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[narrator] In 1983,
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TV history was made
when Michael Jackson did this.
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It was just 2.5 seconds,
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00:00:15,598 --> 00:00:19,060
and yet, it left
a permanent cultural mark.
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00:00:19,144 --> 00:00:22,772
But three decades earlier,
at Harlem's Apollo Theater,
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Bill Bailey did the exact same move.
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It's a common story.
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Madonna's choreography,
in her 1990 video "Vogue,"
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made it a party trick to strike a pose.
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But voguing had been
an underground culture for years.
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After Miley Cyrus shook her butt
at the VMAs in 2013,
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00:00:40,331 --> 00:00:43,084
twerking was added
to the Oxford Dictionary.
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But the rapper Big Freedia
was bouncing that **** in her videos
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back when Miley
still thought boys had cooties.
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This video kicked off one of
the biggest dance crazes of 2019
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and helped Charli D'Amelio's
rise to TikTok royalty.
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But another teenager, Jalaiah Harmon,
actually invented The Renegade,
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posting this video weeks earlier.
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And the moves in that dance sequence
go back way further than that.
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Built on decades
of hip hop and African dance.
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Social dance is essentially group-think.
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We figure out together
how we want to move and we give it a go.
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[narrator] And that's happening
faster than ever before.
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-What are the hottest dances?
-They have "Up" by Cardi B.
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Oh, my gosh, me and Chris made that dance.
That's viral.
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-This right here.
-"Corvette Corvette."
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-"Corvette Corvette."
-"Laffy Taffy."
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We were dancing to "Old Town Road"
way before it was a hit.
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-Yeah.
-Like this too.
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You're vibing.
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-"Lock it, lock it."
-"Hit the Quan."
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-Tap the wall.
-Like shake it, clap.
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It's like "Ju Ju On."
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Basically, every hit song
in the last two years
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has had a dance challenge.
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[narrator] All of these dances
have been performed by millions,
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but there's a lot of money
to be made off of a dance craze.
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In between Charli D'Amelio's dance videos,
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you'll find her lounging
in an exclusive Dunkin' pajama set
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and posing with other Dunkin' merch,
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one of the many brands eager to reach
her more than 117 million followers
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for up to an estimated
six figures per post.
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And the game Fortnite
literally sells dance crazes.
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The couple dollars people pay
for add-ons like these
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add up to billions
of dollars a year in profit.
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There's a very clear kind of inequality
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between the biggest money-makers
who make money off of dance trends
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and then everyone else.
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[narrator] So, what makes a dance a craze?
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And who should get the profit from it?
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[man 1] Some women freed of restraint
found release in the Charleston.
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[woman] From now on, dancing and fun
are one and the same thing
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for the boy and girl.
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Al Gore and I will do the Macarena.
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Everybody out there doing the Soulja Boy,
everybody's Superman.
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[man 2] They choose their own style
and give it their all.
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[Rowland] Humans are pretty weak animals.
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We're not very fast.
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We're not very strong,
and our skin is very soft.
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To predators,
we seem like pretty suitable prey.
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So according to one evolutionary theory,
we learned a trick.
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By standing together and moving in sync,
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we can make ourselves look like a much
bigger beast and scare away predators.
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In other words,
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we may have started
synchronizing to survive.
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It's hardwired into us.
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If two people sit in rocking chairs
beside each other,
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they'll subconsciously start moving
back and forth in parallel.
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And when we move in sync,
our bodies give us a jolt of endorphins,
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which encourages us to do it more
to intimidate our enemies,
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to worship our gods, to celebrate,
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to grieve, and to connect as a community.
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But strangers
moving in sync with each other?
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That's a pretty recent phenomenon.
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Dance crazes have
really amazing life cycles
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that have several, sort of, portions.
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[drumroll]
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So there's always
a kind of originaire community
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that starts to think,
"Hey, what if this was a dance?"
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And then that dance gets shared out,
usually in a really local context.
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[Rowland] In the case of arguably
the world's first dance craze,
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that would be
the mountain villages of Austria.
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"Waltzen" in German means "to turn."
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And couples would spin and also
move together in a circle around the room.
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This was very different from the popular
dances in Europe's royal courts,
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which were rigid and difficult,
with detailed choreography
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down to where to look
and what facial expression to have.
