On the origins and consequences of natural play and performing arts practices

Abstract Natural play (NP) is one key to survival in the animal kingdom. Human play serves to protect children’s mental and physical wellbeing. Taxonomies of NP suggest that some forms map onto performing arts practices (PAP) such as, for example, singing, dancing and acting. NP and PAP share the elicitation of neurobiological reward mechanisms in practitioners and spectators alike. However, the evolution from human NP to PAP in the modern world also raises questions about the consequences of the transition within PAP from amateur or lay culture to professional performing arts. It appears that, as deliberate practice, esthetic appreciation, and professionalization arise, so do social exclusiveness and cultural segregation of PAP. Indeed, NP in animals and humans are both rarely harmful and of high adaptive value. By contrast, while amateur PAP are often beneficial, high-level PAP are prone to increased physical and/or mental health risks. A simple model is developed that suggests a trade-off between moderate, but wide-spread forms of lay or amateur PAP, on the one hand, and the maladaptive effects of excessive deliberate practice that characterize high-level PAP of highly selected groups, on the other. There is need for more research to investigate the emergence of PAP and their consequences as originating in NP.