(BUZZING)
(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)
Hey, you know, ever since, uh, I can remember,
whenever I hear a beat, I find myself moving around.
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
All over the world, people of all ages, and origins, and flavors,
they just love to dance.
It seems like we just can't help shaking our patoots,
and swinging, and bopping, and strutting, and cutting the rug.
What is it about dance that gets us going?
Oh, my gosh. Here she comes.
Look how beautiful.
My golly. If there's one thing that's better than dancing...
it's when your partner's your lady love.
When you're locked in an embrace.
I'm talking about you, my sweet wife.
Well, it's a knockout.
Why must we dance? Ooh, we're gonna dig. You dig?
(UPBEAT MUSIC CONCLUDES)
(SIRENS BLARING)
(DRUMS BEATING)
-(DRUMS BEATING) -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(CLATTERING)
My crops are rotating,
-because the natural rhythm of the city... -(TRAM BELL DINGING)
...is already making me just happy to be alive, for heaven's sake.
(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)
Can you hear the rhythms already?
Well, you know where I'm taking you? Don't say I never take you anyplace.
-Atlanta. Atlanta, Georgia. Oh, boy. -(CROWD CHEERING)
I think it's hot. Hot, hot scene.
(TRAFFIC BLARING)
JEFF: And once scene in particular has got them rocking
and, oh, please forgive me, rolling.
(RETRO MUSIC PLAYING)
JEFF: Welcome to Cascade.
What's the matter? You forgot your skates? Oh, that's okay. I got you. I got you.
Dance halls or roller rinks,
that's where we are now, they've been around for a long time.
Throughout history,
there have been places like this where people have gone to mingle
and exchange ideas, and, you know, just get that feeling that they belong.
My parents, they were into ballroom dancing.
They had a social life of sorts
where they'd get together with the other Pittsburgh doctors.
There was always a social event
where they wanted to show off their skills.
In my younger adult days, I had a brush or two
with the vibrant and popular disco scene.
I was, after all, in Manhattan in the '70s.
Hey, that's me. That's me, believe it or not. I'm doing the Bump.
Quite intoxicating.
Dance, uh, you know, has always been a social,
you know, a reason and excuse for us to get in proximity with each other.
So, what can the folks here tell us about
why we gravitate and motivate to the dance floor?
(RETRO MUSIC PLAYING)
JEFF: Thank goodness, I've got an expert who's going to help me.
Her name is Msss Kamille. She's the queen of Cascade.
KAMILLE: We're just gonna shuffle.
-Shuffle, shuffle... -Look at it. I love it. Love it.
When you're ready, we're gonna let go of the bar
and move our arms a little bit.
-JEFF: (SINGING TUNE) -Yes. Yes. Awesome.
JEFF: Well, tell me about Cascade.
There's an important roller-skating scene in Atlanta.
So, well, back when they had segregation,
it was very hard for people of color to get in rinks.
They wouldn't let them in. So, there wasn't, like, a night
-where we could hear our music. -JEFF: Right. Right.
-KAMILLE: Yeah. -So, this place is Black-owned.
-Definitely. -And it became a hub,
-and a bastion, and a landmark. -KAMILLE: Yes. Yes.
This is my home. This is my family.
-Right. -KAMILLE: Look at you.
(HUMMING)
Hey. Hey, I like the hands. Hey, hey, hey! Awesome.
So, what I wanna do now is take you around a little bit.
Do you think you're ready? To take over the floor?
I dunno what I'm ready for.
(RETRO MUSIC PLAYING)
KAMILLE: This was a way for people to talk their noise and get it out...
-Right... -...in a safe way.
JEFF: I love that. Look at these guys. What the heck?
-Hello? -(CHUCKLES)
-JEFF: What's their name? -KAMILLE: Those are the Black Riders.
-JEFF: The Black Riders? -And their dad is a part of the crew.
-They're a family. -JEFF: Right.
KAMILLE: And that's what skating is about.
Everybody comes to Cascade. It is the place to be.
JEFF: Fantastic. Fantastic.
KOJAK: In Atlanta, we care about one another.
If someone comes in, we welcome them in, no matter who you are and what you are.
The music brings us together, where we are able to hold onto each other,
and just... oh, it just brings, you know, the touching, the..
JEFF: Yes.
(CHUCKLES) I don't even know how to explain it.
Believe me, I'm feeling something from both of you.
JEFF: Wow! Look at this wizard.
Like, when we first moved to Atlanta, there's people who would like tell him,
like, "Amir, come on," and teach him a move.
And now, there's, like, two handfuls of people
that we can honestly say, like, we've grown to, like
love and like, you know, be part of that community.
