Original subtitles

(soft guitar music)

- See that kid in the red shirt? That's me.

Obviously, back then, I had a thing for dancing.

But then, at some point, I'm not sure why...

...I just stopped.

(techno music)

And now, as an adult,

It flat-out terrifies me.

Recently I became single again,

Which means dating, which means struggling

With the whole social-dancing thing.

But it turns out... I'm not alone.

Dancing is not right.

I'm 6'1" and 300 pounds.

6'1"-300-pound guys shouldn't dance.

- The harder I try to dance... (laughing)

...It doesn't... It... It makes it worse.

- I have kind of a wave...

Of... Of anxiety.

- I would love to be able to dance,

But I just... Don't think I can.

(whistling)

- The science even has a name for what these people and I have:

Chorophobia, fear of dancing.

What I'm wondering is, why did I stop?

And what's so big about dancing anyway?

I have chorophobia, fear of dancing.

- Yeah. - You think that's strange?

- I mean, yes.

♪ everybody dance now ♪

(disco music)

♪ everybody dance now ♪

♪ give me the music ♪

♪ give me the music ♪

♪ everybody dance now ♪

♪ everybody dance now ♪

♪ everybody ♪

♪ come on let's sweat ♪

♪ baby ♪

♪ let the music take control ♪

♪ let the rhythm move you ♪♪

- Can you... Pinpoint,

Uh, that single moment when you realized

That you had a fear of dancing?

- I remember going to house parties...

And thinking, um: It's so bright in here.

(laughing) or...

Uh: This isn't quite the music I like.

Or, y'know: This... This stereo isn't right.

Or: I haven't had enough to drink.

That's where I remember that sensitivity coming in.

And that increased

Through my twenties.

Dance is revealing.

I feel like it reveals

My limits and my quirks.

And, y'know, I've had to...

...Accept that.

Um...

And I... I guess I have,

But I still have...

Uh, y'know, it still creates that threshold,

As I go from that way of thinking

To just doing.

And, yeah, you can't think while you're on a dance floor.

It doesn't... There's no point.

For whole years,

I think I went without dancing at all.

That, to me, in retrospect, I think:

I love dancing so much and, y'know, but how could I...

How could I distance myself from it?

- Actually, I'm having a hard time seeing you.

(soft music)

- My dance anxiety had me thinking

About seeing the same threshold of anxiety

In other aspects of my life.

Like drawing.

Like, the way I'm...

...Dri-driving the pen.

When I dance, it's the same thing.

You're seeing my body...

Uh, get driven, y'know,

Trying to...

...Connect.

Uh, this is it.

- So this is your fear-of-dancing graphic.

- Yeah. Here, there's a frenetic nervous line.

And a... A rhythm is starting to develop here.

Then it sort of goes down a rabbit hole.

And then it becomes very, very smooth.

And this is exactly

How I push through the threshold.

(latin music)

- But for some cultures,

The last thing they need is a graphic to explain

How dancing makes them feel.

(up-tempo latin music)

(indistinct chatter)

I'm here to try to figure out, y'know:

What is it I'm supposed to be getting out of dancing?

- Dancing, to me, is a necessity.

(latin music)

I hear music and I automatically have to move.

Dancing is a very important part of, uh...

Of the human artistic expression.

I always, in my shows, say that...

I love to play music, but music is only the vehicle... For what I'm trying to do.

My thing is to communicate love and joy...

And get people to react and dance.

(up-tempo latin music)

- Why do you think that people dance?

- Why?

It's something that's born with you.

You feel that you are just made for that.

(up-tempo latin music)

- Latin culture really thrives on dancing.

It's the foundation of cultural

And social events.

It's engraved in kind of the way that we live.

- Dance is a kind of...

Language.

When I'm sad, I dance super different

The way that I dance when I'm...

Um, happy and... Or angry.

So it's kind of a way to express myself.

- Have you ever heard of chorophobia?

- Chorophobia, um, I've...

I've never heard... I've never heard of it.

- Why do you think people like me

Might have a fear of dancing?

- Because you don't feel comfortable dancing.

- Why do you think I don't feel comfortable?

- Why? Because you say you have chorophobia.

Phobia means that you are afraid to do it.

- Do you think it's because I think other people are judging me?

- Maybe. I mean, you're the one who have to tell me why you have that kind of phobia.

- I wish I could tell you.

(soft music)

Well, I can't say exactly what's wrong with me, but...

What I can tell you

Is that, for someone that's single,

And wants to meet others,

Not dancing really takes you out of the game.

- I have to confess that if you dance with a girl,

You... You are moving forward a little bit fast.

They're gonna love you more.

- But to me and so many others...

(indistinct chatter)

...There's something not quite right about dancing.

(stephen fry): I hate the slovenly mixture of sexual exhibitionism,

Strutting contempt and repellent narcissism

That it involves.

I hate it when it is formless, meaningless bopping,

And I hate it - if anything, even more -

When it is formal and choreographed into genres

Like ballroom or schooled disco.

I really, really, really hate...

Dancing,

And have not the slightest milligram of envy

For those who can do it -

If there is such a thing as being able to do it.

Those cavortings are so embarrassing and dreadful

As to force my hand to my mouth.

