Let's dance! Rhythmic motion can improve your health
By Beverly Merz, Executive Editor, Harvard Women's Health Watch For a week each spring there’s dancing in the streets of Harvard Square as Dance for World Community, a project presented by José Mateo Ballet Theatre, demonstrates how people of all ages and abilities — from nimble preteens to people who use wheelchairs — can express themselves through dance. Read more... |
5 Ways Taking a Dance Class Can Fight Depression
By Abigail Keyes, MA Depression affects more than 350 million people worldwide...More than just “the blues,” it can take the joy out of everyday life, leaving you feeling empty and unmotivated. Read about five ways that taking a regular dance class can help curb depression and bring more joy into your life. Read more... |
Why Dancing Feels so Good
An article by Rachel Halliwell for The Telegraph Our ancestors painted their cave walls with pictures of dancers. Even babies instinctively jig in time to music. Dancing feels good – and while some societies ban it, there is no culture on earth that doesn’t possess an urge to dance. But how is it that such a simple physical act has the ability to lift the spirits? Read more... |
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Why does your brain love it when you dance?
An article from CureJoy.com We all love dancing, even those of us with two left feet. What makes dancing so special? It's thrilling, it's deeply connected with happiness, it's meditative, it's an indicator of health, it's therapeutic. Read more... |
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Science says dancing with friends is good for your health
Written by Bronwyn Tarr, Post-doctoral Research Associate, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford You might not think of yourself as a dancer. In fact, maybe even the idea of dancing makes your palms sweat. But growing scientific evidence suggests that getting up and grooving with others has a lot of benefit. Read more... |
5 Things That Will Happen to Your Brain When You Dance
Written by Rebecca Peris Those of you who like to get your groove on on the dance floor will probably be surprised to find out that you are doing yourself a world of good. Dancing is more than just an enjoyable activity to experience with friends or your partner; dancing has the amazing ability to improve the way your brain functions. Read more... |
What Educators and Parents Should Know about Neuroplasticity, Learning and Dance
Written by Judith Hanna, PhD Dance is now being studied as a pathway to enhance learning. And, scientists say, educators and parents should take note of the movement. Read more... |
Science explains why dancing is the fast way to make yourself happy
Written by Sarah Sloat Anthropologists consider dance to be a "multi-faceted phenomemon", an invisible, underlying system within us. While forms of dance differ across cultures, Read more... |
How Dancing Boosts Brain Cells and Lifelong Learning
There's a hidden value to dancing Written by Judith Lynne Hanna, AlterNet About 400 studies related to interdisciplinary 21st-century neuroscience lead to the discovery that there is a hidden value to dance education for young and old alike. Read more... |
Dance, art boost memories for Alzheimer's patients ~ an article in USA Today Written by Shari Rudavsky, The Indianapolis Star Some experts find Alzheimer's patients benefit from dance, painting and other arts. Read more... |
Get into the Groove: The Benefits of Dance Moving to music can make you happier, smarter, and a whole lot healthier.Published: August 6, 2012 | By Selene Yeager Truth is, shaking your booty is remarkably healthy, and not just in a fitness-and-weight-loss kind of way. Dancing can boost your brainpower, improve your outlook, grow your social circle, and protect your most important organs . . . even if you have no rhythm. Read more... |
Dance Can Improve Mental Health of Teen Girls by Rick Nauert PhD, Senior News Editor, PsychCentral New research suggests that young girls can dance their way to better mental health. A new Swedish study discovered symptoms of depression, stress, fatigue, and headaches were alleviated with regular dancing. Anna Duberg, a physical therapist and doctoral candidate at Örebro University, studied the benefit of dance training among a group that included 112 Swedish girls, 13 to 19 years of age. Read more... |
Use It or Lose It: Dancing Makes You Smarter
by Richard Powers, Stanford Dance For centuries, dance manuals and other writings have lauded the health benefits of dancing, usually as physical exercise. More recently we've seen research on further health benefits of dancing, such as stress reduction and increased serotonin level, with its sense of well-being. Most recently we've heard of another benefit: Frequent dancing apparently makes us smarter. A major study added to the growing evidence that stimulating one's mind by dancing can ward off Alzheimer's disease and other dementia, much as physical exercise can keep the body fit. Dancing also increases cognitive acuity at all ages. Read more... |
Synchrony and exertion during dance independently
raise pain threshold and encourage social bonding A study by Bronwyn Tarr, Jacques Launay, Emma Cohen and Robin Dunbar Published by The Royal Society Click here to read the study. |