- What dance / dance styles serve?
- 10 psychological benefits that dance can bring us
- You socialize
- Improve self-confidence
- Reduce stress
- It is antidepressant
- Mental health
- Culturally international
- Discipline
- Professional outings
- Boost your creativity
- Makes you feel better
- 10 physical benefits that dance can bring us
- You will have better balance
- Burn calories
- Dancing increases your flexibility
- Build strong muscles
- It will improve your coordination
- It will help the cardiovascular and respiratory system
- Increase energy
- Helps to have strong bones
- Improves blood cholesterol levels
- Dance as rehabilitation
- References
The benefits of dancing and dancing for mental and physical health are numerous and it is also an inexpensive activity that can be practiced easily. Not only does it help to make friends and socialize, but it also has positive effects on the brain.
There are more and more extracurricular dance classes, there are more and more academies for dance training and more and more attempts are being made to promote interest in dance, through shows, auditions, shows, musicals…
As we can see, little by little, the practice of exercise is being promoted through dance, from the smallest to the most adult. No matter who you are, how old you are, the only thing that matters is the desire to learn, to enjoy feeling the music in order to develop a choreography within the thousands of dance styles that exist today.
Dance offers a multitude of benefits that we will develop later, but an important aspect that we must pay special attention to are the values and transversal skills transferred.
I have seen teenagers who went to dance before going out to party and who sacrificed an outing with friends for their studies, we speak of people who are especially responsible in their tasks.
Dance offers you a discipline that unintentionally teaches you values of responsibility, ambition and will that another discipline cannot boast of.
What dance / dance styles serve?
There are many dance styles to choose from, each with its own technique. I will number some of the most popular, with the intention of awakening in you a curiosity about the style that attracts you the most.
- Ballet. This dance style focuses on strength, technique, and flexibility.
- Ballroom dancing. It is a series of styles danced in pairs such as the waltz, swing, foxtrot, rumba and tango.
- Belly dance. Native to the Middle East, focused on the hip movement.
- Hip hop. Performed primarily to hip-hop music, this style of urban dance can involve popping, locking, and freestyle.
- Jazz. A high-energy dance style that involves kicks, jumps, and turns to the beat of the music. And high classical technique.
- Pole Dance. It has become increasingly popular as a form of exercise. It involves sensual dancing with a vertical pole, and requires
muscular endurance, coordination, and upper and lower body strength.
- Sauce. Involving a mix of Caribbean, Latin American and African influences, salsa is normally a dance partner and emphasizes rhythms and
sensuality.
- Square-dance. A popular type of dance where four couples dance in a square pattern, moving around each other and changing partners.
Once you have seen what types of dance exist, it is essential that you know that you will practice an exercise that will give you more than you expected.
10 psychological benefits that dance can bring us
You socialize
It is a truly social activity. You interact with new people, which you do a joint activity for the same purpose which is to have fun, learn and dance, creating a good atmosphere.
From my own experience the most intimate friends are those known in the dance environment. You live experiences, shows, learnings that generate group cohesion, something that, for example, golf does not provide.
Improve self-confidence
As you begin to learn new steps, choreographies, and you feel dominated, it will be the moment you enjoy it, it is the key to feeling more confident in yourself and being able to show that you dominate the situation.
Reduce stress
Dancing releases hormones and neurotransmitters from the brain for pleasure (dopamine) and energy (adrenaline and noradrenaline). This will make you feel clear, happy and wanting to repeat after a dance session.
It is antidepressant
Dancing elevates our mood by raising our endorphin levels. This is what allows us to heal stress and depression, two of the greatest enemies of our immune system, giving us a feeling of well-being.
Swing dancing is best for boosting your mood, as it is done with a partner.
Mental health
According to studies carried out in different medical journals, it has been established that dance helps memory and prevents dementia. Just by having to remember the choreographies you are exercising the body mentally and physically.
It is proven that aerobics reverses the loss of volume in the hippocampus part of the brain that controls memory, so it is capable of increasing memory. Dance is also a great way to relieve mental stress.