- Now, even I, as a fellow chorophobe,

Who hates and fears dancing,

I'm thinking: Is that a little harsh?

- It's very harsh, but it's...

The eyes and the stretch... And the flick of the head,

I just... I-I... Literally, I feel the tears pricking my eyes.

Either for the... For the fun of bopping and... Shaking -

You're shaking your booty - I mean...

Because we haven't even touched embarrassment.

- You don't have any memory that you ever danced as a baby? - Oh, before teenage, yes.

I can remember leaping around, getting hot and hysterical,

Uh, with pass the parcel and musical chairs.

The things you have at children's parties.

- But now, as adults, it's no longer about musical chairs.

- Yes. And that's where people like you and me have to worry,

Because we go to weddings and we go to events

Where there is a dance floor, and we look at it with horror,

And we just hope that...

When people lose inhibition,

They have a habit of pulling you onto the dance floor.

- I hate that. - Exactly.

- That's the thing that drives me crazy.

- They won't listen to you say, "I don't want to!"

(dance music) - come on! Yes!

No, no, no, fuck fear! Come on!

Let's move! Just move! Breathe.

Be free. Feel it.

Feel freedom inside.

- You look very happy.

- Why aren't you?

- Showing up at single dance events like this

Usually leads to two things.

Me looking totally out of place,

And others wondering: What the hell am I doing here?

- You can go in the middle. - Now, I'm embarrassed.

- No, no, stop, stop. It's 'cause you refuse to move.

- I don't want to move. - Why?

- I-I really appreciate what you're doing. - No, no, no, no. No.

Okay, look at me. Look, I'm not doing this to bother you.

If I'm bothering you, tell me to go away.

I'm doing this 'cause I want you to enjoy your life.

- I am enjoying my life.

- Dancing is the best thing about my life ever.

Ever.

- I can't believe I'm saying this,

But I'm gonna have to ask you to go away.

(soft music overlapping dance music)

Can't believe I just did that.

How you see me right here, that's the worst of it for me.

Defiance and resentment that's kind of mixed in with this, I dunno,

Overwhelming sense that I've just missed out on something.

That I'm so outside of it,

Whatever that "it" is.

(soft music)

Like this woman on the boat,

People don't see chorophobia as a real thing.

And I get it. It seems kind of ridiculous.

Fear of dancing.

(sombre music)

But it is real.

Just like fear of heights is real.

The only difference is,

No one would ever think of helping a person with that fear

By dragging them to the edge of a building.

(up-tempo music)

Online, I found tons of experts

That make a living helping people overcome

Whatever fear they have.

But there's only one that specializes in chorophobia.

What do you make of this woman and I on the boat?

- From what I'm seeing of this, she clearly feels the love of that environment,

And would love you to experience that love of that environment, too.

People I work with are people who come to me and they say,

"I really want to dance,

But I have a terrifying fear of it."

It might be somebody saying,

"my central issue is that I would love to dance with my fiancée,

But whenever I do, she laughs at me."

We explore that kind of issue.

Or another woman I've worked with said

That whenever she went into a nightclub and started dancing,

She would sweat profusely

And she didn't want people to see her sweating.

So her question was about the sweating.

If you had 50 people who all had a fear of dancing,

They'd probably have 50 different reasons for why they have a fear of dancing.

- Well, according to the good doctor,

Fear of dancing, for most of us...

...Starts here...

In a little nightmare we call...

The high-school dance.

- There was that instant feeling that everybody else... Had had a lesson.

They knew what they were doing.

And when I looked at them and...

So they're twisting their body and are their legs moving on the floor,

Or are they just staying still on the floor?

And then the moment I started doing it,

I could sense people laughing at me,

Even if they weren't, I felt they must be.

Because it was a wrong thing to do,

It was utterly unnatural to me.

It just... It just closed me down.

- All I can remember is that...

There I was in grade 9,

Suddenly unable or unwilling to step on the dance floor,

And finding it impossible to ask any girl that I might've liked to join me there.

- Suddenly, dancing becomes about mate selection,

Or about competency issues,

Moving your body in a way that your social group

Find acceptable or unacceptable.

Or it might be a fear of displaying their body,

Which has changed.

Or it might be a fear of the way their body works.

Or it might be a fear of looking "other" somehow.

- When I was 15 or 16,

I was a lot taller than most kids my age.

And I started, like I guess a lot of girls do,

Becoming more self-conscious of my body and my...

Comfort in my own body.

I think it made me feel like I was easier to pinpoint.

Like: "oh! Do you see that tall girl and how bad she is at dancing?"

At my high school, we used to have this thing called the "dance-a-thon",

Where we would dance all night long -

I think it was from 8 p.M. Until 8 a.M. -

And I would do it, because I really liked hanging out with my friends,

And it was the cool thing to do.

I would drink lots of water,

Take millions of trips to the bathroom,

But I would never... Dance.

Around that time, my parents noticed

That I was becoming more self-conscious,

And they decided to sign me up for a teenage modelling course.

My parents were there, being very supportive and lovely.

They brought their camcorder and videoed it.

I actually knew one of the girls that was doing the modelling class.

Very tall, very thin, very beautiful.

And watching her walk,

And know how to hold her body and her poise and her confidence, I mean,

I feel like I just stuck out like a... Sore thumb.

