Benefits of Dance

Dance Offers So Many Benefits!

fred astaire dance studioBallroom dance provides a unique and powerful combination of physical exertion, mental stimulation, and social interaction – it can bring so much to your life! With dance, you can get a great workout, enhance your self-confidence, enrich your social life, reduce stress and alleviate depression, and promote relaxation. Best of all, ballroom dance serves as an amazing outlet for creativity, self-expression, and FUN! There’s so many reasons to start dancing – we challenge you to find a good reason NOT to.

BALLROOM DANCE IS A GREAT WORK-OUT!

fred-astaire-dance-studioBurn Fat, Lose Weight, and Boost Metabolism.
Ballroom dancing serves as an effective low-impact aerobic exercise that burns fat and increases your metabolism. In just thirty short minutes of dancing, you could burn between 200-400 calories – roughly the same amount that you would running or cycling! On top of that, burning those extra 300 or so calories a day can help you lose between ½-1 pound every week, which quickly adds up. In fact, a study published in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology found that dance as exercise is just as effective for losing weight as jogging or cycling. Taking dance classes is also an ideal form of maintenance exercise, meaning that it helps you stay toned and healthy once you’ve reached your goal weight. Finally, since ballroom dance is so much fun, you’re getting all these weight loss benefits without even feeling like you’re working out!

Increase Flexibility.
Any respectable ballroom dance class will typically start with a few stretching exercises and warm-ups. This is more important than many might realize – starting any dance session with these movements helps protect against dance-related injury and ultimately preps the dancer so that they can execute dance steps with greater comfort and ease. Beginning dancers will particularly notice that the more they dance, the better their range of motion and flexibility becomes. Increased flexibility improves your dance abilities, improves balance and core strength, and relieves muscle soreness and joint pain after exercise. Ballet and Yoga stretches can also serve as extremely effective pre-dance warm-ups, but to find the best warm-up regimen for you, ask your Fred Astaire Dance Studios instructor for their recommendations.

Improve Muscle Strength & Endurance.
As an exercise, dancing causes a dancer’s muscles to resist their own body weight, contributing to improved muscle strength. The combination of lifts, quick steps, and the twists and turns found in ballroom dancing will all help you develop more muscle strength in your arms, legs, and core as you continue your lessons. Sustained ballroom dance practice also improves your endurance – over time, your will be able to work longer and harder without succumbing to fatigue. As an exercise, this form of dance is especially effective at building up your endurance. As you work on your routines, you are conditioning almost every muscle of your body. The best part? You’ll look and feel toned, sexy, and strong.

Great for All Ages.
Anyone from children to senior citizens can have fun with ballroom dance. At Fred Astaire Dance Studios, we work with students of all skill levels, ages, and physical abilities. Our instructors will build a custom dance program that’s challenging yet comfortable and specifically tailored to your dance and fitness goals.


Click the images below, to read more about the health benefits of Dance:

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PHYSICAL HEALTH

fred astaire dance studioConsistent participation in ballroom dance can improve cardiovascular health, decrease cholesterol and blood pressure, strengthen bones, help slow bone loss related to osteoporosis or prevent that loss altogether, lower the risk of Type 2 Diabetes or obesity, and improve lung capacity. Ballroom dance can even help speed up recovery after procedures like orthopedic surgery – it’s an even gentler exercise than biking or jogging! Additionally, the quick movements and positions required in this form of dance help with stability and balance, an especially important consideration for older people that might become prone to stumbles and falls over time. To receive the full physical benefits of ballroom dance, we recommend dancing for at least 30 minutes four days a week.

Ballroom dance can even help sharpen your intellectual and mental abilities. A New England Journal of Medicine report looked at adults for 21 years, and found that dance was one of the only activities that improved both cardiovascular fitness and reduced the risk of cognitive impairments like dementia.

