Should it be required K-12? Favorite dancers? Greatest Dancer Ever? Greatest Dance? Dance highlights of your life?
DANCE RANT: all humans are wired to dance – yes, dance should be required K-12
1.) The joy of dance is one of the most basic human joys. Babies dance in their cribs. Toddlers can’t stop dancing.
2.) But schools suck the joy of dancing out of most students, especially boys. By age 18 most boys feel that they “can’t dance.”
3.) Dance is the best way to introduce kids to music. The first element of music is rhythm.
4.) Dance is the best way to teach the importance of self-control.
5.) Dance is the best way to teach cooperation.
6.) Dance is a great way to teach human anatomy and the laws of physics.
DANCE HIGHLIGHTS OF MY LIFE
1.) Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Blue Danube Waltz
2.) Laendler Waltz scene, Sound of Music, Danny Kaye and Vera Ellen in White Christmas, Banderas and Zeta-Jones Tango in The Mask of Zorro; Jimmy Steward and Donna Reed Charleston scence in It’s a Wonderful Life
3.) Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers : Night and Day
4.) Spanish dance lessons (with castanets) age 8.
5.) Learning to Waltz
6.) The “Mad Dog” dance in high school – a case of tarantism
7.) Mikhail Baryshykov: my candidate for best athlete in human history
DANCE HISTORY – RANDOM HIGHLIGHTS
1. The Moonwalk – from Marcel Marceau to Michael Jackson
2. The Popularity of Ballroom dancing in Maoist China and in parks across China today
3. Renoir, Dance at the Moulin Rouge
4. The surprising popularity of Gangnam Style (perhaps most liked video ever on Youtube)
YOUR TURN:
Please share your thoughts or your favorite dance video.