In many shamanic societies, people who complain of being disheartened...or depressed would be asked, 'When did you stop dancing?' …This is because dancing is a universal healing salve." - Gabrielle Roth
All dancers know the feeling..... The elation that comes from moving to music in rhythm, the relaxation that results from concentrating on the beat and forgetting one's cares.
Check out Barb Bernstein’s Tedx “Open Mic” Talks about the health benefits of group synchronous movement. A three minute talk is in the box below. And a shorter (one minute) summary is here: https://youtu.be/_w9RgP0sq6Y
In addition, there is a radio interview with Barbara Bernstein about the health benefits of dancing at this link: https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ajm9IGjfDtg7gpJHvwYuhfhymTkr8Q?e=PCP5M8
THE CHEAPEST, MOST PLEASURABLE MEDICAL INTERVENTION AROUND:
SYNCHRONOUS GROUP MOVEMENT
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“THE SNYCHRONY AND THE ECSTASY”
Barb’s Personal Story & Supporting Research:
I was raised with a strong emphasis on academic success—taught to be scientific and to believe in hard data. So when I had a “mystical healing experience,” it rocked my world.
It happened when I was in college at the University of Chicago. There were lots of extra-curricular "foreign folk dance" classes on campus and I loved to dance, so I took them all! One day a folk dance teacher announced that auditions would be held for a top notch, performing Balkan dance troupe. I was very excited and signed up to audition. But the night before the audition I got really sick with a sore throat, runny nose, coughing and sneezing. The auditions were held only once every other year, so I went anyway.
It was a grueling experience. We danced for several hours straight, learning long, complex moves that were done in synchrony by all the dancers, holding hands in a line. I was so laser-focused on the dance steps, I barely noticed the time passing.
Hours later, I left the audition sweaty and exhausted, and as I walked outside into the cold Chicago winter, I realized my sore throat was completely gone. My nose wasn’t running, and I wasn’t sneezing. I was totally back to normal. And the illness did not return. For decades, I thought of this as my life’s one mystical experience.
The next week I got word that I did not pass the audition. I was disappointed but continued taking many folk dance classes throughout college and always loved them!
Now, as a full time dance teacher, I better understand what happened to me that day. The fact is that I have come to my Salsa class many times with a sore foot, strained knee, or just feeling worn out. But during and after class I feel astonishingly better. Nothing hurts and I have loads of energy.
As many readers know, I teach Salsa Rueda (formal name: “Rueda de Casino”), a group form of Salsa where the whole class dances together in synchrony. I always feel better when I leave class. But this is not magic; there’s plenty of science to explain it.
We have long known that exercise, listening to favorite music, and socializing all lift people’s mood and improve well-being. And there is also research on the additional benefits of being part of a group that is moving in synchrony---which happens in both Rueda and folk dancing.
For example, a study was done in which scientists set up a “silent disco.” Volunteers learned moves and then danced them in groups. Each volunteer wore headphones through which music and verbal instructions could be heard. One group of volunteers were taught dance steps that they all did in synchrony on the disco floor. In another group, each participant learned the moves but then did them in a different order. So they weren’t moving in synch when they danced together on the floor. In the final group, not only did the participants do the dance moves in a different order but they also heard different music through their headphones. So the last group did not move in synch, or even in the same rhythm.
The researchers found that the participants in the first group, who danced in synchrony, had much higher pain tolerance after dancing. Pain tolerance, commonly considered an indication of endorphin release (“feel good” chemicals in the body), was measured by squeezing a blood pressure cuff before and after dancing. The group that danced in synchrony was able to withstand significantly more pain after dancing, and their pain tolerance was more heightened than the other two groups.
And in addition to that, the group that danced in synchrony had a greater increase feelings of closeness and community with the others in their “dance group.” The non-synchronous groups didn’t show the same level of social bonding.
Another interesting finding was that the effect was stronger when the synchronous movements required more exertion. So dancing faster for example had more impact than dancing slow.
These findings don’t surprise me a bit. I’ve seen "up close and personal" the tremendous benefits that synchronized group dancing confers on people—bonding them to one another, building community, and improving mood and health.
In Rueda dancing, people dance in a circular formation with many partner exchanges. So it feels like the whole group is really dancing together and the experience is exhilarating!