And I think that's me in the shadow...

...About to have my turn.

Yeah. Oh.

Oh.

Oh, I feel so sad for me.

- Why? - I just look so uncomfortable.

I'm, like: I don't want to be there.

The way I'm holding my hands.

- What would you tell your younger self?

- I think I'd give her a hug and say, "don't worry."

This is kind of where I just stopped... Dancing.

(music)

- When the dance starts,

You cannot think of what you do.

You get that feel of the goose bumps coming up your body.

It's almost like an out-of-body experience.

I'm originally from ukraine.

I am teaching ballroom dancing and I was in competing ballroom dancing in the past.

- I see a lot of trophies in this room.

Are a lot of those yours?

- Uh, some of them are and, uh,

Yes, quite a few of them mine. Yes.

The floaty feel and being...

In the moment,

It's very meditative in a way.

Not to think about the steps and be able to dance and express.

- Do you know what a chorophobe is?

- I haven't heard that one.

- A chorophobe is somebody that has a fear of dancing.

- Mm. How interesting.

I think that the fact that people are afraid of dance

Is just because they're not capable of doing it.

So if you get the right instructor that introduce it right away,

Gentle form, that can be overcome.

- The problem with going to a dance class...

Is that you're going to a dance class.

- I do agree that when come into the dance studio,

You're being very vulnerable.

Um, you expose yourself. First of all,

Because you are gonna be dancing with a strange person,

Who is an instructor in your case,

Unless you bring someone else with you.

So facilitating that transition...

...Uh, could be crucial.

We could have more phobias with dance

If we don't, um,

Introduce the dance the right way.

- The reality is,

No matter how talented and sensitive the dance teacher is,

It's still one person too many.

The ideal would be a classroom with...

No one in it.

And these guys here,

They're actually making that happen.

- Now step to the right.

- So if we need to adjust this, I'll go ahead and then tape it.

Go ahead and pull it over.

- Oh, boy. (chuckling)

- So do you see the controllers in front of you?

- Um... (indistinct chatter)

Thank god I stopped doing acid a long time ago.

- Hopefully you get the experience

Of being in a flesh-and-blood dance studio

Without having the anxiety to actually have to walk through the doors.

- You want to use your finger and press down here,

And then swing your hand; keep it pressed while you swing.

So you'll virtually walk.

You'll see a ramp, and I want you to go up the ramp.

That's how you'll get to the studio.

- My favourite part is walking. Can I just...

I don't have a fear of walking.

- Funny enough, dancing becomes

What your body wants to do naturally, like walking, fairly fast.

It's all about relaxing into dance.

- So this is gonna be your classroom.

- Alright.

- Face the teacher. - Is that her? - Yes.

Walk in front of her?

- In front of her. Okay. - Mm-hmm.

- She's trying to pull me on the dance floor.

- I know-- - she's a little close, though.

- She's got your hand. - That's a little close.

- Some people, they have a fear of being this close to somebody and looking them in the face.

So now you have a chance to do that in vr.

- Exactly. Looking in... In the face. But, uh, okay.

- She's kind of tall, right? - Yeah, a little bit.

- Well, she's in heels. - Yeah, she's got, like, four-inch stilettos.

(laughter)

I think she's being very... Yeah, she's getting a little impatient, but...

(laughter) but I-I...

I'm just worried she's just gonna leave,

'cause that's usually what happens. (laughter)

- No, she will not go anywhere, we programmed her not to. - Okay.

- Hi. Welcome to your first salsa lesson. Ready?

Here we go.

One, two, three...

Five, six, seven.

One, two, three, five, six, seven.

Good. (music)

- He's actually now doing salsa.

- Am I really? - Yeah. You really are.

- It's funny, 'cause it just feels like I'm just rocking back and forth.

- That's exactly how it's supposed to feel.

- And, for me, that might be the problem.

I can learn the steps,

But it just... It just feels like...

I'm kind of just going through the motions.

I don't get any joy from it.

Y'know, in that moment,

I might as well be doing my taxes.

But maybe that's because some of us are too focused

On, y'know, the external, physical aspect of dancing.

The performance.

Maybe we just have to go deeper than that.

(percussive music)

(singing in native language)

- Dance, from an indigenous perspective,

It's more an expression of the spirit

That is exercised through the physical body.

There's no... Sexualized...

Behaviours of any kind.

It really is a discovery of yourself.

Some indigenous individuals who are born and raised in urban settings

Have no connection to their first nations.

I teach my students to reconnect

Through pow wow dancing.

Dance is one of those very -

In my opinion - crucial components

That define a person within their culture.

It's a very profound experience.

- I am cree from moose factory.

- When I first came to the city, I was 16.

You can get, you know,

Kind of swallowed up by the city,

Because there's so much temptation and distractions,

For a very long time, I was very disconnected.

I'm just starting to... Y'know,

Look more into my culture.

- How many cones have you put on your dress this time so far?

- Uh, close to 500? - That's a lot. - Yeah.

- What I've done is, I've created a program

That teaches individuals

The various different stages of regalia-making...

...For powwow dancing.

We're going to put the row cones at the bottom,

Followed by a row of this fringe

On top of the cones.

