Why does dance matter to you? Have you been studying it for years, did you just start, are you doing it competitively or for recreation? Sharing this great article from Stanford Magazine about why dance matters.
Dance is many things. It is abstract gyration to rock music and precise execution of ballet steps. It is synchronized performance and free-form improvisation. It is obviously good for cardiovascular health; less obviously, for cognition and mental health. At Stanford, dancers, scholars and dancer-scholars explore how dance does not merely constitute the mind directing the body but also the body influencing the mind.
“You are never too old or too shy to dance. And it’s never too late to start.”
How incredible that research has shown that dance has immense effects on the brain, specifically with protecting memory.
In a 2003 study in the New England Journal of Medicine, a group of New York scientists tracked the activities of a large cohort of senior citizens without dementia for about five years. The only physical activity that was associated with a reduced risk of developing dementia was dancing—and the association was stronger than it was for cognitive activities like reading, board games or playing a musical instrument. More recent studies suggest that social dance, in which participants must react quickly to unanticipated input from their partners, may be especially beneficial.
Read the full article here.
