Of course weather works mostly as science understands, but there are also chaos-theory patterns not completely understood, and those have subtle connections through metaphysics to our state of mind, powered by the exponential improbability of the states of mass and energy our brains form into as a result of intelligence instead of random movements of atoms. There is a way everything works, even if you don't understand it.
I don't mean that dancing has anything to do with making it rain. Its completely from our state of mind. Dancing and music sometimes help get us into that state of mind.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainmaking_%28ritual%29
I've done it a few times, without the dancing or music, just thinking things in certain intuitive patterns forming feedback loops between the metaphysics and myself which are amplified over time.
Its just another variety of mind over matter, like in this video I recorded of myself in 2003 when I was more skilled at these things: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKJGb4RNRB4
Why dont people try rain dances anymore? You sometimes complain when the air gets too dry, especially in deserts. It would take much more skill and longer time and more people thinking this way, but any large enough group of people could learn to think global air currents toward that desert and make it rain. Be careful not to cause a flood (unlikely in deserts but possible near beaches), because the effect is often delayed. For large scale changes like that, we would need a realtime display of global weather patterns so we know how to adjust our thoughts, a feedback loop between the weather and our thoughts which naturally happens when you try to make it rain where you can see. Weather TV shows are not realtime enough. It needs to be realtime per second, not per minute. Has it ever been tried?
There is a very simple reason this ritual formed: It works when practiced enough. But remember its about the state of mind and not the dancing or music. Its also about enough people doing it at once.
Its not just about water, but its a good example. Here's a video about research into the connection between our thoughts and the shapes of crystals that form in water:
"Hidden Messages in the water - What the bleep do we know? "
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpnlCo5APrE
Details: http://whatthebleep.com/crystals
Those who practice and become more skilled don't need the dance or music, and changing the weather is 1 of many things that can be done. People are mostly made of water, but this is more general than water. Global events are similar to weather in some ways, since its a divergent system where small changes in the past can have big effects on the future, as explained in chaos-theory. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect People think governments and corporations and militaries are the most powerful thing, but consider how much less mass and energy is in all those together compared to drops of rain, and how easy it can become with enough practice, to make it rain by changing your state of mind.
My large window blinds that often block out the sounds, especially when music is playing, were closed, and after writing this I just noticed its raining, but did I influence it to rain or did the rain influence me to write this without me physically hearing or seeing it rain, or a combination?
2 days later, and its still been raining on and off, and last night was the strongest lightning all year (We don't get much in California). I was walking around outside during the lightning storm, since I'm not in danger while I'm lower than the many trees, and I learned something about lightning... When its about to strike big and close in the sky, the air around you becomes electrified a little a few minutes before, which I felt on my skin a little so I knew it was time to go inside. So its probably safe to walk around in lightning storms as long as you try to notice when the air feels electrified a little.