the science of dancing
In 1978, a young, as-yet-unproblematic Michael Jackson implored the world not to blame his dancing on the sunshine, the moonlight, or the good times, but rather, on the boogie. While supporting his general thesis, evolutionary biologists may have mounted a more nuanced defence: Jackson danced because he was a member of the speciesHomo sapiens. AndHomo sapiensevolved over tens of thousands of years to do precisely that: dance.
We don’t know exactly when our ancient ancestors first started rhythmically convulsing to music, but it probably wasn’t long after they climbed down from the trees. Archaeologists have found evidence of our species’ need to bump and grind in the earliest art on cave walls from Europe to Africa and the Americas, suggesting we’ve been