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Men and women
held each other at arm's length,
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but the waltz was more intimate,
looser, faster.
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Women would even
lift their skirts up a little,
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scandalously exposing their ankles.
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But even an amazing dance like this
can't become a craze
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unless it finds a way to spread.
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According to one theory,
you can thank Napoléon Bonaparte,
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whose army plowed through Europe
in the early 1800s
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taking the waltz with it.
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Napoléon never invaded England,
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but the waltz did.
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And then it sailed on ships
across the Atlantic to the United States.
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But that's only half the journey.
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Then there's the part where,
and this is pretty much inevitable,
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there'll be people
who are essentially haters.
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[drumroll]
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In the US, the 1840 edition of
Etiquette for Ladies, said of the waltz,
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"There is something
in the close approximation of persons,
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in the attitudes, and in the motion,
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which ill agrees
with the delicacy of woman."
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Others warned it could
incite "violent emotions,"
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"agitation," "nervous symptoms,"
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and "do more injury to the young
than many of the vices
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that are preached against
from the pulpit."
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But…
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The dance will not be denied.
People have to dance.
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[Rowland] Bringing us to the final step.
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The waltz craze lasted
for roughly two centuries,
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making the careers
of some composers, like…
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[man 1] Johann Strauss.
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[Rowland] …with his hit waltz song,
"The Blue Danube."
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[man 2] Probably more people have dipped
and swayed and twirled to this waltz
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than to any other.
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[Rowland] But the waltz would have
a hard time becoming a craze today,
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in large part because it doesn't fit
inside the frame of a phone.
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The common joke about TikTok dances
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is that they look like
you're conducting air traffic
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because they're so upper body oriented
and they have kind of angular movements.
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[Rowland] So they stay inside the frame,
and then center stage is your face.
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[Zhang] If you ask Charli D'Amelio,
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she'll say that facial expressions
are the number one key
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to making a good video.
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People want that kind of
animated expression.
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[Rowland] The most popular TikTokers
know how to use their stanky face,
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the coy tongue bite,
and the "uh-uh!" face,
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all while doing really fast moves.
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And the life cycle of a dance craze
has gotten faster too.
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First, you invent a dance.
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I was just bored one day
on the bus coming home.
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I was like, "This is a good song,
I'll make up a dance to it."
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[Rowland] And then,
you decide to share it.
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Maybe you post it on Dubsmash,
a TikTok rival.
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Dubsmash came first.
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I would say Black creators
were all on Dubsmash.
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[Rowland] And after you post it,
suddenly your friends start doing it.
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Which feels awesome. And then, amazingly,
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your friends' friends start doing it.
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One of them posts their video to TikTok,
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and suddenly,
a famous TikToker is doing your dance.
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You can't even believe it.
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And before you know it,
thousands of people are doing it.
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My dance hash just went viral!
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[Rowland] Other big influencers
are jumping in on the trend.
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And now YouTubers are creating
whole tutorials about how to do it.
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Meanwhile, that famous TikToker's
followers have skyrocketed,
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and that kind of following is power,
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because now, maybe record labels
see a potential new pop star
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and a national TV show invites them on
to promote their record.
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And joining us in studio,
Addison Rae is here.
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[Rowland] And to give a demo
of all those fun dance crazes on TikTok,
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including yours.
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So when my dance
was on Jimmy Fallon at first,
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I see Addison Rae do it, I was like…
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I was, like, shocked,
'cause I was like, "Oh, my gosh."
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It was like,
"Wow, my dance is on national television."
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All these people, like, see my dance.
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But the bad part about it was,
they don't know it's me and Mya's dance.
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[Rowland] That 2021 Jimmy Fallon segment
didn't credit the creators
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of any of these dances,
most of whom were Black teenagers.
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As I sit down, you start to think.
You're like,
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"Dang, bro, I wish that was me
performing my own dance."
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[Rowland] And that feeling is almost
as old as dance crazes themselves.
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Because after the waltz,
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most dance crazes
didn't come out of Europe.
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They started in
the African American community.
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When African Americans were enslaved
and brought to the United States,
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drumming was banned.
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So we learn how to keep
the beat on our bodies.
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That beat is kind of
a basic Pattin' Juba beat.
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[Rowland] After emancipation…
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It becomes the foundation
of the Charleston.
