Over time, people have sold us a great lie and we accepted and protected it

from all threats without thinking or reasoning. Dance, unlike many people
think, is not an artistic expression. However, before discussing the reasons, it
is necessary to understand the primary concept. An artistic expression is a
means of communication by which the artist conveys an idea or feeling.

Music can fill us with feelings, transport to different worlds and give us ideas
between its notes, unlike dance which lacks this capacity and must use music
to transmit a feeling. Based on classical conditioning defined by Russian
physiologist Ivan Pretrovich Pavlov, who demonstrated through classical
conditioning how a neutral stimulus can obtain a positive or negative value by
making use of appetizing (a reward) or aversive (a punishment) stimuli. In
2011 (123 years after the publication of Pavlov's findings) a study from
Suomen Akatemia (Finland Academy) demonstrated through the use of
Magnetic Resonance Imaging that music stimulates certain networks in the
brain where the areas responsible for motor actions, emotions and creativity
are included causing modifications in the state of the subject. They also
discovered that the processing of musical pulse activates motor areas in the
brain, supporting the idea that music and movement are closely intertwined.

Taking into account these two theories, we can evidence that music generates
a conditioning for dance. Dance works as a neutral stimulus that does not
possess the capacity to originate sensations in the people, however music
makes changes of emotions in individuals and it functions as the stimulus that
produces a conditioning. When someone mix happy music with dance, we
begin to feel this kind of dance in a happy way. The same occurs with sad
music or with other characteristics.

On the other hand, dance turns out to be simply an evolutionary feature. Beat
induction has shown how by listening to an isometric rhythm, humans and
some animals possess the ability to synchronize. This can be demonstrated
during the first year of life, watching the way babies rock and bounce in time
with the music. As they grow up this ability to follow the rhythm increases
allowing them to accompany the beat more effectively.
Based on evidence, dance is generated in human beings by an innate
evolutionary component, rather than need to transmit an idea or a feeling.
According to Jensy Sanchez: "Dance is also a form of communication, since
non-verbal language is used between human beings, where the dancer
expresses feelings and emotions through his movements and gestures. It is
mostly done to music, whether it is a song, a piece of music or sounds". Here
we show a characterization of dance as a non-verbal language; however, in
order to understand it as a non-verbal language it must be able to transmit to
others an idea without the use of words. It can be seen in many dances such as
Salsa, Merengue, Bachata, Reggaeton, Urban Dance and even in Ballet how
they end up being simply a sequence of preset movements whose capacity for
variation is almost nil, making it impossible to design a choreography capable
of sending a meaning. On the other hand, it speaks to us of the expression of
feelings. We have already seen how dance does not possess this capacity;
however, it can be seen as such due to the conditioning that is generated with
the music that accompanies it causing it to later be assimilated into a feeling.

In conclusion, we see that dance, when it does not comply with the definition
of artistic expression (transmitting an idea or feeling), ends up lagging behind
this group, becoming part of the real group to which it belongs. So what is
dance? It is simply a behavior generated by evolution that fulfills only a
function of fun and entertainment and has been elevated to a higher category
due to the presence of the music that accompanies it.