- I chose this class because when I go to a pow wow,

I am just overcome with, like, emotion,

And I want to get over that.

Like, I want to feel like I'm a part of it,

Instead of just someone that is visiting it.

- Oftentimes, students go to a first nation up north

To dance for the very first time in the circle.

And sometimes they will be hesitant

To complete their outfits,

Because once they've completed the regalia,

Then there's this anxiety, this understanding that:

Oh, my goodness, you're on to the next step.

Now I have to go dance. I don't want to go dance.

Not knowing if - and I've heard this term before -

If I'm... "indian enough."

- If I, like, don't do the steps right,

There's where I feel like I'll be judged.

- So it becomes that cycle of, like...

"what do I do now?" right? So...

- Cycle of fear. - It's the cycle of fear, yeah.

- This fear of dancing...

...It's real.

But it's also kind of... Irrational.

Who cares what others think?

I mean, what's the worst thing that can happen,

If you just go out there and do your thing?

(classical music)

Well, there's this.

- I decided to tell the story

Of one of the most fascinatingly bizarre events in recorded human history.

It was in one of strasbourg's narrow medieval streets,

Like this one, that it seems to have begun.

It began with one woman, frau troffea.

One day in the middle of July, in 1518,

She steps outside of her house and then she begins dancing.

(classical music)

She dances all the way through that day,

Rests at night; the next morning,

She resumes, and she does this day after day.

Her feet would've been bleeding, they would've been lacerated,

And yet she carries on and on.

It's quite clear that this is an involuntary dance.

Very rapidly, they start arriving at the conclusion

That she's been cursed or possessed.

Within about a week, more people have been consumed

By this same irresistible urge to dance.

This is a really intensive dancing.

They just go on and on, hour after hour.

And you could imagine what a diabolical,

Bizarre spectacle this is creating.

Now, the chronicles disagree on how many people,

But it's likely that as many as 400 people,

By the end of July,

Had been drawn into this irresistible urge to dance.

That is when people started dying.

We don't know how many died.

Speculations vary.

One report we have, written by a merchant,

Who's living outside strasbourg at exactly this time,

Says 15 people a day.

- What's your theory on what lead to this strange event?

- In my belief, there's only one theory that really fits the facts.

This is an extreme example of what we might call mass hysteria...

- When I looked up the definition of mass hysteria,

It said: "a condition in which a large group of people

Exhibit similar feelings and actions."

Including excitement.

Which could explain my childhood dancing.

The environment may have contributed to that, right?

- Yeah. - The environment is really important, no?

- You used to love dancing and engaging with your family

And boogying around when you were a very small child.

- Yeah. - Having said that, I do wonder what would happen...

It's an interesting philosophical question.

If somebody was brought up in complete isolation,

Whether they would then still have that urge to dance.

- You know, the dancing that I was doing at parties at home

Were a lot about showing off, in a way.

- Yeah. - It's like I wanted to be part of the family.

And they would applaud, they would applaud wildly,

And it was very gratifying.

- Yeah, and that's very powerful.

- But when you get to the high-school situation, there's no more applause.

- Yeah. - It's the opposite, right?

- It's the complete opposite, yeah, because suddenly,

People aren't necessarily supportive of you doing it.

It suddenly becomes about being in the cool gang,

Not being in the cool gang.

- By the time I reached grade 11...

...Something had changed.

(heavy rock music)

My attitude.

My lifestyle.

I started going to class less and less.

It was just too boring.

Eventually, I dropped out altogether

To front a band called barbaric fantasy.

It was all about partying.

I became a stereotype.

The dropout metal-head stoner

That's just too cool to dance.

(rock music stops)

But then again, the world of dance is just full of stereotypes.

(soft music)

- Black girls who can't dance.

Black girls who won't dance.

Black girls who pop lock.

Black girls who clap hands.

♪ black girls who got groove ♪

♪ black girls who got moves ♪

♪ black girls who dance hard ♪

♪ black girls who cry hard ♪

♪ oh ooh she can't dance ♪

♪ ooh she just can't dance ♪

♪ ooh she can't dance ♪

♪ ooh she just cannot dance ♪

♪ black girls who read books ♪

♪ black girls who write books ♪

I wrote a song called black girls who can't dance.

The message is that...

Black women...

Are dynamic

And all... Kinds of people and...

Some are gonna love to dance and some aren't.

♪ look at her funny but she don't see don't care ♪

♪ don't stop don't look down till we get there ♪

♪ black girls you can't see ♪

♪ black girls you can't be ♪

♪ black girls who grow up ♪

♪ black girls who get free ♪

♪ oh ooh she can't dance ♪

I grew up as the only black girl in the classroom,

One of very few in my school.

I didn't dance as a child. I was really shy.

I don't think there are any good dancers in my family.

The expectation for, uh...

For black folks and black women

Is to be a particular kind of dancer,

And to be good in a certain way.

And I'm just not the person that, you know,

Someone's gonna see in the... In a club and say, "wow.

You're a good dancer."

♪ oh ooh she can't dance ooh she just can't dance ♪

♪ ooh she can't dance ♪

- Do you feel judged for that at public events? - Yes.

It happened to me recently.

Everyone was, you know, around me and...

And sort of, like: "come on, dance."

And I just didn't. I couldn't, you know,

Because it's just...