When I began teaching Rueda, I saw many of my students become fast friends and hang out together outside of class. At the end of every week the gang had a ritual. Text messages flew, as they decided where the best venue was to meet-up and go out.
I have to admit, I thought I had just lucked into a fabulous group of people who were both good dancers and had great community spirit. But when I visited other Rueda groups, I realized my gang wasn’t unusual. In fact, every Rueda group I’ve seen develops remarkably warm connections.
On an individual level, many of my students have told me about dance experiences that remind me of my own… I’ve been told that the Rueda class has helped some students alleviate depression, as surely as a medical intervention. I’ve also been told that becoming part of the Rueda group made the difference in feeling at home in the area, after moving from out of town. Countless people have told me it’s the brightest time in their week. And I literally know of two east coast colleagues, who don’t know each other, who both named their dance studios “Dance Therapy Studio!”
I also want to address here why research on the benefits of synchronous movement is particularly important today…..
Research has shown that people have become lonelier and more socially isolated (i.e. fewer social connections) over the last several decades. Loneliness is a subjective state of feeling. Social connection is more objective and encompasses matters such as how many people one talks to in a day, whether one lives alone or with others, etc.
This trend toward being more alone was described by Harvard Professor Robert Putnam in his seminal book, "Bowling Alone,” published in 2000. Putnam said that bowling leagues, Elks Lodges, neighborhood card games, PTA participation and even regular family dinners, had all declined since the 1970s. In addition to joining fewer clubs and organizations, people were less connected to neighbors and had fewer friends and confidantes than a few decades ago. And people reported having less trust in strangers.
Bowling Alone was published some years ago, but the issue of social connection is still important today. A May 2018 Cigna Insurance Company survey of 20,000 adults found that roughly half viewed themselves as lonely according to the UCLA Loneliness Scale. Surprisingly, younger generations were harder hit than the elderly. There has been some thought that the use of devices creates more superficial relationships than face to face interactions, though there isn’t widespread agreement on this.
In any case, loneliness and isolation are also correlated with significant health risks. On average, it has been reported that people who say they feel lonely have a 26 percent increased risk of death compared to those who are not lonely. Those who live alone have a 32 percent increased risk of death, and those who are socially isolated have a 29 percent increased risk of death.
In the Harvard Business Review, former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy quantified these risks by saying that loneliness and weak social connections are factors “associated with a reduction in lifespan similar to that caused by smoking 15 cigarettes a day and even greater than that associated with obesity.”
A meta-study published in 2016 found similar results. A meta-study is a “study of studies.” The large sample size of a meta-study makes it powerful. Researchers examined 23 separate studies that involved 181,000 adults. Among this group, 4,628 heart-related events (e.g. heart attacks, angina attacks, etc) and approximately 3,000 strokes were recorded. The data showed that loneliness/social isolation was associated with a 29% increased risk of heart or angina attacks and a 32% increased risk of a stroke. The authors cautioned that the correlation that was found does not necessarily imply causation. The causal relationship could go in the other direction, or there could be a third factor involved. More studies may help unravel these relationships. But the results do legitimize the public health concerns about the importance of social contacts.
CNN reporter Dr. Sanjay Gupta has suggested that society start viewing loneliness as another chronic disease that requires long term treatment strategies. The mechanism by which social isolation is bad for health may be that lonely people feel chronically threatened and vulnerable, unleashing an ongoing "fight or flight" response. As a result, the stress hormone cortisol would become chronically high, and that is connected to cardiovascular disease, stroke and hypertension. Stress also elevates levels of a protein in the body called fibrinogen, which prepares for possible injury or blood loss. But too much fibrinogen raises blood pressure and causes fatty deposits in the arteries which can lead eventually to heart attacks and stroke.
The reality is that even if an individual is not particularly disconnected or lonely, all lives have some component of these feelings. The UCLA Loneliness Scale recognizes that some level of loneliness is part of normal life experience. This suggests that participating in synchronous movement activities is a good way to boost well-being for people in general.
The take-away message here is that synchronous group movement like group dancing is a powerful tool for improving well-being.
Don't like to dance?
No problem.
Studies have shown that rowing in synchrony elevates pain threshold compared to rowing alone. Walking in step with others, choral singing, synchronized boat rowing, and synchronized swimming---all have been found to enhance social bonding. Even small movements like tapping your fingers in time with someone else makes you feel more trusting of them than if you tapped out of time!!
