By Claire Brinsden Jordan
Just Dance
While I may be biased, after all dance is my first love, there are few activities more beneficial to overall health than dancing. I’m certain that I came out of the womb needing to dance, which might explain why I was such a miserable baby. As a child I danced around the house to music constantly, prompting my parents to enroll me in ballet class at the age of six. Imagine their surprise when their shy child blossomed on stage! As Martha Graham said, “dance is the hidden language of the soul of the body.” For me, dancing is where my soul always finds freedom and joy. Since childhood it has also been the most important activity in my life for both physical and mental health.
Physical Benefits
Dancing is very beneficial to cardiovascular health. It’s an aerobic exercise that raises your heart rate, strengthening heart muscles and improving circulation. Moving your entire body burns calories, which helps with weight management and boosts your energy level. Dancing requires the use of every major muscle group, improving muscle strength and endurance. As a weight-bearing activity, dance increases bone mass, and prevents bone loss. Dancing requires a wide range of motion, improving joint mobility and muscle flexibility. And with the constant changes in direction, dancing teaches the body coordination, agility and balance. While dancing is first and foremost an artform, it could also be considered a sport. This is the reason gymnasts, figure skaters, and tennis, football, basketball and soccer players often add dance class to their training regimens. Ballet is especially beneficial to athletes for core strength and power, as well as injury prevention. Football players like Lynn Swann, Herschel Walker, and current Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean have all credited ballet for their improved performance on the field. Dance requires complete body-awareness and control.
Cognitive Benefits
A 2003 study by researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine discovered that dance not only improves overall brain health, but out of 11 different types of physical activity, including cycling, golf, swimming, and tennis, dance was the only one that lowered participants’ risk of dementia. Dance requires complex mental coordination. The step sequences, patterns, and musical rhythms involved in dance force the brain to multi-task. This mental workout increases neuroplasticity and boosts the brain’s processing speed.
Over time, dancing creates new neural pathways which support faster thinking, better problem-solving, and enhanced memory skills. Dance has so many beneficial effects on the brain that it is now being used to treat people with Parkinson’s disease, a progressive neurological movement disorder. For those living with Parkinson’s, dance can reduce slowness, rigidity and tremors, while improving muscle memory and coordination.
Mental Health Benefits
Like most people I have had low points in my life when I’ve felt sad, depressed, or stressed. The best remedy for me in these difficult times is dancing. There is nothing that lifts my spirits more, except perhaps my dog greeting me at the door, tail wagging. The physical movement of dance releases endorphins – those natural stress and pain relievers in the brain – as well as dopamine, which boosts mood. When I dance, the stress and anxiety melt away with every step, and if I need a confidence boost, learning and mastering new choreography usually does the trick. Dancing is a wonderful form of self-expression, allowing the release of emotions in a healthy way. I believe the world would be a better, less angry place if everyone just danced more! Joining a dance class provides social interaction and a feeling of belonging. I have been fortunate to find my closest friends through dance – a link to kindred spirits.
Where to Dance
Whether you include dance as part of your nightlife, or prefer to take a dance class, there are plenty of venues in Pinellas County where you can put on your dancing shoes. In our April 2025 issue, Nanette Wiser provided a great list of clubs, bars, and dance studios where you can “get your groove on.” I would add to this list the adult classes at Academy of Ballet Arts, the Saturday morning community classes offered by project Alchemy at Studio620, and the adult dance classes at both the YMCA, and the city of St. Petersburg Recreation Centers. If you’re not quite ready to “trip the light fantastic,” there are online classes to enjoy in the privacy of your own home, though this lacks one of the great benefits of dancing – the social interaction.
I’ve had many people tell me that they simply can’t dance. That’s a load of hogwash. Every culture since the beginning of humankind has included some type of dance. It is the universal human activity. As a former professional dancer and former dance studio owner, I will concede that some people have better rhythm and coordination than others, but everyone can move their body to music. The only thing you really need is a lack of inhibition. I have yet to find a style of dance that I dislike – ballet, modern, jazz, tap, African, hip-hop, Latin, ballroom, country line – I love it all, though I do have favorites. There is a style for everyone – you just need to find it. As you embark on a new year and look for ways to improve your overall health, why not give dancing a try? In the wise words of Lady Gaga and Justin Timberlake, just dance, dance, dance!