The most important benefit and advantage is that dancing is fun! It is just fun to move your body to enjoyable music and in harmony with a partner. There is a learning curve but most folks find they have fun even while learning as they laugh and chuckle together.
Everyone knows dancing is good exercise, especially when using muscles you don’t use during your normal day. It is also good for core muscles and for refining your balance.
Dancing stimulates the brain! No surprise there, but you might be surprised at the number of studies that have actually demonstrated that dancing is rated as one of the top activities for stimulating the brain, “improving brain structure” and reducing cognitive decline as we age. Think about what the brain is doing in dancing – learning steps, matching steps to music, using spatial awareness to avoid dancing into others, all while dancing connected to a partner!
Dancing can make the demands and stresses of your outside world disappear. When you focus on learning new steps, or executing a move on the dance floor or dancing with your partner, it is hard to have much brain-attention to also think about work deadlines, problems with family, a broken dish-washer, etc. Dancing becomes a refreshing break from the routines or stresses of the other parts of our lives. For couples, it can be also be that time “for us,” like a date night.
Most folks find that dancing is a very social activity whether it is the socializing and laughing together in groups, or chatting with each other at dances, or sharing some dance move with other friends – it is an activity where friendships are made and continue to grow.
For those who have a creative streak and like to experiment, dancing can be a new arena in which to express yourself and be creative. For example, some dances lend themselves more to improvisation than others allowing a couple to experiment and play with the music. Also, once you have learned enough basics, you may find yourself trying moves from one dance to use in another dance or maybe even making up some of your own moves.
Contact The Dancing Duo about Private or Group lessons! We’ll help accelerate your learning and ensure you don’t learn bad habits!