Mental Health Benefits of Ballroom Dancing

Research has found that ballroom dancing improves mental acuity throughout a dancer’s life and there are also substantial benefits to those who start ballroom dancing as adults – it’s never too late to learn how to dance.

Evidence-Based Benefits

What are the mental health benefits of dancing? Dance enhances memory, alertness, awareness, focus and concentration. The 21-year study by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine proved that ballroom dancing is the best way to prevent dementia and other neurological degeneration such as Alzheimer’s disease.

“Dance can decidedly improve brain health.”
— 2003 study, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

What’s the most surprising part of this study? Ballroom dancing was the ONLY physical activity to offer protection against dementia (not swimming, playing tennis or golf, walking or bicycling). In 2003, this study concluded by saying that “dance can decidedly improve brain health.”

Swedish researchers studying teenaged girls with stress, anxiety and depression saw a decrease in anxiety and stress levels among those who started dancing with partners (partnership dancing). The study also noted significant improvement in mental health and patients reported being happier than those who did not participate in ballroom dancing.

Lastly, in a 2015 article by the Harvard Medical School reported that dance has such beneficial effects on the brain that it is now being used to treat people with Parkinson’s disease and only a few years later, Oxford published the “Oxford Handbook of Dance and Wellbeing” in 2017, based on multiple studies which concluded that dancing helps reduce levels of depression as shown by psychometric measures.

Real-Life Impact

On top of all this, ballroom dancing can decrease loneliness among all age groups including kids, teens and adults – music makes you relax, let go and unwind. We’re often told by our dance students that they can feel the tension leave their bodies when they walk into our ballroom dance studios, which can be seen in many of our reviews, testimonials and student stories.

Ballroom dancing doesn’t just move your body — it lifts your mind.
— Fred Astaire Dance Studios

We’ve thrown a lot of studies and facts at you about the many benefits of learning to dance and the positive impact of dancing on your mental health and overall wellbeing; however, we want you to learn from the best and brightest resources available that have proven time and time again that dancing benefits YOU, at any stage of life. Explore additional resources below to learn more about all the benefits of dance on mental health or discover other areas such as the social, physical or emotional benefits of dancing.

Feeling empowered to enrich your life through the power of dance?
Enroll in ballroom dance lessons at one of our Fred Astaire Dance Studios near you.

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Ready to experience the mental health benefits of dance?

Come alone or with your dance partner. Learn something new, make new friends, and reap numerous health and social benefits… all from merely learning to dance from certified, professional dancers, at any of our local dance studios. Find the Fred Astaire Dance Studios near you, and join us for some ballroom dancing FUN!

Our dance experts look forward to seeing you soon, and helping you enroll in dance classes – take the first step on your dance journey today.