Dancing in Harvard Yard-9 Dancing, the Wobble and Y.M.C.A.

While I am excited about my return to Harvard in a few weeks, I have enjoyed my first summer vacation as a retiree. On Saturday night, Les and I attended a birthday soiree for one of her friends. Birthday celebrations are fun and full of ritual. There was the traditional birthday cake, the blowing out of the candles and a secret wish, balloons, streamers and of course the compliments- "girl there is no way you are 50!'' But the highlight of the evening, as is often the case, was the dancing. (The title of this series of articles was inspired by a dancing couple in my first visit to Harvard Yard-See article 1).

I notice that when they are dancing, most people are smiling, even laughing, and seem to shift to a euphoric mood. (I must admit I occasionally see a few men, dragged to the dance floor by their partners, with a look on their face like they just ate some bad food). Euphoria swept over me as I joined my wife on the dance floor for my imperfect attempt at the Wobble. You know the Wobble-the popular 4-count line dance performed at wedding receptions and other celebrations. I have gotten pretty good at the Wobble. I know the right sequence of steps and on Saturday night I only knocked over one person. That's a record low for me. I offered to pay for the crutches. With her advanced age, I am sure she will be eligible for a senior discount!

I have been studying human evolution this summer for a book I am writing about the impact of evolution on the brain and behavior. The event got me thinking about dancing, its roots and why it is one of the human universals- all cultures have dance rituals. I knew right where to look. Robin Dunbar, the eminent professor in evolutionary psychology at Oxford, first proposed the "social brain hypothesis". According to Professor Dunbar the human brain did not evolve primarily to solve ecological problems, but to help our ancestors survive and thrive in complex social groups.

Our species, homo sapiens, is weak in comparison to most large mammals. A chimpanzee is stronger and faster than a human and will win hands down in one-on-one physical combat. Other large mammals are also faster and stronger. When sapiens first emerged from Africa, Eurasia and the Americas were filled with large mammals, including many fierce predators (think Sabre tooth tigers). Yet not long after the arrival of modern humans, these large predators became extinct. Our slower, weaker ancestors hunted them to extinction. (Scientists believe with some help by climate change. A warm period at the end of the ice age was suitable for the newly arriving sapiens, less so for other native large mammals).

How did our ancestors do it? Our large social brains allow us to communicate and collaborate in extraordinary ways. We regularly think about the thoughts of the other people in our group, their intentions, needs and abilities. This thinking about others' thinking helps us fit in and can even help us predict what others will do next. We also want others to know our thoughts and feelings. This allows us to influence others in our desired direction. Have you ever been part of a group that seemed to be in a flow, everyone aligned by a shared vision and the group "clicking on all cylinders". The feeling is exhilarating. That's our social brains at work. As individuals we are reasonably smart weaklings, but as a group we are powerful. Life on earth began about 4.5 billion years ago. Homo sapiens showed up on the scene only about 200,000 years ago. Yet, in the last 60,000-70,000 years homo sapiens, with our large socially oriented brains, have come to dominate the planet.

So, maybe that's interesting to you or maybe not, but where does dancing fit in. Well that exhilaration I mentioned above comes from the reward centers of our brain. When homo sapiens are moving in sync, like when dancing, our brains reduce levels of cortisol caused by stress (too much cortisol is bad) and release dopamine- a natural mood booster, and endorphins- a natural pain killer. In our hunter-gatherer days our ancestors lived in small groups of about fifty individuals. Group cohesion was the key to survival but, as we all know from personal experience, all groups face inevitable forces that pull them apart.

Individual group members often want to pursue their own goals and desires that may be contrary to group desires. Living together with others creates frustration and resentment as some members are perceived as not wanting to carry their load or others think their ideas are not being heard. Petty frustrations often escalate into jealousy, anger, quarrels and even physical conflict. Evidence from studying hunter-gatherer societies that existed well into the twentieth century show that dance was used to bring group members back together into a state of communal solidarity. As Dunbar writes about what he calls trance dancing, "it seems to reboot the system, restoring relationships among the members of the community back to their pristine state"

So it seems our brains have been shaped by natural selection to reward synchronized group movement because it aided in survival. As mentioned above, every culture, without exception, has dance as a key component of its cultural heritage. Many of us love singing and moving in unison at church, participating in line dancing (if you know the steps-if you don't learn them, it lots of fun), doing the wave at stadiums, standing in unison to cheer a big play at a game or moving and clapping together with others while watching a favorite band at a concert. If you find yourself in a funky mood, try turning on some upbeat music and dance away in the privacy of your home. Or better yet, head to a club and feel your social brain light up.

If you are a leader and your team is experiencing high levels of group tension and disharmony, an offsite may be in order. In addition to the usual teambuilding, crazy as it may sound, bring along some music and coax people into some line dancing to get the dopamine and endorphins flowing.

As to the picture above, some may recognize me as the police officer in the middle of five former colleagues in our version of the Village People's Y.M.C.A. Released in 1978, the song is still a big hit at parties, celebrations and sporting events. As an HR executive I have dressed up as Santa Claus, once wore a full Easter Bunny suit, wore a wig and played the role of Simon Cowell in a humorous mock version of American Idol (well some thought it was funny). In this case, we recorded our version of YMCA for a United Way fundraising event. As an executive I had a large office on the executive floor and other executive perks. I thought humbling myself and acting a little silly helped reduce the status differences that sometimes separate leaders from their team members. Besides, I had a lot of fun too.

But that is not the end of the Y.M.C.A. story. In 2008, my beloved Pittsburgh Panthers football team was invited to the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. The halftime performance was none other than The Village People. During their performance, my son Jeff and I became part of the largest Y.M.C.A. dance ever, with over 40,000 of us dancing and singing to the song. As a result, Jeff and I are in the Guinness World Records book. Now if I can ever figure out how to get that M just right!

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