The pulse of symmetry: On the possible co-evolution of rhythm in music and dance

Abstract

Darwin proposed that music and dance may be part of courtship display leading to reproduction, and hence preservation of genes. Sexual selection could act on either or both music and dance, but we argue it may act most powerfully on their synergistic rhythmic co-performance. We suggest that motoric and temporal capacities evolved for, and adapted to, essential biological functions were exapted to working drills and to dance, and in combination with auditory capacities, to music. We propose that the recently observed correlation between bodily symmetry and perceived dancing quality in Jamaican dance is in part a reflection of the rhythmic abilities of the dancers: their capacity to produce and to synchronise with an isochronic pulse, and their simultaneous capacity to elaborate polyrhythms of movement in relation to that pulse. We elaborate empirical tests of these ideas. Since an exaptation can become a secondary adaptation, music/dance may have become an adaptation that favours reproductive success through sexual selection via display, as has been argued to apply to the studied Jamaican dancers and their community. The combination of dance with music may amplify such phenotypic success.

The sweetest thing: the influence of angularity, symmetry, and the number of elements on shape-valence and shape-taste matches

“…Furthermore, it would be interesting to determine if the effects reported here can be extrapolated to more complex stimuli (e.g., products, brands, and websites, see Crilly et al, 2004 ; Lavie and Tractinsky, 2004 ; Salgado-Montejo et al, 2014 ; Velasco et al, 2014 ). Moreover, given the key role played by symmetry/asymmetry in both shape-valence and shape-taste matches, it would also be interesting in future research to investigate whether auditory symmetry/asymmetry (Kempf, 1996 ; Dean et al, 2009 ) might also be matched to sweet/sour tastes, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to consider symmetry and number of elements as a possible visual attributes that can facilitate shape-taste matches.…”

“It Don’t Mean a Thing if It Ain’t Got that Swing”– an Alternative Concept for Understanding the Evolution of Dance and Music in Human Beings

“…The evolutionary role of dance is even more enigmatic than that of music considering that who dances dispenses considerably more energy than a singer or a musician. The evolutionary functions of dance have received more attention only recently ( Dean et al, 2009 ; Hanna, 2010 ; Whitehead, 2010 ; Grammer et al, 2011 ; Neave et al, 2011 ; Davidson and Emberly, 2012 ; Fitch, 2012 ; Christensen et al, 2014 ; Morley, 2014 ; Woolhouse and Lai, 2014 ; Wang, 2015 ).…”

“…Dance is usually conceived as being distinct from music. The close relationship between rhythm and dance has been acknowledged only recently ( Phillips-Silver and Trainor, 2005 ; Dean et al, 2009 ; Phillips-Silver et al, 2010 ; Janata et al, 2012 ; Phillips-Silver and Keller, 2012 ; Stevens, 2012 ; Morley, 2014 ). The pivotal importance of rhythm, synchronized body movements and dancing as prerequisites for the emergence of all attributes of music has found relatively little attention.…”

Sexual arousal and rhythmic synchronization: A possible effect of vasopressin

“…For some, music is just a cheesecake that tickles our sensitive spots and could disappear leaving our species unchanged [1], while for others, music had an ancestral role in courtship [2][3][4][5][6] and group cohesion [7][8][9]. Further hypotheses focused on the emotional power of music, and sought a link with mother-infant interactions [10][11][12].…”