If your New Year’s resolutions include getting healthier, exercising more, and improving your mood, dancing might be for you.
By dancing, we don’t mean watching other people dance on TikTok, fun as that might be. We mean take a dance class, or better yet, a few.
A growing body of Studies show the benefits of dancing, regardless of type (eg, class or ballroom dancing) or style (hip hop, ballroom, ballet). Dancing improves our well-being as it improves our emotional and physical health, makes us feel less stressed and more socially connected.
Here’s what to consider if you think dancing might be for you.
The benefits of dancing
The dance is engaging and fun way to exercise, learn and meet people. An analysis of the evidence watch participating in dance classes or dancing socially improves your health and well-being, regardless of your age, gender or physical condition.
Another review focuses more specifically on the lifelong benefits of dancing. He watch dance classes and social dancing at any age improve participants’ self-esteem, confidence and creativity.
The researchers also looked at specific dance programs.
A UK based dance program for 14 year olds watch one lesson per week for three months increased the students’ level of fitness and self-esteem. This was due to a combination of factors including physical exercise, a stimulating learning environment, positive engagement with peers, and creativity.
Another community program for hospitalized adults watch weekly dance sessions elicited positive feelings, enhanced social engagement, and reduced stress related to hospitalization.
If you want to know how much dancing is needed to develop some of these positive effects, we have good news for you.
A useful clue comes from a to study who examined exactly how much creative or artistic engagement is necessary for good mental health – 100 or more hours a year, or two or more hours a week, in most cases.
Dance is social
But dancing is more than a physical activity. It is also a community ritual. Humans have always danced. We still do this to mark and celebrate transitional periods in life. Think about how weddings get non-dancers moving in time to the music. Some cultures dance to celebrate childbirth. Many dance to celebrate religious and cultural holidays.
This is what inspired the French sociologist Émile Durkheim (1858-1917) to explore how dance affects societies and cultures.
Durkheim saw collective dance as societal glue – a social practice that cultivates what he calls “collective effervescence”, a feeling of dynamism, vitality and community.
He observed how dance held cultures together by creating common feelings that were difficult to cultivate otherwise, for example a sense of uplifting unity or powerful unity.
It’s that uplifting feeling you might get while dancing at a concert and even for a brief moment forgetting about yourself while moving in sync with the rest of the crowd.
Synchronous collective activities, like dancing, offer an enjoyable way to foster social ties. This is due to the feelings that Durkheim noticed and which we now know as transcendental emotions – such as joy, awe, and the temporary dissolution of a sense of self (“losing oneself”). These can lead to feeling part of something bigger than ourselves and help us experience social connection.
For those of us still experiencing social anxiety or feelings of loneliness due to the COVID pandemic, dancing can be a way to (re)build social connections and belonging.
Whether you join a line dancing program and invite a few friends over, attend an in-person dance class, or go to a concert or dance club, dancing can provide temporary respite from everyday life and help you lift your spirits.
Want to try dancing?
Here’s what to consider:
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if you haven’t exercised in a while, start with a program suitable for beginners or the specific fitness level that suits you
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if you have any physical injuries, consult your GP first
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if public dance classes aren’t appealing, consider enrolling in an online dance program or going to a dance-friendly venue or concert
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to get the most out of the social aspect of dancing, invite your friends and family to join you
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social dancing classes are a better choice for meeting new people
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dance lessons for beginners will improve your physical health, dance skills and self-esteem
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most important, remember, it’s not so much the quality of your dancing, dancing is more about joy, fun and social connection.
In the words of one participant in our (forthcoming) research on dance and well-being, adult dance is a rare gateway to pleasure:
There is so much joy, there is so much play in dancing. And the game is not always so easy to access in adulthood; and yet, it’s just such a joyful experience. I feel so happy to be able to dance.
