Sometimes I fear for the future of civilization, like recently during the 2011 Fremantle Street Theatre Festival.
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| © The Ponder Room |
Visiting former street performer world champions, and NBA halftime shop stoppers, The USA Breakdancers, began their act with the obligatory crowd warming audience participation segment.
On this occasion four dads, of varying hairline and girth, ventured into the high-energy cool world of street dance, brandishing equal parts enthusiasm and bravado.
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| © The Ponder Room |
Only to schlep off stage fifteen minutes later, drenched in reality and humiliation, perfectly primed for office ridicule come Monday morning.
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| © The Ponder Room |
Next ten small kids were called up and set a challenge to show their moves.
One by one as they strut their stuff my concerns grew.
Watching on I was instantly transported back several years to similar displays usually witnessed near closing time at the University tavern. Back then amber fueled male students, usually engineers, would perform ‘The Dead Ant’, by bouncing on their backs, both feet in the air.
To the best of my knowledge these displays never led to any of the ‘ants’ leaving with a female companion, well not any of my female friends anyway, and yet they persisted. Instead the gesture usually ended with much back slapping and guffawing by other male ants.
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| © The Ponder Room |
Returning to present day, I watched on as each small child dropped to the floor and twirled on their back, legs in the air emulating Justice Crew, or some other ‘hood’ inspired dance crew.
Try as I might I couldn’t stop projecting forward ten years when the same little boys would be forging into a very different type of hood. Prior to adulthood they’d have to navigate their way through teenage-hood, all gangly arms and legs, pimply faces, and wavering voices.
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| © The Ponder Room |
Visions flashed before me of each one approaching the girl of his desire, asking her to dance, slouching off to the dance floor, then him dropping to the floor while the girl looks on in rapture. The bridal waltz doesn’t bare thinking about.
As my concerns grew I found myself pondering:
- Given that seven of the ten little performers were under 5 years of age, was I witnessing an example of nature or nuture?
- Should I keep this behavioural insight to myself, and apply for a large research grant that would eventually see my name cemented in the vast catalogue of nature/nurture journals.
- Thinking back, I guess the vast majority of those engineering students did actually manage to find someone to procreate with…..no really, all but one did.
- Actually a few of them now hold down highly paid, crucial jobs in Town Planning departments, and are responsible for the roads we drive on, the bridges we cross and the buildings we enter each day. Maybe all that head spinning increased blood flow to some critical parts of the brain….nah…. more likely the lack of distractions from the opposite sex gave them more time to study.
Perhaps there is hope after all…keep spinning kids.
