someone might be laughing, laugh at them for being so constricted.
I danced my way through the “Disco” years & thoroughly enjoyed it! worked-up a great sweat too! Glad you posted this Mark, it gives me a great excuse to have fun like I did in the mid 70′s!
Grok-on!
Dance has always inspired me. I’m a student of “belly dance”.
I feel most free when I dance.
Great blog.
Thanks
I have always loved to dance. I hear a beat, and my body starts moving to the rythmn. I just can’t help it. I taught group fitness classes for years, and the music motivated me. There were definitely instructors who did not “feel” the beat, and they had to work harder to be able to stay “on” the beat. I am one of the lucky ones where my body naturally feels the beat, and wants to move. So, at 46yo, I go out with my girlfriends to dance, I dance in the car, I dance in the house while I am cleaning or cooking, I have dance parties at my house, complete with DJ’s, I dance at any and all events that have dancing. When I dance, I feel free and feel like I am doing what comes so naturally for me. There was a time when I tried to inhibit myself because it was not “appropriate” to behave that way as a wife and a mother. Now, in my 40′s, I allow myself to enjoy the expression of my body to the beat of the music, and I feel like that has helped me be a sexier wife for my husband of 22 years.
I was about to come clean about how I really don’t dance too often unless I have had some beers or whatever, but then I realized that I do dance, I dance hard. Two words: mosh pit. If you’re ever looking for a good work out get into the circle pit at a thrash metal show. There’s something so primal to running around in a circle while roaring along with a killer band, what a rush!
ps
Mark, I stumbled on to your blog and have found it to be very inspirational, you can count me as frequent visitor.
I love dancing more than anything else… I guess I am somehow trying to get back to my primal roots by dancing in the great outdoors (it’s just not the same in a dark club), but there’s something about going to an outdoor party or festival in the trees, by the ocean, with a bunch of crazy humans and dancing my face off… this is when I definitely, with out a doubt, feel the most alive!
I am far from what you call coordinated, and I’ve never been a dancer, but I swallowed my pride and joined a Christian/Messianic dance troupe. We do a lot of Israeli folk dance which KICKS your hiney. If you can grapevine/maiam, you can dance:), trust me.
I teach Blues and Swing dance and have enjoyed watching people progress from awkward and uncertain about how to move their limbs, to confident, smooth and rhythmic.
Dance is a wonderful thing for your mind, body, heat and your social life! Thank for promoting this wonderful activity Mark!
My husband and I started ballroom dancing lessons about five years ago! Yikes…we then found friends who also took lessons and we would practice together. In no time we were having a GREAT time, but it takes alot of patience, persistence, and motivation to become confident. It is NOT something you are born being able to do. My philosophy is, if you can walk, you can dance. We have branched out to other dances which we actually like better, like Hustle, Nightclub two-step, Country two-step, Country Waltz etc. We dance once or twice a week with lessons and once or twice a week with friends…it has been great for our marriage and great for me, because it is the only physical activity that I enjoy!!!! Who knew it would come into my life in my fifties. I had been exposed to ballroom as a child and took some modern dance as an adult but what we are doing now beats it all and I will do it until I can’t walk! Which hopefully will never occur! Sorry this is a year late on your dance blog, but I’m just discovering PB and your emails…Great timing for me!