Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.

As long as people have made music, we’ve also danced to it. Dancing is artistic expression, it’s sexual attraction, it’s our innermost emotions laid bare. But alongside these cfowded dancefloors are always the unnoticed few, the wallflowers huddled in the shadows, never leaving their seats. Are they stubborn? Are they snobs? Are they just waiting for the right partner? Or is it… something else? Psychologists have a word for this: chorophobia, the irrational fear of dancing.

Fear of Dancing is also the name of a quirky, new, personal documentary. It follows subjects around the world – from Canada to Switzerland to Kenya – who suffer from this unusual condition, and the things we’re trying to do to overcome it. The film was made by Canadian documentarian Michael Allcock, known for his writing, story editing and directing on a wide range of topics, from punk rock to poker, from the Unabomber to the Spanish Inquisition. This time, though, he’s one of the subjects of his own film.

You can view Fear of Dancing on CBC Gem in Canada, beginning on Friday, Nov 27, 2020. 

I spoke to Michael via zoom from my home.