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[Rowland] …named for the southern city
where it was invented by Black Americans
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in their first years of freedom.
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It becomes a dance
that allows people to express
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a kind of liveliness
and imagining something else, like,
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"What if I lived in a big city,
and not South Carolina? How would I move?"
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[swing music playing]
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[Rowland] And then it spread,
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many believe thanks to a group of orphans
who had a touring brass band
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and performed the Charleston
when they played.
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When millions of African Americans
migrated north,
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they took the dance with them,
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arriving in New York City
just when nightclubs were taking off,
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where it was embraced
by hip, young white people
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and despised by their parents.
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Several cities banned it.
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Doctors warned that "Charleston knee"
could shorten your lifespan,
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that kids were dancing themselves
into "physical wrecks"
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with "overstrained hearts"
and "a dozen other disorders."
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But the dance couldn't be stopped.
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Debuting on Broadway in 1923
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in one of the first all-Black productions.
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And then the American dancer,
Josephine Baker,
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the Beyoncé of her time,
carried it across Europe,
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and audiences flocked
for a chance to see it.
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[man] Charleston caught
the spirit of the '20s
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and everyone was doing it.
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There was this promise--
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And this is how I wanna do it,
as a gesture.
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This vitality
of a kind of electrified future.
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[Rowland] The Charleston is one way
we remember the Roaring '20s.
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The style, the energy, who was there.
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But in forgetting the original dance,
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00:11:07,833 --> 00:11:10,920
it's easier to forget
the history it represents.
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00:11:12,380 --> 00:11:15,049
And this whole process
gets more complicated
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00:11:15,132 --> 00:11:17,927
when a single person
can get credit for a dance craze
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00:11:18,010 --> 00:11:21,013
by spreading it to millions of people,
instantaneously.
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00:11:21,847 --> 00:11:24,100
Ladies and gentlemen,
here's Chubby Checker!
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00:11:24,975 --> 00:11:27,353
My favorite thing
about this clip is the audience.
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They're all sitting in their chairs
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00:11:29,355 --> 00:11:32,316
and clapping
on the wrong beat of the music
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00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:35,903
and looking very suspiciously
at each other like they're not sure
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00:11:35,986 --> 00:11:38,447
if they should like it
or try to do it or not.
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00:11:38,531 --> 00:11:40,366
[Rowland] The host of that show,
Dick Clark,
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00:11:40,449 --> 00:11:42,952
had asked Chubby Checker
to record the song.
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00:11:43,035 --> 00:11:46,539
The original had made the R&B charts
a few years before
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by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters.
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00:11:48,749 --> 00:11:52,962
But it was Checker's version
that hit number 1 in the US twice,
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00:11:53,045 --> 00:11:54,880
and charted around the world.
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00:11:55,464 --> 00:12:00,553
A few years earlier, Elvis's hip gyrations
had scandalized the nation.
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00:12:00,636 --> 00:12:04,390
While a few years later,
youth culture would get radicalized.
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00:12:04,890 --> 00:12:07,017
The Twist was a dance for its moment,
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00:12:07,101 --> 00:12:10,813
sexy enough to upset kids' parents,
but not too much.
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You can definitely do the Twist
in the Charleston
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00:12:13,441 --> 00:12:15,860
or you can definitely do the Twist
in the Cakewalk.
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It's not its own thing really.
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[Rowland] But that was a secret
to its success.
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It was super easy.
236
00:12:21,991 --> 00:12:25,119
You really didn't have to learn
hardly anything to do the Twist.
237
00:12:25,202 --> 00:12:29,915
[Rowland] Chubby Checker followed up
with easy-to-follow dances like the Fly,
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00:12:29,999 --> 00:12:31,041
Pony Time,
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00:12:31,125 --> 00:12:32,501
Let's Twist Again,
240
00:12:32,585 --> 00:12:35,254
and in 1962, Limbo Rock.
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00:12:35,921 --> 00:12:37,214
And labels caught on.
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00:12:37,715 --> 00:12:40,092
Dance crazes sold records.
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00:12:40,176 --> 00:12:42,595
Some tried to teach people new moves.
244
00:12:42,678 --> 00:12:44,972
but that's hard to do
in a series of stills.
245
00:12:45,055 --> 00:12:46,307
So they mostly did what…
246
00:12:46,390 --> 00:12:47,475
[man] Johann Strauss.
