Dance Doctor, Dance! is an interactive talk about the psychology of dance, covering topics such as the emotion in dance and what a person’s dance style reveals about him or her. It is a mixture of video footage, dance demonstration and a lecture from Dr Peter Lovatt, psychologist. The audience are invited to share their interpretations of the dancing shown, and to join in with basic routines (don’t panic, nobody has to get up on stage!).
Dr Lovatt has carried out extensive research on the psychology of dance. It is a fascinating subject, and one he is clearly passionate about. Dr Lovatt’s delivery makes his subject matter entertaining and accessible to the audience, and the video clips are well used to support this. However, at times, he seems almost too keen to make his point, glossing over audience ideas which do not support his own.
Although Dance Doctor, Dance! is listed under “Dance and Physical Theatre” and described as a show, it is very much a lecture, albeit an engaging and interactive one. It might have been more accurate to describe it as such and list it in the event section with other talks. Also, as a talk, it would have benefited from a question and answer session at the end since there were issues raised, but not fully explored, in the talk itself. Having said that, there is a web page detailing the experiments (and also some of the dancers who will be performing during the talks) so it is worth checking out if you would like more information.
3/5 
Anna Price
(2 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
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