The Evolution of Dance

Abstract

Evidence from multiple sources reveals a surprising link between imitation and dance. As in the classical correspondence problem central to imitation research, dance requires mapping across sensory modalities, and the integration of visual and auditory inputs with motor outputs. Recent research in comparative psychology supports this association, in that entrainment to a musical beat is only observed in animals capable of vocal and motor imitation. Dance possesses representational properties reliant on the dancers' ability to imitate particular people, animals or events, as well as the audience's ability to recognize these correspondences. Imitation also plays a central role in learning to dance, and the acquisition of the long sequences of choreographed movements are dependent on social learning. These, and other, lines of evidence suggest that dancing may only be possible for humans because its performance exploits existing neural circuitry employed in imitation