General Benefits of Dancing

Whether ballroom dancing becomes your passion or simply a hobby, you will find many social, physical, and mental benefits as well as enhancements to your life.  You will find an enhanced appreciation of music and its rhythms.  You will also experience an increased sense of balance and a more fluid movement in walking, running, and other physical activities including sports.  Dancing with a partner in harmony with good music will help you develop a more open, understanding, responsive, and supportive relationship with your partner and with others.  Your outlook on life will become more positive.  The bottom line is:  it's a blast!

Back to the top

Return home

Social Benefits

A good dancer is a definite plus to social occasions.  In business and professional life, a person can lend to his/her acceptance and belonging by the ability to dance.  On many social occasions it is almost essential to be able to dance well.  A man who is a good dancer does not need to be handsome to be popular.  If a man takes the time to become a skilled and confident leader (but not overly forceful), every lady in the room will appreciate his presence.  A lady who is a good dancer radiates grace and charm, regardless of whether she has physical beauty.  

Whether you are a single person or a couple, regardless of your shape or size, ballroom dancing opens doors for meeting new people.  You will make new friends and find that ballroom dancers are wonderful people.  For singles, no more smoke-filled bars with people standing around feeling awkward and uncomfortable.  For couples, a romantic evening of dancing can add spice to your relationship.

Ballroom dancing will add a new and very beneficial dimension to your life.  It is a lifetime social skill that will provide much joy during your entire life.  Words cannot explain the joy of ballroom dancing.  It must be experienced!

Back to the top

Return home

Physical Benefits

Physically, dancing is a great body conditioner even if done on a near-weekly basis.  If done on a regular basis, it becomes a beneficial exercise activity--and the best part is that you don't feel like you're exercising!  It will increase that mid-afternoon stamina needed on the job; it will develop that circulatory "second-heart," strengthen your legs, and generally tone the body.  Walking, running, and other body movements will be easier, more balanced, and more fluid, with greater flexibility in axis of movement.

In the April 25, 2004, issue of Parade magazine, fitness expert Michael O'Shea described the physical benefits of dancing and said, "...dancing is a low-impact aerobic activity that can burn 200 to 400 calories every 30 minutes.  The constant movement and directional changes raise your heart rate and improve your cardiovascular system, not to mention your muscles.  Dancing also can help strengthen weight-bearing bones and prevent osteoporosis."  Best of all, dancing is a physical activity that couples can do together!

Back to the top

Return home

Mental Benefits

Mentally, dancing serves as a wonderful stress reliever.  A busy day of pressure melts into the background when the evening brings dancing in the arms of another and pursuing the muse with dance.  Sleep that night is sound and relished.  Becoming a competent dancer will provide an excellent learning experience in discipline, achievement, goal setting, planning, assuredness, self-confidence, and pride in your abilities.  These favorable attributes will transfer to other aspects of you life as well.

An article published in the Washington Post on June 19, 2003, reported on the results of the most comprehensive study to examine the benefits of challenging intellectual activity among the elderly.  The researchers of the study stated that seniors who regularly engaged in pastimes that stretched their minds...lowered their risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and other dementias by as much as 75 percent.  Further, it was noted that "purely physical activities failed to lower the risk [of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias] except for dancing, which lowered the risk by a dramatic 76 percent.  Of all the physical activities, dancing involved the most mental effort."

Back to the top

Return home

Much of the preceding information was published by USA Dance (formerly the United States Amateur Ballroom Dancers Association or USABDA).  Feel free to visit their website at http://www.usabda.org/.

Contact Alice if you have questions or would like additional information.