MENTAL HEALTH

Ballroom dance can even enhance your mental and intellectual abilities. In a study published by the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers tracked the health of a pool of adults for over 21 years. They discovered that sustained dancing practice was one of the only exercises or activities that both increased cardiovascular fitness and decreased the risk of dementia and other cognitive impairments. Similar research has found that ballroom dancing can help improve mental acuity at any point in a dancer’s life. This form of activity can enhance alertness, memory, focus, awareness, and concentration. Besides helping to prevent the onset of dementia, it also significantly improves spatial memory in seniors. Taking part in activities or exercises like ballroom dance creates more intricate neural pathways, which can delay the weakening synapses that often accompany old age. The benefits of ballroom dance can even be seen in young dancers. Swedish researchers studying teenaged girls with stress, anxiety and depression saw a decrease in anxiety and stress levels among those who took up partner dancing. They also saw marked improvement in mental health and patients reported being happier than those who did not participate in dancing. Partner dancing can also decrease loneliness among all age groups, because it’s a goal-oriented social activity that brings like-minded people together.

CONFIDENCE

Every time you dance – whether at a practice session, a social event, or a competition – you will become more confident, comfortable, and capable on the dance floor. As your abilities improve and as you grow more familiar with other dancers, you’ll receive a tangible sense of motivation, confidence, and accomplishment that will only continue to increase. Even better: you will observe these new qualities spreading throughout other areas of your life, as well.

SELF-EXPRESSION & CREATIVITY

Anyone can dance! Dance comes naturally to people. Ballroom dance provides an emotional outlet, allowing you to express your feelings through your body. Ballroom dancing can be a wonderful creative outlet to enhance your ability to permanently use these expressive qualities even when you are not dancing, and to share that creativity with others. After only a few lessons, you will start to find yourself moving more and more seamlessly through your dance steps, while you get lost in the music. You will unlock a beautiful rhythm your body may have been hiding. It can also help with your motivation and energy.

STRESS & DEPRESSION

In today’s chaotic world, we can easily forget to take time for ourselves. Ballroom dance lessons serve as a wonderful escape from your ordinary daily routine, plus a chance to relax, alleviate stress, and just concentrate on yourself. Our students often tell us that even if they’re “not feeling it” when they come for a lesson, once they warm up and start dancing, they’re able to forget about the day’s triggers, simply breathe and allow the dance take over. There’s also a growing body of evidence to indicate that dancing has a positive effect on the treatment and prevention of depression.

  • Group activities such as ballroom dance lessons can expand your sense of social “connectedness”, which is beneficial to lowering stress and depression levels
  • Ballroom dance is similar to the practice of mindful meditation (which has been shown to significantly reduce levels of depression and stress) in that it requires you to fully focus your attention, and be present in the moment. This meditative state can help you “switch off” the negative thought patterns associated with depression or stress. For those who are not interested in traditional meditative practices, ballroom dance can be a great way to reap the same benefits.
  • The physical act of dancing releases endorphins, and lowers the levels of stress hormones in our bodies. This produces a sense of alert calm and improves energy and mood levels.
  • Ballroom dance as depression or anxiety treatment is more likely to be voluntarily continued by participants than some traditional forms of therapy, which can further increases its effectiveness.

SOCIAL FUN & FRIENDSHIP

fred astaire dance studioOne of our favorite aspects of ballroom dancing is how it can bring people together. Dance lessons at Fred Astaire Dance Studios provide you with a fantastic opportunity to build connections, interact with others in a low-pressure environment, and expand your social circle. It’s a perfect way for people young and old to step up their dating game, for couples to reconnect and bond, and for adults just looking to enrich their lives. Learning to dance does take dedication and focus, but you will be surrounded and encouraged by artistic and cheerful people who make learning rewarding and enjoyable. In group lessons, weekly practice parties, regional and national competitions and studio events and outings, you’ll meet a melting pot of people of all ages, with varied cultural and occupational backgrounds. And the best part? Since they all share your passion for dance, these meetings often transition into lasting friendships. At Fred Astaire Dance Studios, we are truly proud of the supportive, welcoming and warm environment you’ll find in every one of our studios.

So why not try it out? 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. Call today and join us for some FUN!

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