
Dancing with our friends, bacteria
To the rhythm of science, art, and life.
A question for you, how do you relate to bacteria?… Most likely, in reality, you don’t want any relationship with them. The only relationship to have with them, you might think, is rejection, absolute rejection.
In this curious question-answer, we can see crystal clear what the French-American microbiologist René Dubos in the 1960s called the war metaphor to describe the relationships between human beings and microbes.
Well into the 21st century, however eccentric it may seem, abandoning the war metaphor in favour of learning to dance with bacteria, is a challenge that cannot be postponed for everyone. So, to celebrate World Microbiome Day 2024, ReAct Latin America and the Reimagining Resistance Group, with the support of a phenomenal group of artists and scientists, are preparing a dialogue entitled “Dancing with our friends, bacteria. To the rhythm of science, art, and life.”
From the metaphor of war to the metaphor of dance
“A metaphor is a symbol of civilization. War or dance can be used metaphorically, and they are so encompassing that we could call them mother metaphors,” warns Ecuadorian pediatrician Arturo Quizhpe, director of ReAct Latin America.
If bacteria are synonymous with disease and death, it is logical to be at war with them. The problem is that the war metaphor is based on a very, very limited knowledge of the microbial world. Today we know what was not known in the 19th century and most of the 20th, that they are as countless as stars, that they form complex communities called microbiomes and that they are at the center of food systems, the decomposition of waste, climate change mitigation and human health. Today we know that only a tiny fraction of bacteria is pathogenic to humans.
So, “there is a profound incongruity between the metaphor of war and the true function of bacteria,” concludes Australian pharmacist and artist Mary Murray, founder of the Reimagining Resistance Group. “What we have, in reality, is the absolute primacy of symbiosis or, metaphorically speaking, of dance. The metaphor of war hurts us.”
Who will participate in the dialogue?
Johanna McBride, musical director of the Chorus of Women, Canberra, Australia. “The arts and sciences, thinking and feeling have been split in the modern world. Even different branches of the arts have been separated from each other: music and dance used to be one activity. This compartmentalisation and loss of interconnection are at the heart of our problems, I feel,” Johanna tells us in an email.
The Chorus of Women was born more than 20 years ago with a lament sung in Australia’s Parliament House in response to the announcement that Australia would enter the war in Iraq. Since those dates, fueled by the African philosophy of Ubuntu (“I am who I am because of you, we are who we are because of each other”), the Chorus has opened its voices to pacify many other human relationships, among them, the relationship with the Earth.
Sharon Field, also Australian, is passionate about botanical art. “With 20 years of experience as a volunteer fire-fighter,” she comments, “I have witnessed ecosystems in crisis and have become increasingly concerned about human impacts on the health of our planet’s environment.” Her works, which have won arts competitions inside and outside her native country, make visible the importance of plants’ dance and music for life.

ZONE TIMES | DATE | TIME |
Los Angeles | Thursday 27 June | 16h00 |
Mexico City | Thursday 27 June | 17h00 |
Ecuador/Colombia/Peru | Thursday 27 June | 18h00 |
New York/Santiago de Chile | Thursday 27 June | 19h00 |
Buenos Aires | Thursday 27 June | 20h00 |
London | Thursday 27 June | 24h00 |
Sweden | Friday 28 June | 01h00 |
Bangkok | Friday 28 June | 06h00 |
Taiwan/Singapore | Friday 28 June | 07h00 |
Australia east cost | Friday 28 June | 09h00 |

Stephen Sherwood, an Ecuadorian-American agroecologist, scientist and professor, divides his time between his Urkuwayku Farm in the Andes of Ecuador, which he runs with his wife, and teaching at Wageningen University. “The planet is ruled by microbes, so humans should learn to dance with them,” Stephen argues bluntly. “Dance is integration,” adds a soil microbiologist.
Dr Elizabeth Cameron Dalman, is currently artistic director of the Mirramu Dance Company. With an artistic career spanning more than six decades, in her most recent work, Elizabeth focuses on dance in nature and dance collaborations with indigenous Australian peoples. For her, “dancing in and with nature reconnects us to our true human nature and reminds us that ‘We are Nature’.”
Peng Hsiao-yin, is artistic director of Dancecology, Taiwan. In the context of the conjugation between dance and ecology, Peng with her group explores the concepts of circulation and symbiosis, as well as the interconnections between ecosystems and the movements of dancers. In a dance dialogue about microbes with her daughter, Grace (her English name) once told her: “Dancing with bacteria is a lot of fun.”
As a gift, Peng and Elizabeth will present us with a collaborative dance work between Dancecology and Mirramu in nature, an extraordinary work that will transport you to that world where ritual, water, soil, community, light, art and intergenerational relationships are one thing in life.
Does dance teach us that symbiosis is superior to conflict?
In ReAct Latin America and the Reimagining Resistance Group, we are not unaware of the conflict that, at certain times and contexts, can break out between human beings and bacteria, but that does not mean we should put conflict above symbiosis, since the latter has an advantage greater than the former. To put it sententiously, symbiosis, which is the dance that unites us, is immensely superior to conflict.
On the other hand, conflict can be faced in various ways: with an unbridled war cry or with the firm but serene intention of restoring the lost harmony by inflicting the least possible damage, as taught by one of the Hippocratic principles. Taking the example of capoeira of Afro-Brazilian peoples[i], dance could also be the appropriate metaphor to intelligently face the small conflictive side of the relationship, since, when we understand that symbiosis is superior to conflict, conflict is faced as a path back to harmony.
“15 years ago,” Arturo recalls, with his warm way of speaking, “we started talking, in a crazy way, about how we would have to learn to dance with bacteria. Today we are sure that living, feeling, singing and dancing with bacteria is an essential part of our existence.”
“Dancing with bacteria means feeling and experiencing the microbial world as the heart of all ecosystems,” Mary notes in complete harmony. “Hence, dancing is a metaphor that, born in the microbial world, reflects the very meaning of life.”
Welcome, welcome to this new vital adventure.
[i] Capoeira is a cultural Afro-Brazilian expression that combines elements of martial arts, dance, music, acrobatics, collective songs… In 2014, UNESCO recognized capoeira as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.