-That are from this... from this rink. -Yeah. That are from here.
-Oh, my God in heaven. -Ooh.
You know what I realized today? I'm a skater.
-(CHUCKLES) -I'm a skater.
(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)
JEFF: This is an amazing center of something very, very beautiful.
And a place like this particularly, bring all kinds of people together.
Dance is the great equalizer.
It doesn't matter if you're Black or brown, or white, a prince or a pauper.
Once you hit the dance floor, it's not the gold in your pocket
but the shine on your feet and in your spirit that matters.
Glorious Cascade. What a... what a place. A place where people, through dance,
get to be, may I say, in sync with each other
and find all manner of human relationships through it.
All over the world, there are hubs just like this
where people get to vibe off of each other and create a community through dance.
Something in our DNA, I think, just compels us to throw shapes
and bust some moves.
But is dance a uniquely human pursuit?
(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)
Holy cats. Did you... you see that?
I think they're dancing and doing things in sync, those fish.
Uh, nobody taught them, but it's natural to them.
Well, as you may have already guessed,
my next date, whose name I see on my dance card,
is more at home not on land but in aqua pura, H2O.
(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)
-ABIGAIL: This is Diego. -I am so...
ABIGAIL: We'll take a step back right here.
-Yes ma'am. -ABIGAIL: No, you're okay.
The way that we train sea lions involves a lot of different forms of communication.
-Okay. -Look at Diego. Look how big he is.
-Amazing. Yes. Quite big, yes. -Right?
We need a way to communicate and move with him, right?
-JEFF: Yeah. -ABIGAIL: So we teach him to mimic us
in our movement.
Do a big nice sway with Diego.
(MUMBLING)
Wow! That was good. That was good.
-ABIGAIL: That was a workout for you. -JEFF: Hey.
You know, he and I, when we were dancing together,
you know, you sort of go off of each other and mimic each other.
-ABIGAIL: Yes. -JEFF: Does he do that
with his species partners?
Yeah. So, mimicry is something that does occur
with sea lions in the wild, especially with sea lion pups.
What things do the pups mimic
from their parents? Like, what kind of things?
They'll learn how to forage. They'll learn how to swim.
JEFF: Oh.
They learn a lot of social interactions with other sea lions.
And we utilize that mimicry, that ability to mimic here,
to teach them to move with us,
and to learn from us here under human care.
(ACOUSTIC MUSIC PLAYING)
JEFF: Here's the thing. Diego and his watery friends are not alone.
Birds do it. Bees do it. Even educated fleas do it.
Yeah. Most of the world's creatures, not only fall in love, but they dance.
And they do it not only for pleasure and leisure.
-Aristotle, in the 4th Century BC... -(CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING)
...noticed how bees do a kind of a mambo or a lambada
to signal to their fellow fliers, "Hey, this is where the food's at."
And then we have the mighty dung beetle, who does a war dance
right on top of their big pile of dung. Well, you know, it's right in the name.
And they do that to keep their treasure trove of poop
from being stolen by rivals.
And listen to this, the peacock spider, from the land down under,
in order to seduce their chosen mate, launches into an alluring flash dance.
So, I guess the entire natural world really is alive to the beat.
I have one more I'd like you to try. One more dance move.
-I'd love to. The moon... -The moonwalk.
Okay, watch this.
-(HIP-HOP MUSIC PLAYING) -(MUMBLING)
Back up...
(MUMBLING)
Thank you.
-(CROWD APPLAUDING) -(SOFT MUSIC PLAYING)
Diego, I so respect you, and I so adore you.
And you're a beautiful dancer.
-(GROWLS) -Oh, boy.
Well, my dance with Diego, mimicking each other,
I'm telling you, it was a thrilling and sweet bond.
So, I think we can say that dance truly is a universal language.
Hey, but I wonder, is there more to copying your partner's dance moves
when it's done only between human beings?
Hmm. Let's snoop around.
-Oh. Bye, Diego. -(CHEERFUL MUSIC PLAYING)
JEFF: Hidden deep within the leafy and deciduous environs
of the Atlanta suburbs is the nerve center of a global dance troupe.
(HIP-HOP MUSIC PLAYING)
-GIRL: This is the Collab Crib! -Collab Crib!
-The Collab Crib! Yes, sir! -(CROWD CHEERS)
ALL: Yeah! Yeah! Okay, okay, okay!
Yeah, yeah, yeah!
-(CHEERING) -(LAUGHING)
BOY: Yes!
JEFF: Okay. So, let me fill you in on what's going on.
These dancers are part of a crew called Collab Crib.
