Talented Elephant Dances As Musician Plays Flute

A video of a uniquely talented dancing elephant has gone viral in recent days.

The elephant was captured dancing in tune with the mid-tempo sound belted out by an equally talented flute player.

The flute player was none other than Michael Telapary who has gained a cult following in music circles over the past few years.

Michael Telapary has been videoed playing his native flute to animals in the past although this is the first time an animal has responded so enthusiastically to his music.

A talented artist and musician, Michael Telapary is also a motivational speaker,  an author, and a certified Napoleon Hill instructor.

He plays the native flute and has put out albums such as  Chakra Flutes, Flute Meditation, Flow and Rhythm of the Wind.

Currently signed to Tewanka Art & Music, Telepary played his flute for two minutes with the elephant gyrating to the tune of his music.

The fully grown elephant initially started by swaying gently from side to side as the flute playing began.

As the tempo of the music increased, the side to side movement was accompanied with energetic swings of its trunk from side to side.

The elephant then paired its trunk movements with a front and back movement of its hind limbs in a surprising show of talent.

It is not clear if Michael Telapary had previously trained the elephant.

Nevertheless, the elephant dancing along to the flute player’s music is a commendable feat; trained or not.

This video seems to be conclusive proof that animals can sense and respond to a musical beat, moving in tune with the music.

Scientist have been conducting experiments into this phenomenon for a while now.

Experiments conducted with bonobos, a close relation to the chimpanzee, found that the monkeys have a natural ability to match tempo and synchronize a beat.

For the study, researchers designed a highly resonate, bonobo-friendly drum able to withstand 500lbs of jumping pressure, chewing, and other ape-like behaviors.

The drum was beaten at a fast tempo which amounted to twice the tempo of most pop songs.

Patricia Grey, a biomusic program director at University of North Carolina said,

‘Bonobos are very attuned to sound. They hear above our range of hearing’

The apes picked up the beat and synchronized using the bonobo drum.

Apes are not the only animals that have been able to pick up this unique skills.

Research carried out on a sea lion, a species which generally have no innate rhythmic ability has shown that they too can synchronize with music.

Over time with training, Ronan the sea lion learned to bob its head in time with the music.

The addition of sea lions to the list suggests that the ability to sense rhythm may be more widespread.

Patricia Grey said,

‘That’s really coordination. Now, you’re talking about a social interaction.If your brain rhythms are literally able to synchronize to someone else’s brain rhythms, that’s what communication is potentially all about’

With Micheal and his dancing elephants, who knows how many other animals out there can dance to music?