So join a band or better yet a marching band, a church choir, or take walks with friends and step in unison, or take a Rueda class!! These are all great ways to enhance social connection and well-being!
(The above article was written by Barbara Bernstein, director of DanceInTime.)
References:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160419214147.htm
https://sites.hks.harvard.edu/ocpa/pdf/still%20bowling%20alone.pdf
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/11/well/mind/how-loneliness-affects-our-health.html
https://theconversation.com/loneliness-is-bad-for-your-health-90901
https://www.everydayhealth.com/news/loneliness-can-really-hurt-you/ (by Dr. Sanjay Gupta)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/many-americans-are-lonely-and-gen-z-most-of-all-study-finds/
http://fortune.com/2018/05/01/americans-lonely-cigna-study/
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0767
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/were-only-human-all-together-now/
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/loneliness-has-same-risk-as-smoking-for-heart-disease
https://youtu.be/0gUm61tmMBI Tedx Open Mic Talk by Barb on May of 2019—before the pandemic hit. about the overall health benefits of group synchronous movement (like Rueda dancing!).
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Note about health benefits of dance for children:
Check out this link: https://momlovesbest.com/benefits-of-dance-for-kids which has loads of excellent information on how dancing can help children’s development on multiple levels. These include physical benefits (fitness, flexibility, spatial awareness, and balance), mental benefits (perseverance, focus and attention, and communication), emotional benefits (self worth, empathy, uplift in mood), and social benefits (socialization and teamwork). And I would say that these same benefits apply to adults as well as children!
On a related note, I am sometimes asked if DanceInTime has classes for young children. I tell parents who inquire that the best thing they can do is to let their children see them enjoying music and dance. Parents are always welcome to bring children along when they come to DanceInTime’s Saturday afternoon class. Kids absorb the spirit of joy that encourages them to dance when they are adults!
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Additional articles on dance, music and health:
1. Dancing for Health: Conquering and Preventing Stress by Judith Lynne Hanna, AltaMira Press, a Division of Rowman and Littlefield Publishers; 2006 (Book listing from Hanna’s website)
http://www.amazon.com/Dancing-Health-Conquering-Preventing-Stress/dp/0759108595
2. “Dancing Helps Boys With ADHD.” Research project by Barbro Renck of Karlstad University and Erna Gronlund of the University College of Dance in Stockhom, June 8, 2006, and reported in The American Journal of Dance Therapy.
http://www.depressionforums.org/forums/topic/5957-dancing-helps-boys-with-adhd/
3. “The Mental Health Benefits of Music” by Darlene Oakley, August 18, 2010.http://www.empowher.com/emotional-health/content/mental-health-benefits-music?page=0,0
4. “Shall We Dance? An Exploration of the Perceived Benefits of Dancing on Well-Being” by Cynthia Quiroga Murcia, Gunter Kreutz, Stephen Clift, and Stephan Bongard; Arts and Health, Volume 2, Issue 2, Sept. 2010, pages 149-163.
Abstract at: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a925819679~db=all~jumptype=rss
5. “The Art of Healing: Visual and Performing Arts Take on a Bigger Role in Patient Recovery” by Beth Baker, Washington Post, August 17, 2004 Page HE01. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6555-2004Aug16.html
6. “Friends for Life: An Emerging Biology of Emotional Healing,” by Daniel Goleman; New York Times, October 10, 2006.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/10/health/psychology/10essa.html
7. Socializing Appears to Delay Memory Problems” by Tara Parker-Pope. Reported in the New York Times Health Section, March 1, 2011. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/04/socializing-appears-to-delay-memory-problems
8. "Dancing Away an Anxious Mind: A Memoir About Overcoming Panic Disorder" by Robert Rand. Copyright 2004 by University of Wisconsin Press.
9. "Dance Away Stress and Depression" by Christy Matta, MA, As reported in Psychology Today. Link at: http://blogs.psychcentral.com/dbt/2010/07/dance-away-stress-and-depression/
10. "Hospitals Find That Alternative Therapies Are a Good Way to Attract Paying Patients," Washington Post Health Section, Nov. 15, 2011. Link:http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/alternative-therapies-sometimes-help-and-almost-always-pay-off/2011/11/10/gIQAfuIpKN_story.html. This article discusses how hospitals increasingly offer art/music therapy to inpatients not only because it can be effective treatment and it helps attract patients to that hospital.
