I used to think dance was a learned skill, a mental and physical process of beat into movement. But I’ve been wrong all these years. Dance is hard-wired into the human brain, perhaps for hundreds of thousands of years, when we moved to rhythm purely for the enjoyment of movement.
At a family wedding several weeks ago Child Harbat took to the dance floor when the DJ just started warming up. The music played and she moved, oblivious to how she looked or what people thought. Her movement was raw output of how the music made her feel. I didn’t know she liked dancing but, aside from a brief pause for dinner, she danced from the first song until she had to be carried from the dance floor from fatigue some two hours later. She doesn’t get this from me, as I enjoy making music but find dancing awkward and uncomfortable. She doesn’t get it from my wife, who prefers to watch from the sidelines with me. I’d almost hate to enroll her in ballet class as the spontaneity would be leached out of her dance, but maybe there’s a way to nurture this enjoyment for her. Sit back and enjoy this montage of joy of movement by Child Harbat.
[flickr video=6094493754]
Writer, architect, father, husband.
My 18-month-old niece loves dancing, too. Even before she could stand on her own, her little body would get swept up in the rhythm of any music she heard! Ballet is great and all, but so stringent. I think perhaps getting kids like this involved in music would be a great creative option to allow them to explore rhythm and movement!
Puuuuurfect! Just puuurrfect! It’s her. Let it Be, Let it Beeee, Let it be, let it be. (Thank you Beatles)
You go girl! She must get the urge to dance from your sister…