Synchronization

I don't write a lot about "dance" or, for that matter, dance a lot about architecture.  I don't dance much, either, with or without herring.  I was caught on (still) camera dancing once, but it was with a "dance therapist" so it was OK even though she wasn't acting in her professional capacity at the time.  To the extent that I have now established my credentials, I offer a couple of observations.

The first is that without synchronization, the jail population would be saturated with writhers.  I often walk into the room with the teevee while it is on and hear music.  Although music on the radio or MP3 player is normally sufficient for me, on the television they also visually verify the performer's existence.  (Often they "interview" him as well, but since that is hard to differentiate from the normal babble, I rarely notice.)  While the performer and often his musicians and/or backup singers are performing a selection, it sometimes occurs that "dancers" appear on the stage and writhe to the music.  I have noticed that they never appear as individuals, only as pairs or in greater ensembles.  In these days of reduced budgets, one wonders how the number of dancers is selected.  In particular, why not simply have a single dancer perform the same activity that would otherwise be flailed in synchrony by the group?  Because, or so it appears to me, that if one person were to perform any of the dances you see done by groups, that individual would be remanded to the nearest medical facility with suspected chorea.  Either that or jailed on suspicion.  (Just suspicion.  There has to be something wrong with him!)  On the other hand, when you see the identical activity performed by a group in synchrony, it is entertaining, sometimes very much so!

What is one to make of this?  I've verbalized this observation among the local teevee watcher, and received no reaction from her.  Is this one of those squishy human things I'm unlikely to understand?  Is it a union rule—at least two synchronized dancers must be hired to avoid confinement?  Or is there some sort of unknown conservation law at work here?  This needs further consideration.

The second observation is that just recently, almost every time I've opened a web page on a high-volume consumer site, there's a small banner ad with animated silhouettes "dancing."  STOP THAT!

NP:  "Fire on the Mountain" - Grateful Dead

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