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Poster:	AltheaRose	Date:	May 26, 2012 10:26:19am
Forum:	GratefulDead	Subject:	Re: Touch Heads indeed!!!

Gift of the Touch Heads?!? No way. The spinners were a later phenomenon (I think), but I only saw a handful of shows post-Touch, and I definitely always danced the same way and associated dancing with Dead shows.

I don't think it was brought to the scene from the Indian subcontinent, though, in spite of the proclivity for Things Indian in the 60s; and it's even less likely to have been inspired by the dervishes IMO (cuz where would anyone have seen them?!?) Really, I think that way of dancing just emerges naturally, though the spinners per se might have had a dervish influence.

In Hindu culture, it may have some relationship to the bhakti tradition, which seeks transcendence through chanting and song and ecstatic connection. As for any link with psychedelics, well, ganja has always been an accepted part of spiritual practice (the word itself is Hindi) and is widely used during some festivals (and not just by sadhus or by men). So who knows. As for the dervishes, while Sufis are Muslim, there was an awful lot of cross-fertilization over the centuries, so certainly one could influence the other.

But no way did the dancing start with Touch Heads! There were just more of you to bang into each other :-)

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Poster:	micah6vs8	Date:	May 27, 2012 10:01:53am
Forum:	GratefulDead	Subject:	Re: Touch Heads indeed! Why Yes!

I do think certain (and better, ha!) forms of dancing were brought in during the 80s. Let's Go to the Videotape! (Tip of the cap to Warner Wolf.) So it's going to take a few days, at least.

btw- Dancin' D. is intrigued by this subject, and starting off w/ the '80s were best and most innovative. I think she is actually going to make a post or two.

Quickly looking at some late 60s, early 70s vid this is going to be a larger project. Yikes! Come on people get a rhythm!