247
00:12:47,558 --> 00:12:49,602
[Rowland] …had done two centuries earlier,
248
00:12:49,685 --> 00:12:53,439
hopping on the bandwagon
of a dance that was already popular.
249
00:12:53,522 --> 00:12:57,067
"Do You Love Me" by The Contours
packed two into one chorus.
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00:12:57,151 --> 00:13:00,237
♪ I can Mash Potato
I can Mash Potato ♪
251
00:13:00,321 --> 00:13:03,199
♪ I can do the Twist
I can do the Twist ♪
252
00:13:05,034 --> 00:13:07,828
[Rowland] And then
dance crazes got funkier.
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00:13:07,912 --> 00:13:11,207
Soul Train debuted in 1971.
254
00:13:11,290 --> 00:13:12,750
It's like another planet.
255
00:13:12,833 --> 00:13:17,171
Each dancer does something
that's related to what came before
256
00:13:17,254 --> 00:13:19,131
but entirely its own thing.
257
00:13:19,715 --> 00:13:22,593
[Rowland] Soul Train was
America's first national program
258
00:13:22,676 --> 00:13:24,595
by and for Black people.
259
00:13:25,638 --> 00:13:28,474
It does that thing
where it makes you want to join in
260
00:13:28,557 --> 00:13:30,643
and dance and show your moves too.
261
00:13:32,102 --> 00:13:34,605
I better not try to do that move.
That's a little much.
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00:13:34,688 --> 00:13:38,359
[Rowland] It became the longest running
TV show in American history,
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00:13:38,442 --> 00:13:40,486
popularizing the Funky Chicken,
264
00:13:40,569 --> 00:13:41,445
Popping,
265
00:13:41,529 --> 00:13:42,488
the Robot,
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00:13:42,571 --> 00:13:43,447
and, of course,
267
00:13:43,531 --> 00:13:45,115
the Soul Train Line.
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00:13:45,824 --> 00:13:48,494
But while dances like these
could sell records,
269
00:13:48,577 --> 00:13:51,413
they weren't exactly valuable
by themselves
270
00:13:51,497 --> 00:13:54,208
because they probably
couldn't be copyrighted.
271
00:13:55,584 --> 00:13:57,628
In one landmark copyright case,
272
00:13:57,711 --> 00:14:00,965
someone once tried
to copyright a phone book.
273
00:14:01,048 --> 00:14:04,802
And the Copyright Office said,
"No, you can't copyright the phone book."
274
00:14:04,885 --> 00:14:09,098
But it said in that opinion, anything
more creative than the phone book
275
00:14:09,181 --> 00:14:11,392
ought to qualify for copyright protection.
276
00:14:11,475 --> 00:14:13,269
[Rowland] That's not the reality.
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00:14:13,352 --> 00:14:18,899
The US Copyright Office says
a dance has to be a "choreographic work,"
278
00:14:19,733 --> 00:14:23,571
which it says, typically has
one or more of these elements:
279
00:14:24,613 --> 00:14:25,906
"Rhythmic movement
280
00:14:26,407 --> 00:14:29,952
arranged in a series
that is coherent and expressive
281
00:14:30,953 --> 00:14:33,622
that tells a story for an audience
282
00:14:33,706 --> 00:14:37,418
by skilled individuals
and is set to music."
283
00:14:38,294 --> 00:14:41,088
Of course, ballet does this,
almost every ballet.
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00:14:41,171 --> 00:14:43,257
[Rowland] Compare that
to something like the Charleston
285
00:14:43,340 --> 00:14:47,428
that was originally created
in a social setting by amateurs
286
00:14:47,511 --> 00:14:48,929
for their own amusement.
287
00:14:49,430 --> 00:14:53,851
So the Copyright Office
has not been willing to register
288
00:14:53,934 --> 00:14:55,811
what they would consider social dances.
289
00:14:55,895 --> 00:14:59,565
[Rowland] In fact, the US Copyright Office
specifically says,
290
00:14:59,648 --> 00:15:04,445
"Social dances and simple routines
can't be registered as distinct works,"
291
00:15:04,528 --> 00:15:08,282
with examples like
ballroom, square, and swing dances.