It's just not...

There is an expectation in their mind,

And... And it's not me and, um...

And, you know, I...

I just... I can't do it.

♪ no matter how hard I try ♪

♪ I never was what they expected ♪

♪ never not at all... ♪

♪ I never fit into their boxes ♪

♪ they were just too small ♪

♪ oh oh oh ♪

I want to dance even when it's uncomfortable.

And I want to let... Go.

♪ ooh she can't dance ♪

♪ ooh she just can't dance ♪

♪ ooh she can't dance ooh... ♪

And I'll just keep trying.

And maybe it'll become easier to do.

♪ she just can't dance ooh she can't dance ♪

♪ ooh she just cannot dance ♪

♪ ooh she can't dance ♪

♪ ooh she just can't dance ♪

♪ ooh she can't dance ♪

♪ ooh she just cannot dance ♪

♪ she can't dance ♪

♪ oh she just can't dance ♪

♪ ooh she can't dance ♪

♪ ooh she just cannot dance ♪♪

- The desire for some to keep trying to connect with dancing

Almost seems like a... A powerful human drive.

(trilling)

Sure, animals dance,

But the idea is that they basically do it to attract a mate.

And we do, too, but as far as we know,

We humans,

We may be the only species in the universe

To actually dance for pure pleasure.

- Dance is a fundamental human activity.

Everything from our heartbeat to the way our brain works,

The way that our limbs work,

That rhythm we have in our life is dance.

- But if dancing is really just a human thing,

How do you explain this?

- If you think about what it means

For something to be living,

It goes back to the idea of it moving.

This is aristotle. He says basically something that self-propels itself

Is what we can call something that's living.

So that doesn't mean it's just biological.

It can also be... Completely artificial.

- What's totem doing now?

- Yeah, so right now, it's running like a...

Neural model, so you actually see these things as like neurons bursting.

It's actually a mathematical model of consciousness in many ways.

Totem is a kind of artificial entity

That has cameras that look at...

The change of movement around it.

And every time you move, it detects changes--

- So it's interacting with movement.

- It's interacting with movement in that way.

- So it's essentially dancing with those around it.

- Yeah.

- So if you're trying to replicate humans in a machine...

- Of course. - ...It makes sense that you teach it to dance.

- Of course. Absolutely.

- I'm no expert,

But it seems that interacting with the environment

Is exactly what dancing is.

It's just that in totem's case,

He doesn't look human,

And his dancing certainly doesn't.

But this here,

That's a different story.

Who or what is alter?

- He's a new species,

New artificial species.

- What makes alter special is that he's armed

With a battery of motion sensors

And facial-recognition cameras,

Which means he can adapt

To whatever dance partner.

Why teach a robot to improvise dance?

- Well, because we don't want robots to mimic something

Which human beings do.

We need something that's coming from embodiment of himself, right?

This authentic movement from alter

Is his own one.

It's his invention, not us.

That's something that we want to see.

- Do you think you're ever gonna get to a point where you can teach a robot

To want to dance and they like to dance?

- If the robot can have a metacognition,

Or a metafeeling, then that's possible.

- So, eventually, alter may have legs...

And be able to fully dance.

- Yeah. - And if alter fully dances,

It will be original dancing.

- Right. Right. - As unique as a fingerprint. - Yeah.

This is the ultimate goal.

- It's not lost on me

That if robots suddenly start to love to dance,

That will actually make them more human than me.

But then... Maybe one day,

They too will go to high school.

And wake up asking themselves:

Where did that love go?

And did I ever really have it?

And if I did,

Where did it begin?

Where does dancing begin?

- I observed that one-year-old children

Would very often spontaneously move to music.

And that's really where the idea started.

Infants offer a fantastic opportunity to study

What might be there from the start,

What might perhaps even be... Hardwired or inborn.

Because, you know,

With a two- or three-year-old child,

You don't know anymore. Is it learned?

Did they observe it in their parents or in their environment?

But with four-, five-month-old infants, that's unlikely.

Okay, ready?

One, two, three.

(music to the safety dance playing)

♪ we can dance if we want to ♪

♪ we can leave your friends behind ♪

♪ 'cause your friends don't dance and if they don't dance ♪

♪ well they're are no friends of mine ♪

♪ I say we can go where we want to ♪

♪ a place where they will never find ♪

♪ and we can act like we come from out of this world ♪

♪ leave the real one far behind and we can dance ♪

Dansez!

Obviously, we didn't want the parents to influence the baby' behaviour,

So the parents could not hear the music.

They were just there to hold the baby.

♪ ah we can go when we want to the night is young and so am I ♪

♪ and we can dress real neat from our hats to our feet ♪

♪ and surprise 'em with the victory cry ♪

We looked at the baby's behaviour

And the coding when they produced rhythmic behaviours.

♪ you can act real rude and totally removed

♪ and I can act like an imbecile ♪

And we had a three-dimensional motion-tracking system

That allows you to match, or map,

The time of the baby's movements

On the musical time with the greatest precision.

And so that's really where we could say:

Are they in time with music? Are they not in time with music?

♪ everybody's taking a chance a-a-ance ♪

We had a range.

When you could, in a sense, say:

Some were good and some were bad.