11. "Brain Rules: Twelve Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School," by John Medina, Pear Press (P.O. Box 70525; Seattle, WA), Copyright 2008. Professor Medina, is a developmental molecular biologist at the U. of Washington School of Medicine and the Brain Center for Applied Learning Research at Seattle Pacific University. He explains how the brain functions at a molecular level and applies the results to how human beings can most effectively work, learn, and function. His first rule is that exercise improves brain power. "To improve your thinking skills, move.”
He also says that "on mental tests, exercisers outperform couch potatoes on long term memory, reasoning, attention, problem-solving, and fluid-intelligence tests.” AND, if "couch potatoes" start an aerobic exercise program, their cognivitve abilities improve. In fact, "couch potatoes" who are fidgetty, actually do a little better on mental skills than "couch potatoes" who don't fidget!
www.brainrules.net. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck-tQt0S0Os.
12. "Music, The Brain, and Ecstasy: How Music Captures Our Imagination," by Robert Jourdain, Avon Books, copyright 1997. The book discusses the impact of music on the mind. Its final chapter on "ecstasy" begins with findings of how helpful music can be in restoring Parkinsons patients to normal movement. He also discusses how music generally increases feelings of well being in people.
13. "Music and Neuroscience: What Happens to Your Brain Under the Influence of Music," by Alasdair Wilkins, io9--We come from the future, Sunday Jan. 6, 2013. Here is the link: http://io9.com/5837976/what-happens-to-your-brain-under-the-influence-of-music.
14. "The Scientific American Healthy Aging Brain: The Neuroscience of Making the Most of Your Mature Mind" by Judith Horstman, published by Jossey-Bass, a Wiley Imprint, copyright 2012 by John Wiley and Sons and Scientific American, copyright 2012. This exceedingly readable book of just 200 pages, reads like a summary of many of the other articles in this list. Although the title makes it sound like a book about aging, it is really more of a book about how adults can get the greatest health and well being from their brains. There is a great emphasis on exercise. Dance and particularly partnership dancing is specifically mentioned as a healthful activity.
15. "This Women Was About To Go In For Surgery. What She Did Moments Before Was Awesome" by Lori Leibovich, Huffington Post; 11.06.13. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/06/breast-cancer-flash-mob-deborah-cohan_n_4227915.html The video shows the joy that dancing can bring, even in the face of a serious illness.
16. This video about using movement as therapy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9gAe9H5Rok
17. http://www.npr.org/2016/05/03/476559518/the-health-benefits-of-dancing-go-beyond-exercise-and-stress-reducer This article summarizes very interesting research. Among the findings is that groups of people moving together get a boost in pain tolerance. But movement that isn’t synchronous for a group of people does not have this effect.
18. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/28/well/move/work-walk-5-minutes-work.html?_
This last article suggests that mood is elevated by walking for 5 minutes every hour if one normally sits at a desk the entire workday.
19. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/good-news/seven-seas/why-dancing-feels-good/ Research shows dancing boosts both happiness and cognitive skills.
20. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/23/daniel-h-pink-shares-why-choral-singing-benefits-health-like-exercise.html This article is about the benefits of doing activities in synchrony with other people. Dance and rowing are mentioned but the emphasis in this article is on singing!
21. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa022252 This is a classic study that is often cited which was reported in the New England Journal of Medicine. It is a research finding that confirms the benefit of dancing on health and cognition as compared with other activities.
22. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/29/well/walk-stretch-or-dance-dancing-may-be-best-for-the-brain.html?contentCollection=smarter-living&_r=0 This article is about research showing that there were improvements in the white matter of subjects’ brains after they took 6 months of social dance classes. The research was done with 174 healthy people in their 60s and 70s. Other physical activities that were tested did not show this improvement. The article cannot always be viewed free online. Printed: April 4, 2017 NY Times Page D4 Read the article her
23. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014976341830664X?fbclid=IwAR2SsM5aUe_cXKmatWuWHT2jzwG_WZbKDk0YtORsFBt8KDq9RPjsivAyz80 This is an article in “Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews” volume 96, Jan 2019, pages 232-240. The article is a scholarly research study that found that dance may be effective at improving several aspects of neuroplasticity in the brain. In addition, dance can strengthen the connectivity between the two cerebral hemispheres because the complex movements in dancing involve many different areas of the brain.
24. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/30/well/move/health-benefits-dancing.html
Great article that explains the cognitive benefits of dancing. It explains research findings that out of eleven physical activities studied, social dancing was the only one associated with less risk of dementia! The study mentions that causality could not be necessarily inferred, but that it did show that dancing was associated with a reduced risk of developing dementia—-along with all the other health and well-being benefits of dancing!
25. https://youtu.be/g1pjJh3hFxM This is a Tedx Open Mic talk that Barb gave May 7, 2020 about how coping with crisis, and adjusting the ways we dance during the pandemic can provide a silver lining to the hardships encountered. And this link: https://youtu.be/0gUm61tmMBI shows another Tedx Open Mic Video by Barb which was given in May of 2019—before the pandemic hit. This one is about the overall health benefits of group synchronous movement (like Rueda dancing!).
26. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/06/15/singer-wanted-perform-seniors-so-she-rented-cherry-picker-sang-outside-their-windows/ This uplifting article mentions the ability of music to enrich the lives of people with dementia—prompting memories from the era when the music was first popular.
27. https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-musical-cure-for-covid-pandemic-related-stress-and-sadness-11606335960 This is a Wall Street Journal article that says a research study found musical endeavors (singing, dancing, and playing an instrument) to be the best way to relieve sadness during the covid pandemic.
28. https://player.themoth.org/?fbclid=IwAR31rwIWRQwfdkgbterN88fn7ENXdzLKnp8eV-NMwjVM4INi4FYHjJ1SdiM#/?actionType=ADD_AND_PLAY&storyId=33057 This is a touching podcast about a man who found dancing Rueda de Casino helped diminish his feelings of depression and loneliness. It’s a beautiful story, told “first-hand.”
29. Here are several youtube videos that explain the phenomenon of overtones in music which is an important concept in the science of music. In particular, choral singing which has the same benefits to well-being as the group synchronous movement in dance, is enhanced greatly by the enriching sounds of overtones. While most of the references on this page apply to movement and dance, music lovers will find this information fascinating. The joy of moving synchronously with others is undoubtedly enhanced by the richness of the sound made by a chorus singing with good vocal production that makes overtones. It’s a fascinating subject—explained in these videos:
a- youtu.be/hGu3yuQ7Br8 This presents an excellent illustration of overtones. The viewers see for themselves that they hear sounds that aren’t actually played on an instrument. They are just overtones of a note that is played! (Magic!!)
b- youtu.be/A0mFTG79DWE In the guise of training viewers to hear overtones, a musician first plays and then stops playing the note that viewers are hearing. It’s a trick—viewers learn that a faint sound they hear was actually produced by playing a different note. That is, it was “just an overtone." (More magic!)
c- youtu.be/Wx_kugSemfY Andrew Huang is amazing (and funny!) at explaining the math and music theory involved in overtones.
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In closing, here are two wonderful articles on the value of dance in a life. The first is a page from Garrison Keillor’s blog. I was hesitant to include this blog post as Mr. Kellior has been accused of some inappropriate behavior. But despite that, I think his beautiful and uplifting words are still worth reading. This was posted at the start of 2020 to welcome the new year. Punctuation, spacing and bolding have been slightly edited for clarity, but the words are Keillor’s. The second is from an article in Dance Magazine published in 2018. Included is a link to the complete article and some excerpts.
Wave your arms, kick your feet, do the 2020
The bog beI don’t do New Year’s Eve anymore because the parties never were that much fun and we wound up trapped in corners in the usual intense conversations (kids, schools, political lunacy). Some people drank too much and forced the rest of us into a guardianship role and the sheer awkwardness of telling an old drunk to let his wife drive him home. And so the party ended with us wondering:
Why do we not know how to have a good time?
White liberal guilt?
The inbred gloom of northern people?
Too many books one has read and is eager to quote?
Lack of dancing skills?
The correct answer is No. 4, the inability to dance gracefully with a partner.
Jitterbugging and fox-trotting and waltzing were slighted in our curricula in favor of math and science, and how many people can whoop it up with algebraic geometry or number theory? So the party drags and guests wander from room to room with plates of raw vegetables and hummus, glancing at their cellphones, wishing they were elsewhere.