292
00:15:09,074 --> 00:15:13,203
But these guidelines were written
before the MTV Age.
293
00:15:13,829 --> 00:15:19,043
Music videos like Michael Jackson's
"Beat It" in 1983 were a new art form.
294
00:15:19,543 --> 00:15:22,046
In fact, this video
is heralded as the first
295
00:15:22,129 --> 00:15:26,967
to pair a pop song with a dance that
was challenging and original to the song.
296
00:15:27,551 --> 00:15:31,972
It was the dawn of a new era where people
could study a dance on repeat,
297
00:15:32,056 --> 00:15:34,016
like MC Hammer's Hammer Dance.
298
00:15:35,476 --> 00:15:36,477
♪ Stop!
Hammer time! ♪
299
00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:38,479
[Rowland] The Digital Underground's
Humpty Dance.
300
00:15:38,562 --> 00:15:41,231
♪ Do the Humpty Hump
Come on and do the Humpty Hump ♪
301
00:15:41,315 --> 00:15:43,651
[Rowland] Madonna's version of voguing.
302
00:15:43,734 --> 00:15:45,069
♪ Vogue ♪
303
00:15:45,152 --> 00:15:46,904
[Rowland] And, of course, the Macarena.
304
00:15:46,987 --> 00:15:48,072
♪ Hey, Macarena ♪
305
00:15:49,323 --> 00:15:50,616
[Rowland] Then with YouTube,
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00:15:50,699 --> 00:15:53,702
dances could travel
the world easier than ever.
307
00:15:53,786 --> 00:15:55,788
People were Chicken Noodle Souping,
308
00:15:55,871 --> 00:15:57,414
dancing the Passinho,
309
00:15:57,498 --> 00:16:00,793
and teaching each other
how to Dougie through the 2000s.
310
00:16:00,876 --> 00:16:04,713
And then Psy's "Gangnam Style"
broke YouTube.
311
00:16:06,799 --> 00:16:10,886
Seriously though, it exceeded the maximum
number of views a video could have,
312
00:16:10,969 --> 00:16:13,931
and they had to redo
the view limits on the site.
313
00:16:15,140 --> 00:16:17,810
And then came social media apps,
314
00:16:17,893 --> 00:16:21,855
like Dubsmash and TikTok
where dance crazes were even harder.
315
00:16:21,939 --> 00:16:25,025
In fact, they're called
"dance challenges."
316
00:16:25,109 --> 00:16:26,485
And the biggest crazes
317
00:16:26,568 --> 00:16:29,780
aren't coming from musicians anymore
to boost record sales,
318
00:16:30,489 --> 00:16:32,825
but from fans
who can take an artist's song
319
00:16:32,908 --> 00:16:36,537
and find some degree
of fame and fortune just by dancing to it.
320
00:16:37,162 --> 00:16:41,208
And a dance like this is performed
in front of an audience of sorts
321
00:16:41,291 --> 00:16:43,293
by people who are pretty skilled.
322
00:16:43,377 --> 00:16:45,587
But it's still not clear if these dances
323
00:16:45,671 --> 00:16:48,173
could be registered
at the Copyright Office.
324
00:16:48,257 --> 00:16:50,926
There's very little case law
on choreography actually.
325
00:16:51,010 --> 00:16:53,512
[Rowland] The creators
behind those Fortnite dances
326
00:16:53,595 --> 00:16:57,850
filed lawsuits claiming the game
was unfairly profiting off their work,
327
00:16:57,933 --> 00:17:02,104
including Alfonso Ribeiro
who you may know as Carlton.
328
00:17:02,187 --> 00:17:04,732
But a California court
said they need to register
329
00:17:04,815 --> 00:17:06,608
first with the Copyright Office.
330
00:17:06,692 --> 00:17:08,777
And in Alfonso's case,
331
00:17:08,861 --> 00:17:12,406
the Copyright Office
said it was "too simple a routine."
332
00:17:12,489 --> 00:17:14,283
And so it didn't qualify.
333
00:17:14,366 --> 00:17:15,743
That's one of the ironies of this.
334
00:17:15,826 --> 00:17:18,871
Fortnite, if you tried to touch
any of the stuff they're doing,
335
00:17:18,954 --> 00:17:21,665
they would have 10 lawyers
suing you for copyright infringement,
336
00:17:21,749 --> 00:17:23,167
threatening to take your house away.