The least successful was a baby that wouldn't do anything.

♪ oh it's the safety dance ♪♪ (song fading)

In most cases, they actually did react.

And I think that was the first big surprise.

I mean, the babies, they were not told what to do.

They were just played this music and then spontaneously,

They would start to move to the music.

(mid-tempo music)

- Do you remember anything about being in that experiment? - No, I don't.

My eyes just...

And I was reaching for you.

- I just remember the woman asked me

Not to interfere with my face,

So I must stay like this, not to interact.

It was very difficult for me.

(chuckling) (speaking french)

- When we told him that he was involved

In a movie years ago, he asked:

"what? You made money out of me,

And you never told me?" so... (laughter)

- That's... Pretty much in time. It's, uh...

It's amazing, you know, given your very young age.

And... And that is very expressive.

You got if not the highest, one of the highest,

Because it was so original, this hand movement, you know?

- What is your relationship with dancing today?

- Well, when I was in my... Teenage time,

I was not as cool about dancing as I actually am.

- Do you remember what caused you to suddenly think

It was cool to dance?

- Well, I don't care as much as I did about the...

What the others will think about me.

- She was not moving as much as other babies,

But, zélie, you were in between, uh, listening to the music

And being curious about what you were hearing, and at the same time,

Feeling some sort of urge to move with it.

So, like, both.

- Do you dance now?

- I don't really dance in front of people,

Because I feel stupid, I feel like my movements are weird,

And sometimes I can be self-conscious about it.

- These are all different movements.

They don't repeat.

There is no indication there that there is anything... Uh, you know,

Kind of aligning with the music.

- The take-away for me on all that research

Is that if there is such a thing as a dancing gene,

Maybe not all of us get it.

And like these teens and myself,

Whether or not you're wild for dancing when you're really young

Doesn't mean you still will or won't be when you grow up.

Which just shows how complicated this whole thing is.

No one can say for sure

When dancing started on this planet.

Some say as long as 30,000 years ago...

...In the heart of the world's most ancient civilizations.

When I first decided to come here,

I was told africa's full of cultures steeped in dancing.

(up-tempo music)

It's woven into the very fabric of their traditions.

You're never gonna find a chorophobe there.

And they were right.

I found two.

(up-tempo music)

- What would you do with that kind of a gift?

(singing)

(indistinct chatter)

(laughter)

- Do your kids dance? - Yes.

Are you ready?

- Yes. - What's it called again?

- A million dreams. - A million dreams.

- No, a bizillion dreams.

- A bizillion dreams? Okay. (laughing)

(indistinct chatter)

I definitely do not want

To pass my fear of dancing along to them.

♪ a million dreams ♪

And they love to dance...

In a way that I admire.

And wish that I could emulate.

Bravo! Bravo!

- Thank you! (indistinct chatter)

- How about your husband? Does he like to dance?

(laughing) - he maybe hates dancing more than I do.

- What did you guys do for your wedding?

- I couldn't imagine how you could have a wedding without a dance.

- So what did you wind up doing? - We ended up eloping.

- Why do you hate dancing so much?

- Yeah, I think it's something that I just never really felt.

Like, I've never felt compelled to it.

Music doesn't... Uh, cause me to want to dance.

Um... And, y'know, frankly,

Looking at 95% of the people who do dance, I...

Would prefer not to look like that.

- Is that one of the reasons why you guys got together?

- Yeah, that's why. That was the only thing.

That's why I married him, so I wouldn't have to dance.

(indistinct chatter)

- If you have kids, it's easy, because there's no expectation that you're going to be...

Dancing all night because you're chasing children around,

Putting them to bed or you're leaving at 8:00 or whatever it is anyway.

- Please don't drop the pie.

- So the fringe benefit of having kids

Is that it gives you an out for dancing.

- It's the only reason I had them.

(indistinct chatter)

- ..Bring too much stuff?

- So have you given up altogether on the idea

Of dancing at weddings or at clubs with the rest of your friends?

- I think so.

I think even if someone taught me how,

I don't... I don't think now, at this age, I could... I could do it.

- Okay, are we good? - Just a few more bags. - Oh, my god.

- And yet now you're telling me that once a year,

You do, in your own way,

Get your groove on.

- Yes. (chuckling)

Everyone good? Everyone has shoes?

- And we have to drive an hour and a half out of town to get there.

- Yeah.

- Turns out eric's also found a way

To deal with his fear of dancing.

- I remember walking home and just being so excited

That I had discovered this thing.

That comfort zone and that unconscious state,

And that, uh...

...Y'know, enjoyment.

A couple friends and I have been running this weekly event,

And it's a fairly radical idea.

- For me, it's kind of cathartic,

Almost like a therapy,

'cause you don't care about what other people are doing when you're doing it,

And you don't care about how you look to other people.

- You kind of get into your own head space.

And it's just how your body is responding to the music.

- In this basement,

Eric and other chorophobes have found a way

To get back into dancing.

(rock music)

In total darkness.

(rock music)

- Darkness is such an equalizer.

- With the lights off, it's no longer a visual event.

It takes on, you know, more abstract meaning.

- You're unable to perceive others,

And you're not being perceived.

(rock music)

- The first couple of songs, I was, like: This is very weird.

