We used to make magnetic fields visible by putting a magnet under a piece of paper and then sprinkling iron filings on top of the paper. Of course, those didn't dance like these do.
This is the geomagnetics lab at NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, under the direction of Peter Wasilewski and other scientists.
I remember a fun lab experiment that used a large neon filled discharge tube and a couple of Helmholtz coils. That one was cool. Tom