Benefits of Dancing

The number of people taking part in dance classes world wide is increasing, with dance allowing people to be more active, socialise within local communities and develop creative skills.

There are numerous benefits to participating in dancing ranging from increasing your amount of daily exercise to making new friends with shared interests. In some countries, the weekly exercise targets for children are currently set at a minimum of 1 hour per day for children and at least 30 minutes, five times a week, for adults. Although these targets may look daunting at first, they can easily be met by dancing.

Dance offers an activity for people who may not consider themselves as ‘sporty’. The benefit of dance is not only that of increased exercise, but the participation in an art form, which is routed in technique, and giving the opportunity for a creative outlet.

Dance can also open new opportunities in terms of careers. The entertainment industry is vast, for example, an estimated 30,000 of jobs or careers are related to dancing in the United Kingdom alone. There are numerous professions in dance from dancing, teaching or performing. In addition to this, people work in the dance industry such as, community dance practitioners, producers, designers, publicists and physiotherapists

Dancing is tremendously beneficial in keeping us young. It retards the aging process. It benefits our heart, cardiovascular system and increases our lung capacity. The muscle exertion and breathing rates of dancers performing in one dance competition is equivalent to those of cyclists, swimmers and an Olympic-level 800-meter runner.

Dancing also helps in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, which is a major concern for women, especially during post-menopause because of the significant drop in estrogen that occurs at this stage. A decrease in our estrogen levels stops calcium from being absorbed into our bones. Dance also keeps joints lubricated, which helps prevent arthritis.

Dance exercises our bodies to allow for increased circulation too. It helps us burn calories while improving our stamina. Dance burns from 5 to 10 calories per minute depending on speed and intensity.

Beside, new research has discovered that it is necessary to measure both good and bad cholesterol levels when determining our health. Dancing aids in lipid control, which raises our HDL (good cholesterol), and lowers our LDL (bad cholesterol). Dancing is also great for diabetics because it aids in blood sugar control.

Furthermore, dancing improves our memory by making us recall steps, routines and dance patterns making it a great mental exercise for our brains. The big benefit is that increasing mental exercise keeps your mind young, quick, alert and open.

Nevertheless, dancing is recreational and entertaining. It creates a social life for us, while affording us the opportunity to make new friends. Friends helps us grow, make us laugh and support us as we learn. Dancing has no cultural barriers and it can be interracial. People from all parts of the world, with different ideologies, meet on the dance floor. Cultural interaction improves our health by expanding our mind and sharing our spirit!

Last but not least, dancing elevates our mood by raising our endorphin levels. This is what allows us to heal stress and depression — two of our immune system's biggest enemies! It helps us establish our self-confidence and self-discipline. It improves the harmony between our mind and body, giving us a sense of well-being.