- When I first walked in, I didn't realize how dark it was gonna be.

I thought I was dancing next to someone, but I wasn't. It was a table.

(rock music)

- I struggle a lot with anxiety,

So I think coming here...

Is a way that I can do something social

That doesn't involve words.

- The dark dance is the first time

I've danced regularly in any capacity.

(music fading)

- With this pow wow you're going to,

How long has it been since you've been back up north?

- At least, like, 20 years.

When I was younger, I was placed in foster care.

I was, like, in... Like,

At least 10 or more foster homes.

Non-indigenous.

I don't think they were trying to make me fit in their culture;

They just didn't know anything about my culture.

- When we were flying to thunder bay today,

Aileen was sharing how...

Her childhood was not so... Rosy.

And I explained to her

How you are the master of your storytelling.

That you... Are able to rewrite...

...Your new reality

Into something positive.

- I didn't have the opportunity to do this when I was younger.

It was something that hurt me.

And, uh, now that I'm older,

It's... Just, like, I can give it to myself,

So why not? (chuckling)

(indistinct chatter)

Also... I'm happy that I get to share this with my daughters.

And they get to, like, be...

Welcomed into the pow wow family.

(polka music)

(clapping)

- So your solution for dancing is polka.

(lindsay laughing) - yeah.

I really love polka.

It's the only music that I can dance to.

- Why do you think that is?

- Well, the music's really happy,

Um, it feels very festive, it feels really easy to do.

- Do you like polka. - Can't stand it.

- And yet, you dance to it. - Yeah.

I wouldn't do it for anybody else.

- Do you think the costume makes it easier for you to dance?

- Yeah, I think it's almost like a... A bit of armour.

Like, you're protecting yourself a little bit.

And I do feel like I'm oktoberfest lindsay,

As opposed to just regular lindsay who doesn't dance.

(cheering)

(crowd cheering)

- Umpapa music - surprise, surprise -

Isn't really my thing.

But then again,

Neither is dancing in the dark.

I don't get why I would want to do that.

Like, I don't know what I'm supposed to feel.

- Well, don't... Shut your brain off a little bit.

I think you're thinking too much.

- There is a beauty in...

Letting go.

- I kind of resent the fact that society

Expects me to dance.

Like... It's almost like this is an act of rebellion

For me not to dance.

- I think you expect you to dance. - I expect me to dance?

- Yeah. Well, why are you here if you're not expecting yourself to dance?

- Well, clearly I feel like I need to be fixed on some level.

- Perhaps there's a certain type of flow-like state

We might want to get into...

Where we'd lose that sense of consciousness.

- It sounds like you're saying that someone like me

Would have to almost, like, lose their mind for a second.

- Yeah.

- As I'm listening to all these people talking about letting go...

...That's kind of tapped into something for me.

Since I was a kid,

Have I truly allowed myself to fully let go?

Look, I'm happy just trying to understand

Why I don't dance anymore.

I never really set out to fix that.

But if I was to let go,

To lose my mind for a second...

...I'd have to be alone.

So to tune out, I put on vr goggles.

So I couldn't see the world outside.

And I told my crew to go as far away as possible.

Can you see me from up there?

- Well, you're pretty small in the frame, but I see you clearly.

- Okay. Okay. - Yeah.

Okay, I'm gonna put music on.

- Okay, good luck. - Alright.

(dance music)

♪ time was drifting ♪

♪ this rock had got to roll ♪

♪ so I hit the road and made my getaway ♪

♪ restless feeling really got a hold ♪

♪ I started searching for a better way ♪

♪ and I kept on looking for a sign in the middle of the night ♪

♪ but I couldn't see the light ♪

♪ no I couldn't see the light ♪

♪ I kept on looking for a way to take me through the night ♪

♪ couldn't get it right ♪

♪ I couldn't get it right ♪♪

Ahem. Oh.

Ah, fuck.

I fell.

- So did you let yourself loose with the music?

- Yeah, I think a little bit too loose.

I thought I was closer to land and then suddenly I... I hit a chunk of rock,

And I thought I was gonna fall on the ground,

But I fell in the water. I'm fuckin' drenched.

And not only that, but I'm covered in goose shit.

(cameraman laughing)

I know you guys are pissing in your pants right now. (laughter)

I'm having trouble... (inhaling)

...When I breathe, it kind of hurts.

I don't think I cracked a rib, but...

'cause I landed on a rock.

- Just before you fell, how did it feel

To let yourself go... On the music?

- Fuck, these are covered in shit.

Um...

Y'know, I love music, so I was really into the song.

The sun's on my face.

It's a beautiful environment.

I enjoyed it for a second.

But did I feel...

Is it enough, what I felt,

To make me want to jump up every time there's music at a place?

Um... I don't know.

So what's your personal view of dancing?

- In terms of enjoying it, I don't.

Uh, I've never... Never enjoyed dancing.

I've always found it, um, really quite uncomfortable.

- I don't like dancing, so, y'know, like...

...I just know dance music that would kind of, uh,

Compel me to dance.

- I don't dance.

- I only start dancing when I get really... Y'know,

In an altered state of consciousness.

- When you're drunk. - Yeah, right, when I'm drunk.

- I-I-I rarely say this,

But when I was really, really young,

I was, uh, I was a bit overweight,

And I was a bit shy.