No doubt about it, dancing is the key to a good time and the great dance tunes of our youth, like “Brown Sugar” and “Brown-Eyed Girl” when we used to sing, “Sha la la la la la la la la la la te da” led to some fine solo shimmying but that was long ago and we were twistier then. Past the age of 40, you feel self-conscious slipping and sliding alone, whereas when the band strikes up “I Saw Her Standing There” and two jitterbuggers make eye contact and hit the floor for the step-and-hop-and-step-and-hop and quick quick and dip and kick. You’ve got two people having a big time, no gin needed. I’ve seen people polka to “Purple Rain” and look good doing it.
In my high school years, phys-ed class included a few weeks of ballroom dancing but we were too young to appreciate it. The waltz and fox-trot were old dances and we favored the twist. But the twist faded like snow in April while the classics prevailed.
There are, you must admit, few things so simply transformative as slipping into the arms of another — your wife, your mother-in-law, the cleaning lady — and moving gracefully in conjunction. It dispels gloom and redeems you from show-offy self-righteous conversation, which is what four-fifths of all conversation is about. Just shut up and be beautiful, swing and sway and smile at your partner, and bow and say, “Thank you.”
The problem, as it so often is, is individualism. If everyone at the party could jitterbug adequately, the party would take off for the moon, but my generation resisted universality, thinking it was regimentation, and opted for uniqueness, which doesn’t exist, as you find out around the age of 40. Being Yourself is a dead end. Every rat who sees the cheese on the little metal flange with the fancy wirework around it thinks he is the first rat ever to come upon such a treasure. It’s a waste of a perfectly good rat.
Someday before I leave the earth, I want to throw a party that people remember with pleasure long afterward. No need for a extended eulogy at the funeral, just stand and say, “Remember his birthday two years ago?” and sing, “You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain, too much love drives a man insane” and everyone jumps up and dances, arms in the air. David danced and leaped before the Lord, willing to look foolish in his praise, and why shouldn’t we? There is a mysterious chemical link between dancing and hopefulness. Jump up and down and swing your arms for a while and you’ll discover it…..
2. Dance Magazine Article
"Don't Get It Twisted: Dance Is An Intellectual Pursuit"
by Alice Blumenfeld in Dance Magazine, July 30, 2018
https://www.dancemagazine.com/dance-intellectual-2589248186.html
People have a tendency to think of dance as purely physical and not intellectual. But when we separate movement from intellect, we limit what dance can do for the world.
It's not hard to see that dance is thought of as less than other so-called "intellectual pursuits." How many dancers have been told they should pursue something "more serious"? How many college dance departments don't receive funding on par with theater or music departments, much less science departments?...
Dance depends on the presence of the body. Unfortunately, it's difficult to explain to non-dancers how corporal movement is a means of thinking and engaging with complex ideas. That's why it's so important that dancers can talk or write about their work, translating the corporal knowledge into language. When we acknowledge that our bodies think, move, translate, react—often in conjunction with linguistic thought or prior to it—we can use dance as a tool…...
As dancers, we know that more than just emotions and physical training go into dancing. Cultural knowledge gets passed on through music and dance, particularly for cultures with strong oral traditions. The gestures, stories and symbolisms, passed from generation to generation, and across borders, help us connect and understand our own and others' histories…..
Research has also shown that when we change our posture, we can change our state of mind, and gestures and movements influence our emotions. And that affects not only the dancer. Dance has a unique power to communicate through a process known as kinesthetic empathy. Recent discoveries in neuroscience prove that we can empathize, and even experience (through what have been termed "mirror neurons"), the movements we see someone else doing. Dance oversteps the need for language as a mediator…..
In dance therapy, movement functions as a critical tool in understanding and coping with traumatic experiences. It relies on the fact that movement communicates, acknowledging the crucial mind-body connection…..
On a community level, dance has been successfully used in reconciliation processes in previously divided or war-torn countries, such as Rwanda, Australia, South Africa and Colombia. We relate to others not just with language, but with gestures and physical contact.
Through dance, we can imagine new futures or ways of interacting with the world—in performance we can become anyone (or anything), which can be more than an escape, but a way of pushing beyond the status quo and finding new ways of moving through the world…..