337
00:17:23,250 --> 00:17:25,836
[Rowland] Even the Charleston
is on Fortnite.
338
00:17:25,919 --> 00:17:29,423
I wanna go further and say Fortnite should
be ashamed of themselves for doing this,
339
00:17:29,506 --> 00:17:30,466
but they aren't ashamed.
340
00:17:30,549 --> 00:17:33,010
[Rowland] But the fact that dance
mostly isn't copyrighted
341
00:17:33,093 --> 00:17:35,971
has also been an engine of creativity.
342
00:17:36,055 --> 00:17:39,683
There's definitely something lost
if people are very vigorously
343
00:17:39,767 --> 00:17:43,228
pursuing copyright claims
against each other for dance moves,
344
00:17:43,312 --> 00:17:45,689
and you kind of lose
this creative practice,
345
00:17:45,773 --> 00:17:49,777
and there's not this kind of
lineage of reinterpretation
346
00:17:49,860 --> 00:17:52,237
and adding your own commentary.
347
00:17:52,321 --> 00:17:55,908
It would lose
the social part of the social dance.
348
00:17:56,492 --> 00:17:59,578
[Rowland] And a lot of the creators
behind dance crazes today
349
00:17:59,661 --> 00:18:03,832
don't necessarily want the people
who do their dances to pay them.
350
00:18:03,916 --> 00:18:05,334
They just wanna be credited.
351
00:18:05,417 --> 00:18:08,170
[Greene] There are tremendous endorsement
opportunities for people who
352
00:18:08,253 --> 00:18:09,797
go viral for these dances.
353
00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:14,301
And so not being credited is really
damaging the creators of these works.
354
00:18:14,384 --> 00:18:18,555
[Rowland] In the summer of 2021,
Black TikTok creators went on strike.
355
00:18:18,639 --> 00:18:22,351
So it was impossible to ignore
how much of today's dance culture
356
00:18:22,434 --> 00:18:24,561
depends on their creativity.
357
00:18:24,645 --> 00:18:28,398
If they know they didn't make up
the dance, just give credit.
358
00:18:28,482 --> 00:18:30,901
It is not that hard. It's really not.
359
00:18:31,568 --> 00:18:33,028
[Rowland] But at the very least,
360
00:18:33,111 --> 00:18:37,074
the culture around crediting
has started to show signs of change.
361
00:18:37,157 --> 00:18:41,954
Now if you're a popular influencer
and you do someone's dance,
362
00:18:42,037 --> 00:18:44,164
there is the expectation that you will
363
00:18:44,748 --> 00:18:49,336
put in your caption DC or dance credits
and then tag the original creator.
364
00:18:49,419 --> 00:18:52,005
[Rowland] Even Fortnite has started
tagging and crediting
365
00:18:52,089 --> 00:18:54,883
the creators of its latest dance emotes.
366
00:18:54,967 --> 00:18:57,678
And that Jimmy Fallon segment
with Addison Rae,
367
00:18:57,761 --> 00:19:00,639
it sparked an immediate backlash.
And then…
368
00:19:00,722 --> 00:19:02,307
I was sitting in the car,
369
00:19:02,391 --> 00:19:06,061
actually picking up my grandma
for something when I got the message.
370
00:19:06,145 --> 00:19:08,689
I was jumping up and down
saying, "Mama, look!"
371
00:19:08,772 --> 00:19:11,275
I felt excited. I was like, "Oh, my gosh."
372
00:19:11,358 --> 00:19:12,651
I was so happy.
373
00:19:12,734 --> 00:19:13,777
I have to be dreaming.
374
00:19:13,861 --> 00:19:17,281
There's no way I'm getting the opportunity
to go on national television
375
00:19:17,364 --> 00:19:19,575
in front of all these people
to perform my dance.
376
00:19:19,658 --> 00:19:22,369
[Rowland] It was something
of an apology segment
377
00:19:22,452 --> 00:19:26,623
and the original creators
got to show America their own moves.
378
00:19:26,707 --> 00:19:28,876
[Johnson] After I got
to go on Jimmy Fallon,
379
00:19:28,959 --> 00:19:32,171
I have gotten,
like, a lot of different opportunities.
380
00:19:32,254 --> 00:19:35,090
I got a lot of promotions,
a lot of followers.