When there was music playing at my house,

There was a big party going on at my house,

I used to hide in the bathroom and dance.

- Uh, yeah, personally, over the years,

Um, I've had, uh, some issues around that.

Um, I've... I've worked through that.

- When I first started dancing, it was because, in high school,

My boyfriend invited me to go,

And there were two group classes I was supposed to attend,

But I completely missed the first one,

'cause I was just sitting in my car, terrified to go inside.

- I went to college not having danced a single step.

And most painful memory was, uh, going to high-school prom,

And I said, "well, I'm going to the prom, but I'm not dancing.

I always thought that dancing was just not my thing,

And there's no way I could do it.

- Have you ever heard of chorophobia? - No.

- It's the fear of dancing. - Right. Okay.

- So I'm a chorophobe. - Me, too.

- Are you a choro-- - yeah, he is.

- How do you feel if I tell you

That there are hundreds of thousands of people,

Actually all over the world,

That have the same fear of dancing?

- I'm a little nervous.

But, like, y'know, I'm actually doing something

That I've always wanted to do and...

There's really no going back.

- At one point today, she felt: Oh, my goodness, it's time,

And I don't know if I can do this.

- I know that this is where I belong,

And...

I just need to get over the fear of, like...

Um, basically...

Just dancing and just, like,

Giving myself... To it.

(singing)

(singing and drumming)

(feedback) - testing.

One of my students is here today,

And we're here to talk about the fear of dancing.

Some of you may not understand that entirely,

But as a first-time dancer myself,

When I was nine years old,

I was very scared to dance at the pow wow for the fear of making a mistake...

...For the fear of being judged.

And so my dear friend aileen... Can make her way over here

Into our circle.

- Whoo! (singing and drumming)

Oh, my god.

Yeah.

Oh.

(soft music)

♪ the speed of love returning ♪

♪ to my depraved heart

♪ like a song ♪

♪ carries the memory still ♪

♪ you waited till the river froze ♪

♪ to come and find me ♪

♪ with your voice ♪

♪ speaking the words of my throat ♪

♪ that dream you dream ♪

♪ of falling... ♪

- I'm aware of the feeling that people have when they dance.

They are taken over by something.

Which is a tribal connection, and joy.

And I know I'm missing out.

♪ we were never forced to love ♪

♪ you would have to lose your mind ♪

♪ you would have to lose your mind ♪

♪ you would have to lose your mind ♪

(phone ringing)

- Hello? - Hi. Francine? It's michael.

- Hey, michael. - So I'll see you at 2:00.

- Okay, I'll see you then.

♪ when icarus was falling... ♪

- When I danced on that beach,

Sure, it didn't turn out exactly as planned,

But I did feel something.

But that was me alone.

Would I get that same feeling

If I tried to really let go with someone else?

♪ woke up in her bed last night ♪

♪ her features were gold ♪

So what if I went back...

...To where dancing stopped for me?

It's been a long time.

I had a locker right here.

I think...

...2412.

I think it's 2412.

And what if I called a woman

I secretly wanted to ask to dance back in grade 9,

But just couldn't?

And what if she agreed to meet me?

♪ you would have to lose your mind ♪

I'm a little freaked out. (chuckling)

I'm really, uh, not feeling very comfortable about the whole thing.

♪ you would have to lose your mind ♪

(music)

And what if,

When we finally did dance,

I didn't get the same feeling I had on that beach?

Or back when I was a kid?

Being cured at the end of a film,

That's a hollywood ending.

♪ your mind... ♪

But maybe the next time an opportunity to dance does come up...

...I will.

Or maybe I won't.

♪ your mind... ♪

And what if... That was okay?

♪ your mind... ♪

♪ your mind... ♪♪

(disco music)

♪ pump up the jam pump it up ♪

♪ while you feet are stompin' and the jam is pumpin' ♪

♪ look at here the crowd is jumpin' ♪

♪ pump it up a little more ♪

♪ get the party going on the dance floor ♪

♪ seek us that's where the party's at ♪

♪ and you'll find out if you're too bad ♪

♪ I don't want a place to stay ♪

♪ get your booty on the floor tonight make my day ♪

Are you gonna do a little dance for me?

- Dance? Like, yeah. (laughter)

Yeah, that's enough. (laughing)

- Give me your best move. - Oh, my god.

♪ make my day make my day ♪ (laughing)

I really need alcohol now. (laughing)

- Would you do a little dance for me right now?

- No chance. - There is no chance?

- Absolutely none.

- Stephane's gonna dance. Woo-hoo! Woo!

You have fear of dancing? (laughing)

♪ and the jam is pumpin' ♪

♪ look at here the crowd is jumpin' ♪

I'm asking everybody I interview to do a little dance for me. (fry laughing)

So are you interested in doing that?

- I'll do a little finger dance. (chuckling)

- Alright. - There you are. - Okay.

♪ get your booty on the floor tonight ♪

♪ make my day ♪ - before we danced,

You said you were at a 10 on feeling uncomfortable.

So where would you say you are now?

- Uh, nine and a half. (laughing)

♪ make my day ♪

♪ make my make my make make my day ♪♪

♪ make my day make my day ♪♪

Subtitling: Difuze