SHALL WE DANCE?

A gallery of wild creatures that dance—some to attract mates, some for no known reason at all.

Page portrays 15 of her brightly hued animal subjects in balletically posed pairs or larger groups but leaves 16 more to strut their stuff alone—which is particularly disappointing when she writes so enticingly of how, for instance, blue-footed boobies “high-step” together and a properly dazzled female calliope hummingbird will join a male in flight. Still, in brief but exact descriptive language, with occasional anthropomorphic flights (no, Asian forest scorpions probably don’t actually “tango” nor humpback whales “waltz”), she tallies a great range of steps, displays, gestures, sounds, postures, and other behaviors…not all of which are exclusively performed by males (springboks of both sexes, for example “pronk”). Better yet, some, such as the prancing gait of sifakas and the synchronized leaps of spinner dolphins, aren’t associated with mating and so, she suggests, may be just for fun. That observation plus naturalistic portraits, digitally rendered and resembling collages, add further bounce to her terpsichorean premise. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A high-stepping reminder that we aren’t the only ones who can put on a show.