Do you ever wish you could go back and experience hearing dance music for the first time?
The organizers of a thought experiment called The Ive Experience hoped they could instill a similar feeling of joy in a population that had never been exposed to the genre before.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the team behind the initiative had to travel to one of the most remote locations in the world to conduct and film the experiment, according to one organizer who shared a statement with EDM.com. The Himba tribe, a nomadic group hailing from Namibia in southwest Africa, haven’t even owned a radio let alone been exposed to electronic music.
Nonetheless, many members of the tribe—believed to be around 50,000 strong—have a penchant for dancing. The tribe even has its own dance for everyday celebration called the Ondjongo, which is performed often. This ultimately led organizers to facilitate an unforgettable introduction by gifting the tribe with the experience of attending their first DJ set.
Members of the Himba tribe dance to electronic music during filming of The Ive Experience.
The Ive Experience
The show was complete with cutting-edge visual production and lasted six hours. A full recording of the event is due out soon, but the producers of The Ive Experience have dropped a teaser that captures some of the authentic reactions of the tribe’s attendees.
Dance is a central activity for the Himba tribe for developing communal kinship. The minds behind The Ive Experience believe electronic music is powerful enough to foster long-term cultural bonds due to the innately human quality of appreciating music.
“Imagine introducing electronic music to someone who has never even owned a radio, someone who spends all their time living in harmony with nature and has never allowed technology to influence their life,” organizers told EDM.com. “For the first time ever, the Himbas tribe were introduced to the wonders of electronic music. These are people who spend their entire lives singing and dancing. Naturally, they fell in love with electronic music.”
Check out the official trailer below.