381
00:19:35,174 --> 00:19:39,428
Two famous rappers
flew me out to LA to do a music video.
382
00:19:39,511 --> 00:19:41,763
That's what I have been working on.
383
00:19:41,847 --> 00:19:45,893
I'm pretty sure it came
from the Jimmy Fallon experience.
384
00:19:45,976 --> 00:19:48,061
I hope to become something very big.
385
00:19:48,145 --> 00:19:50,063
I am gonna become
something very big one day.
386
00:19:50,731 --> 00:19:51,732
Like, I'm here.
387
00:19:56,820 --> 00:19:59,573
[DeFrantz] The dance is
an opportunity to dream.
388
00:20:00,198 --> 00:20:02,868
And this dreaming
is something that African Americans,
389
00:20:02,951 --> 00:20:06,079
maybe we don't get this in our history.
390
00:20:07,456 --> 00:20:12,127
African Americans
were denied access to social life,
391
00:20:12,211 --> 00:20:15,047
but in the dance,
something else is possible.
392
00:20:16,131 --> 00:20:18,592
In the dance, we can express outrage.
393
00:20:18,675 --> 00:20:20,510
We can express desire.
394
00:20:21,470 --> 00:20:24,473
We can express
a kind of wondering at a future,
395
00:20:24,556 --> 00:20:27,100
like what could
50 years from now feel like?
396
00:20:27,184 --> 00:20:30,938
I know, I'll make it into a dance.
I'll dance like I'm a robot.
397
00:20:31,021 --> 00:20:34,733
That'll help me imagine
some kind of futuristic possibility.
398
00:20:37,069 --> 00:20:41,240
[Rowland] Voguing was born in the 1980s
when queer communities of color in Harlem
399
00:20:41,323 --> 00:20:46,745
imagined a world where they could be
models or royalty or anything they wanted.
400
00:20:47,245 --> 00:20:50,123
The moonwalk
comes out of the tap tradition,
401
00:20:50,207 --> 00:20:53,794
a creative response
to the ban of drums during slavery.
402
00:20:54,419 --> 00:20:55,963
And the twerking motion
403
00:20:56,046 --> 00:20:59,800
is a foundational move
in many West African dances,
404
00:20:59,883 --> 00:21:03,053
often performed
in ceremonies celebrating life.
405
00:21:04,388 --> 00:21:06,014
When dances aren't credited,
406
00:21:06,098 --> 00:21:10,394
it's easier to forget
that they're historical artifacts
407
00:21:10,477 --> 00:21:12,938
passed down and shaped by each generation,
408
00:21:14,147 --> 00:21:16,274
and in turn defining them.
409
00:21:17,067 --> 00:21:21,321
Our ancestors may have first moved in sync
to pretend we were stronger.
410
00:21:21,405 --> 00:21:22,698
But studies show
411
00:21:22,781 --> 00:21:25,951
dance actually makes us
more empathetic towards one another.
412
00:21:26,034 --> 00:21:29,538
More patient, more generous,
and less prejudiced.
413
00:21:30,205 --> 00:21:34,543
It creates what researchers call
"self-other blurring."
414
00:21:34,626 --> 00:21:38,297
The other person feels
like they're an extension of us.
415
00:21:38,964 --> 00:21:40,382
[Greene] Dance is life. Isn't it?
416
00:21:41,216 --> 00:21:42,426
It's life itself.
417
00:21:42,509 --> 00:21:46,013
I dance because
it makes me feel the most free.
418
00:21:46,096 --> 00:21:47,264
[man 1] It's how I speak.
419
00:21:47,347 --> 00:21:49,808
-It's how I communicate.
-[woman] It's what makes me human.
420
00:21:49,891 --> 00:21:55,105
[man 2] I believe it's the most vulnerable
form of communication.
421
00:21:55,188 --> 00:21:59,026
[DeFrantz] So dance isn't only about
finding a romantic partner,
422
00:21:59,109 --> 00:22:02,612
or kind of showing off
something you already know.
423
00:22:02,696 --> 00:22:07,159
Dance also gives us an opportunity
to share who we think we want to be.
424
00:22:08,869 --> 00:22:10,871
[all cheering]
425
00:22:14,833 --> 00:22:18,587
[closing theme music playing]