On the origins of dance

Abstract

Given that culture involves some form of transmission from one generation to the next, the question of its origins must necessarily involve activities that do not depend on its pre-existence. Dancing is significant in being simultaneously an individual and a spontaneous activity, dependent on biological underpinnings that are instinctive, for example, in human children. It is also a phenomenon present in almost all human societies and cultures as an activity that can exist both within and without specific cultural context. In this paper, we examine dance from the point of view of cultural evolution, both as a spontaneous activity independent of any pre-existing culture and as transmitted patterns of behaviour within and between generations. The paper offers ideas as background to a model which we then briefly outline in our conclusion.