Task 4d- Reviewing Literature

Literature Review 1
After researching on various topics relating to my inquiry, it has opened up my eyes to all the different alleyways of where I can venture. I really hope to find out in depth the thoughts of a dancer of what is behind that 'need' to dance, what they do in order to keep on going…

Staring off with a scientific point of view, one great article I came across was taken from Scientific American on 'Why do we like to dance-and move to the beat?' written by Columbia University neurologist John Krakeur.
This article discusses the evident idea of why we like to dance, relating it to 'stimulating our brain's reward centers' when we enjoy coordinated movements. Although it can't fully be proved, there is anecdotal evidence based on experience that we get a 'pretty good kick out of it.' This is alway the most basic answer to why we dance-enjoyment!

Krakeur states how music brings us pleasure, rewarding certain parts of the mid and lower regions of the brain. It is obvious our general reaction to this pleasure is movement, where messages are sent from the brain to the body to react:
'First, people speculate that music was created through rhythmic movement—think: tapping your foot. Second, some reward-related areas in the brain are connected with motor areas. Third, mounting evidence suggests that we are sensitive and attuned to the movements of others' bodies, because similar brain regions are activated when certain movements are both made and observed. For example, the motor regions of professional dancers' brains show more activation when they watch other dancers compared with people who don't dance.'
This connects to the idea of how mirror neurons activate when someone else is dancing, and unconsciously we are motivated to move and copy movements, even if its only a slight desire. I find this fascinating that we also (unconsciously) predict the movements that we would have done. This is probably why when we are dancing with others, or watching dance, it is rewarding in a sense when you to see how you match yourself to the other/s? Is this behind motivation of watching others?

'So, if that evidence indicates that humans like watching others in motion (and being in motion themselves), adding music to the mix may be a pinnacle of reward.'
This article has really opened my eyes to the options of the different stimulation in dance, where to go into depth about how the body reacts is fascinating. Perhaps there is a link between the philosophical and scientific side to it all?
  
Krakeur.J. "Why do we like to dance-and move to the beat?" Scientific American, Sep 26, 2008, 07/03/2014 <http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experts-dance/>