Chimp Dances, Claps, And Bops To Hearing Music For The First Time

Jul 12, 2020 by apost team

Guru and zen master Dave Norwoods played music for chimpanzees at Chimp Eden in South Africa in 2018 and learned how attuned the apes are to music.

The internet always loves seeing animals behaving like people. From dogs dancing on two feet to little foxes singing a song, it's not difficult to understand why such a video would go viral since we all love to witness the amazing attitudes of the animal kingdom in action. This is especially so when people are able to see the most dexterous of the animal kingdom in action like chimpanzees.

Oftentimes humans like to experiment with how animals react to various stimulation like music or other sounds. Sometimes, the results are incredibly unexpected and end up in hilarious performances staged by the various animals and humans alike. It's even more humorous when animals form an audience and applaud for their human performer!

This is exactly what happened to Dave Norwoods in South Africa when he was able to play some music for his chimpanzee friends. As a dedicated rescuer of chimpanzees, Dave has spent the majority of his adult life saving these noble apes from the various meat markets and entertainment stalls around South Africa.

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It's no secret that humans share a lot of DNA with chimpanzees, and we are similar in many behavioral ways as well. Chimpanzees and other great apes are able to express feelings of loss, elation, tragedy, anger, and joy. They're even able to understand complex musical tones and songs. This is because their brains are sufficiently advanced in order to communicate subtly with noises and body gestures; chimpanzees are one of the few other tool-using animals that exist in nature outside of humans.

Dave always marveled at the innate intelligence and talents of chimpanzees. Wondering what would happen if he was able to share a bit of human music with the chimpanzees in the enclosures, he asked permission to indulge in his curiosity. The overseer of the Chimpeden rescue project was receptive to the idea, and they gave Dave the permission he needed in order to push forward with his wishes and experiments.

Dave brought over a steel drum shell that is played by drumming fingers on top of various metallic divots and began to play for his chimpanzee friends. An audience of about six chimpanzees quickly gathered along the area of the fence. One, in particular, was really feeling the rhythm.

He allowed his tongue to hang from his mouth as he stood up on two feet and started to stomp his feet in time with Dave’s rhythm line. Dave didn’t skip a beat; his female assistant filmed the entire event so that he was able to play uninterrupted. The real surprise came when the same swaying chimpanzee started to clap along with the beat too!

Dave and his companion were stunned, but they kept playing their hypnotic music. The other chimpanzees showed mixed levels of interest in return. Sometimes they would sway with the beat, and other times they’d clap along with the rhythm. However, none were as invested as the first dancer; he had a light face, and his smile brightened the savannah. The chimps would point and smile as Dave kept giving more and more rhythm-based feedback; he would point at them as well.

The musical number ended with a pair of chimps in the audience decided it would be time to play; they ran around one another and chased a few of their companions up some of the climbing gyms installed for exercise around the sanctuary. Dave was clearly elated the entire time. A huge smile was across his face, and his teeth were as bright as the white bandana on his head. Hopefully, he’ll be able to give an encore performance to his chimpanzee friends someday!

What do you and your friends think about the performance given by Dave? Did you like the music and perhaps found yourself clapping along with the rhythm at a certain point? Do you think that the chimpanzees were entertained, or do you think that they didn't like the music? We want to hear your thoughts!