An all-star bunch of high-steppers...
who have teamed up, as their name tells us,
to collaborate under one roof.
By coming up with dance routines in this creative hothouse,
they've become a viral sensation.
Their moves get duplicated by millions of followers
all across the globe.
Bravo!
The reason why I got into social media and dancing here
is because of trending dances in Atlanta that came out.
Stuff like the Nae Nae, and, like...
-Nae Nae? -O'NEIL: ...that started.
-Right, the Nae Nae is this. -What's Nae Nae?
-(GRUNTS) -(GRUNTS)
O'NEIL: So that's like one of the first dance. That's the throwback.
-(CROWD CHEER) -Let go.
(ALL CHEERING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-(ALL APPLAUD) -Fantastic.
-For me, like, I was born in Africa. -You were? Where in Africa?
I was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Kinshasa.
Coming to Atlanta, I felt alone for a long time.
So, like, I was self-taught, like, all I do... I'd just be in my room,
just dancing every day. We met and, like, and then we just started hanging out,
doing videos with each other. You know what I'm saying?
We're like, "Wow, we have a lot in common."
That's how everything started for me.
Isn't that something? Now, and that quickly,
you can be in connection
with many, many people. How is that changing the world?
When stuff go viral, like, everybody's watching that.
Everyone's getting inspired by that. Some people might get ideas from that.
We influence people that don't even dance to dance on TikTok.
To know that we are doing that for millions of kids,
inspiring them to change their life, that's just awesome.
I think that's a beautiful, beautiful th... thing.
(RETRO MUSIC PLAYING)
ARIANA: We're gonna teach you an easy TikTok challenge
that's already like...
-JEFF: Okay. -...out there,
but it's gonna be like the same moves that you're gonna use later.
Are we gonna show this off someplace? Are we gonna film it?
-You're gonna make a thing out of it? -ARIANA: Yeah,
that's gonna be at the end though.
JEFF: Well, I'm not shy about uh, strutting my stuff.
But if this dance is gonna be seen by, what, an audience of millions,
well, I better listen up.
-O'NEIL: First move right here, right? -JEFF: Yeah.
You take this arm. It's like a pull through.
-Boom, right. Just like that. -(MUMBLING)
-Yeah. Yeah. -Yes.
-You're gonna look to the left. -Boom, boom. (GRUNTS)
-It's cross, cross. -ARIANA: Cross, cross.
See, right here, this is called a mid-hit.
-JEFF: Boom. -Right. You hit it.
Get on my horse.
-And, oh. Uh-oh, yeah. Hands. -(HORSE NEIGHING)
(MUMBLING)
And over. Hey, take that. In your face.
You know, I actually like how you made your own style with every move.
I think that's how you do it. Every move, just like in an acting scene,
has to kind of be investigated
-and mean something. -Right.
-Again. And one, two, hit! -ALL: Hit!
-ARIANA: Yes. Yes. -I kinda got it. I kind of got it.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
JEFF: Well, we'll soon see if I got it or not.
All these screens could be misused to keep people apart.
But these guys are reaching out across our abundant Earth,
transcending boundaries of nationality and ideology.
in order to give us moves
-that we can try on for size and adopt. -(INDIAN MUSIC PLAYING)
But, there's something else
-that they're tapping into. -(DISCO MUSIC PLAYING)
Inside our brains, there are these things called mirror neurons.
And some scientists claim that mirror neurons light up
when we watch somebody dance.
Meaning that we're kind of getting funky in our heads without ever moving a muscle.
This mechanism is the basis, in fact, of what we could call "empathy."
Putting yourself in the heart and mind of another person.
Bringing us all together for one giant, global dance party.
So, now, check us out.
Let's see if I can pull off this routine without embarrassing myself.
O'NEIL: Everyone's looking at this camera right here.
JEFF: I'm already thinking of the billions of likes and peoples and comments
that are going to see this
and I'm sending them a subliminal message.
O'NEIL: Five, six, seven, eight.
-(HIP-HOP MUSIC PLAYING) -(O'NEIL GRUNTS)
(DANCERS GRUNT)
(DANCERS EXCLAIM)
-O'NEIL: Yes, sir! -NOAH: Yes, sir!
Collab Crib.
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)
JEFF: These young people of the Collaborative Crib,
talking to them, I felt inspired and lifted.
And by sending out their glorious rompings and stompings,
I think they're encouraging other people to dance.
And their followers, you know, may start out imitating their movements.
But I imagine that many of them make it their own
and make it something more personal.
People, especially younger people,
will always be trying to define their distinct identity,
distinct from that which has come before, by something new.
