Why I think I can dance…

Engrossed in my favourite pastime – watching YouTube uploads of most recent choreographies to the latest hits by the likes of Niki Minaj or Rhianna – I often get this urge, this prickling sensation that compels my body into motion. The range of movements my exemplary sedentary desk job allows is limited to tapping my foot under the desk or occasional knee jerk to the beat. Every once in a while though – when I can no longer hold it in –  I break into a seated “nae nae” to the tepid bewilderment of my colleague already used to her somewhat peculiar office mate’s behaviour.

As I watch these dancers’ bodies fill the space with beautiful motion I have a feeling I can do it too. Just…like…that. (Insert here my jazz instructor’s voice saying “dream on girlfriend.”)

This feeling of being able to emulate the movement is sometimes so real that I have this heart wrenching moment of desperation when the pictures I concocted in my head do not match my reflection in the mirror. Why is it that watching flawless performance – in reality feats of stamina, coordination and grace – make one embody or appropriate the (e)motion?

Well, folks, thanks to something called kinaesthetic empathy. According to research about performance and spectatorship, “spectators of dance experience kinaesthetic empathy when, even while sitting still, they feel they are participating in the movements they observe, and experience related feelings and ideas.” According to Theodor Lipps’ [i] theory of “Einfuehlung”, a body in motion could induce a spectator to feel an “inner mimesis” as though they themselves are performing the observed action.

A beautiful concept and one that makes me routinely disappointed when confronted by my feeble attempts to emulate say Lada Kasynets  or Sasha Putilov (both from Dance Centre Myway in Kyiv).

Or these persistent failures could be, of course, interpreted positively, as my…well, uniqueness. (Insert here my jazz instructor’s voice…) 🙂

[i] “Einfuehlung” means empathy but could be more colourfully translated as “feeling into” (thank you Germans for your flexible language embracing of all sorts of concepts – hard to learn but thrilling :)!