The boy in this much-shared video is William Stokkebroe, who was two years old when he ran onto a dance floor in Aarhus, Denmark, and danced the jive to Elvis Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock”. It was filmed on 2 March 2012 at a gala marking the opening of his parents’ new dance studio, studie43. His parents, Kristina and Peter Stokkebroe, are professional Latin dancers, so William had been watching dancing for most of his short life. Within about a week of being uploaded the clip had passed two million views, according to The Copenhagen Post.
Below you can watch the video, learn a little about the song and the dance, and find out what researchers have discovered about why toddlers like William move to music at all.
Watch William dance
The clip opens with an empty floor and a crowd around the edges. As soon as the music starts, William sets off: little kicks, turns, arm swings and a lot of serious concentration. He clearly knows the routine has a shape, because he keeps going to the end and finishes with a flourish that earned a huge cheer from the room. Watch the last few seconds closely; that is the part most people replay.
The video was published by the studio on its studie43 YouTube channel on 15 March 2012 under the plain title “2 year old dancing the jive”. Local and international media picked it up within days. A Milwaukee TV station, for example, featured it on 26 March 2012 as a two-year-old dancing to “Jail House Rock”.
A dancing family in Aarhus
William did not learn to dance in a vacuum. His parents won the 2010 world championship in Latin dancing, as reported by The Copenhagen Post, and they opened studie43 in Aarhus, Denmark’s second-largest city, in early 2012. The gala where the video was filmed celebrated that opening, which explains the polished floor and the audience of dancers.
Children in dance families tend to absorb steps the way other children absorb songs or phrases. They see the same movements every day, copy what they like and turn it into play. Peter Stokkebroe told Danish television, as quoted by The Copenhagen Post: “William dances every single day, we simply can’t stop him.”
It is tempting to declare that a toddler like this is a future champion, but a two-minute clip cannot tell us that, and it does not need to. What it shows is a small child having a wonderful time doing something he loves in front of people who love it too.
The song and the dance
“Jailhouse Rock” was written by the songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller for Elvis Presley’s third film, also called Jailhouse Rock. Presley recorded it in Los Angeles on 30 April 1957, and the single was released that September. It spent seven weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and three weeks at the top of the UK chart in early 1958. More than six decades later, its driving beat still fills dance floors.
The jive, the dance William performs, grew out of the swing dances created by African Americans in the United States in the 1930s. American soldiers took related dances such as the lindy hop and jitterbug to Europe during the Second World War, and in Britain the name “jive” stuck. In competitive ballroom dancing it is grouped with the Latin dances, even though its roots are in swing rather than Latin music. It is fast, bouncy and full of kicks, which makes it a natural fit for early rock and roll.
Why toddlers move to music
Parents often notice that babies bounce, sway or wave their arms as soon as music comes on. Research suggests this is not just imitation. In a study published in 2010 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, psychologists Marcel Zentner of the University of York and Tuomas Eerola of the University of Jyväskylä filmed infants aged five months to two years while they listened to music and to speech.
The babies moved rhythmically much more to music than to speech, responding above all to the beat rather than the melody, and they adjusted their movements to the tempo. The researchers also found that children who matched the music more closely tended to smile more. Their conclusion was that humans may be born with a tendency to move to a beat, long before anyone teaches them a step.
What changes as children grow is control. At two, William is already doing more than bouncing: he is repeating patterns he has seen adults perform and timing them to a specific song. That combination of natural rhythm and daily exposure is what makes his performance so striking for his age.
Dancing at any age
William is one end of the age range; the other is just as inspiring. On this site we have also featured Jenny Darren, a singer from Birmingham who rocked a stage at 68, proof that music and movement are not just for the young.
Dancing is a form of aerobic physical activity, and like other moderate exercise it can help with fitness, balance and mood. For many people its biggest advantage is that it does not feel like a workout: you exercise because the music makes you want to move. If you are thinking of taking up a more demanding style and have a health condition, it is sensible to talk to a doctor first.
How to encourage little dancers at home
You do not need a dance studio to give a toddler what William had. A few simple habits go a long way:
- Play lots of different music. Rock and roll, folk tunes, classical pieces and nursery songs each have different rhythms to explore.
- Dance with them. Young children learn by copying. If you move, they will too, and it does not matter whether you are any good.
- Keep it playful. At this age the goal is joy, not technique. Let them invent their own moves and celebrate the silly ones.
- Make the space safe. Clear sharp corners and slippery rugs, and let little ones dance barefoot or in non-slip socks.
- Follow their interest. If a child keeps asking for music and movement, a relaxed, play-based class for toddlers can be a good next step.
William’s video has been watched by millions for a simple reason: it captures pure, uncomplicated happiness. Put on a song you love, and you might find your own small dancer joining in.
Sources: Video by studie43; The Copenhagen Post, 23 March 2012: 2-year-old’s fancy footwork makes him a star; FOX6 Milwaukee, 26 March 2012; Elvis Presley: Jailhouse Rock (YouTube); Wikipedia: Jailhouse Rock (song); Wikipedia: Jive (dance); University of York, 2010: New research shows babies are born to dance.
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