If dance is about connecting with each other,
then this wonderful team at Collab Crib, they've got it nailed to the floorboards.
Uh, is that an expression?
(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)
Well, my dancer-palooza odyssey, here in Atlanta, is coming to a close
but I think there's time for one more dash across the floor,
one more tour jeté before we shuffle off to Buffalo.
And one last question.
Could it be that dance has the power to speak louder than words,
to express the parts of us
that we don't always feel that we can show?
(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)
Lynel, you're gonna take me to a place where something is gonna happen.
All right. So we're talking about dance, but it's not just any type of dance.
It's a dance art form called J-Setting.
J dash...
-Setting. -...Setting.
But it's... it's unique to Atlanta?
It's not unique to Atlanta. Um, it's unique to the South though.
Well, it started off with the South, and then it went bigger
and branched off to other places.
JEFF: J-Setting started when majorettes at Jackson State University
laid down their batons and formed
an all-female, predominantly Black, dance troupe.
-(HIP-HOP MUSIC PLAYING) -JEFF: This athletic,
highly charged dance style
set off a creative frenzy among the Black LGBTQ+ community,
who took it from the sport field to the club.
J-Setting became a way for a marginalized people
to express themselves freely.
Communicating through movement, what it means to be loud, proud,
and genuinely fierce.
LYNEL: One, two, three, and four...
JEFF: Lynel has arranged for two
of the hottest J-Sette dance troops in the South
to perform a so-called battle just for us.
LYNEL: ...two, three and a four...
JEFF: And while this head-to-head certainly is not a fight to the death,
it is about owning the dance space.
And then there's, of course,
a little thing I think they call "Southern pride" at stake.
Jeff is going to be our guest referee, slash judge, slash everything, all right?
So let's get this party started.
Atlanta old school drumline, drop the beat.
(DRUMS BEATING)
LYNEL: All right. Jeff, who do you want to go first?
All right. Shade, it's on you.
(DRUMS BEATING)
JEFF: Uh-oh. These red shoes can't stop prancing. Hang on. Hang on.
(DRUMS BEATING)
Atlanta Dance Champz, it's on you.
(DRUMS BEATING)
Oh, my gosh. I love it. Every move perfectly in sync.
Every dancer showing who they are with pride and passion.
Let's give it up for everybody out here.
Oh, my gosh. Oh, my golly. That was utterly fantastic.
-Well... -LYNEL: The time has come.
(SOFT MUSIC PLAYING)
And it's up to me? We're not even conferring.
LYNEL: Yeah, it's up to you.
JEFF: So much authenticity and serious conviction and devotion.
How am I going to look these folks in their eyes and pick a favorite?
Would you please forgive me if I declared it a tie?
LYNEL: Let's give it up for both teams.
JEFF: Well, I chickened out. You know, in my defense,
watching the life force emanating from these dancers,
how can there be a loser when you're being so faithfully and unashamedly you?
All the dancers, I was just mesmerized, enchanted.
-Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. -I couldn't get enough of them.
And empowered. The whole group was empowered.
And the whole experience and expression
-was joy unbounded. -Absolutely.
Sometimes dance can express your yearning for,
-your need for respect. -LYNEL: Respect. Absolutely.
-JEFF: Something beautiful occurred. -LYNEL: Yes.
JEFF: Some lovely explosion of self-expression and passion.
And this happened in a parking lot, you know?
-JEFF: Yes. -Magic like that
just happened in a parking lot.
JEFF: I'm telling you, there's something about me. Once those drums start...
(DRUMS BEATING)
(MUMBLING)
I, I can't keep still.
Well, I've come to a conclusion, and it's this.
Dance is about being our authentic selves and celebrating our individuality
and our humanity in all its uniqueness.
(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)
One picture, they say, is worth 1000 words,
and one movement can tell a big, big story.
And it can express the whole rainbow of human experience.
But that's only part of the story.
I think that it's only through bonding with other people
that dance becomes truly alive.
It's our need for, follow me here, it's our yearning for connection.
Look. (SIGHS)
Gee, I'm gonna get moved for a second.
All we really want to do here is be with each other.
Really, it's... that's our job, and that's the highest
and best use of this life,
that we can do, is be with each other and dance.
(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)
(HIP-HOP MUSIC PLAYING)
Yeah, yeah Let go, Let go. Let go, let go
What's up? What's up? Yeah, yeah
Take a pit for the grandma I'm snapping Been building my dream, catching it
-Oh! -Females, cash, I'm stacking it
There's three left, I'm a shooter I'm splashin' it
Chill, wait for the party, relax I walk in the party, turn up to the max...