Tanssitauti

All around the world, people dance. While it is true that not every individual person likes dancing, it is true that all cultures have dances. People dance largely because they enjoy it. There seems to be some mental reward, some joy to be had, from moving in a rhythmical and rather pointless way. That humans have an innate ability to enjoy dancing means that we presumably evolved this. The things that give us pleasure are not random. We enjoy good food, sex, success, hunting, warmth, company, and the like because these all help us to survive and reproduce. People in the past did not evolve to like sex because it gave them pleasure. They evolved to like sex because a liking for sex helped them pass on more genes. People who hated sex did not become our ancestors.

So, there must be some good reason why humans like to dance. I have a theory which I here put forward to explain why people dance. In short, I believe that women dance in order to encourage men to dance, and that they do this in order to learn about the men.
- Nikolas Lloyd, Why Men Won’t Dance


If I cannot dance, I want no part in your revolution.
- Emma Goldman