Culturally international
Dancing has no cultural barriers. People from all over the world, with different ideologies, gather on the dance floor.
Discipline
Dancing is not only fun and romantic, it helps establish discipline in any dance style.
Professional outings
Dance can also open up new opportunities in terms of careers. The entertainment industry is huge, employing an estimated 30,000 in dance related roles in the UK alone.
There are numerous professions in dance dance, teaching, choreography or dance notation.
Boost your creativity
You may have a job that is monotonous or simply does not enhance creativity and personal expression.
Dance gives space to creativity, improvisation, musicality and body expression.
Makes you feel better
Image recovered from PeruEtico.
Feeling useful, fit, capable of performing a choreography and also relieves you of stress, clearing your mind.
This makes dancing give you more self-confidence, being able to be even more outgoing, dancing in clubs with learned steps and enjoying life with a more positive touch.
10 physical benefits that dance can bring us
You will have better balance
Another wonderful benefit of dance is that it will help you improve your balance and body posture.
The balance that must be maintained in numerous dance steps will strengthen your stabilizing muscles, thus making us less prone to injuries in our daily lives.
Burn calories
Dancing allows an increase in circulation in our body. It is a great way to burn calories in a fun way and without realizing it, while improving our endurance.
Dance is estimated to burn 5-10 calories per minute, depending on speed and intensity. For example, dances with greater intensity such as mambo, zumba, swing will burn more calories than a waltz.
Dancing increases your flexibility
The dance involves a series of flexibility exercises with which you will see great results if you practice continuously.
Build strong muscles
Dancing builds and tones your muscles in different parts of your body. Even the most graceful and gentle dance will help tone your body and keep you in shape. You just have to see the ballet dancers.
It will improve your coordination
Dances and typical dances of Zacatecas
It goes without saying that dancing can help improve your coordination.
Dance teaches you how to coordinate the steps of the feet with the movements of the arms and at the same time with the head, which will also help to strengthen your reflexes.
It's a great way to keep our Central Nervous System and Peripheral Nervous System in tip-top shape by improving the connection of our bodies to our minds.
It will help the cardiovascular and respiratory system
For those who are at risk for heart (cardiovascular) disease, dancing is an ideal activity for this. Improves heart health and respiratory complications.
The muscular effort and respiration rates of dancers in performance at a dance competition are equivalent to those of cyclists, swimmers, and an Olympic-level 800-meter runner.
Increase energy
La Cueca, national dance of Chile.
Regular dance programs have an effect on performance and energy levels.
Helps to have strong bones
Dance aids in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis for men and women. Dancing can also help keep your joints lubricated in order to prevent arthritis.
Improves blood cholesterol levels
New research has discovered that it is necessary to measure the levels of good and bad cholesterol when evaluating our health.
Dancing helps in controlling lipids, which raises our HDL (good cholesterol), and lowers our LDL (bad cholesterol). It is also ideal for diabetics, as it helps in blood sugar control.
Dance as rehabilitation
Dance in the US is being used as a neurorehabilitation in Parkinson's disease, obtaining good results in scientific studies.
I hope with this I have encouraged you to practice dancing, you have many styles to choose from, choose which one best suits your personality and you will not regret it.
References
- Bettina Bläsing, MP (2010). Neurocognition of dance mind, movement, and motor skills. New York: Psychology Press.
- Earhart, GM (2009). Dance as therapy for people with Parkinson's disease. Eur J Phys Med Rehabil, 231-238.
- Hanna, JL (2006). Dancing for health conquering and preventing stress. New York: AltaMira Press.
- Hilda Wengrower, SC (2008). Life is dance: art and science in Dance Movement Therapy. Barcelona: Gedisa.
- Jan-Christoph Kattenstroth, TK (February 26, 2013). Six months of dance intervention improves postural, sensorimotor, and cognitive performance in older people without affecting
cardiorespiratory functions.