I often find myself offering a bit of a long-winded follow-up to new friends who ask me what I do. I say “Oh! I run Shut Up & Dance with my two best mates – it’s a dance class where….” and then this long explanation tends to follow about how ‘different’ it is.

I find myself doing it because in the moment the words ‘dance class,’ come out of my mouth, I see the person I’m talking to conjure up memories in their head of the jazz ballet that traumatized them, or the syllabus that consumed their teenage years, or that dance fitness they tried at their gym last week that made them feel weird and uncomfortable.

I frantically launch into our no mirrors policy, and explain that no – I’m not a dance teacher (we have especially trained Unicorns for that job), how I never passed any of my dance exams as a child, and how it’s less like a dance class and more like an interactive fitness session show rolled into a stand-up comedy sketch where the instructor and participants are all vibing off each other.

“IT’S DIFFERENT TO WHAT YOU THINK!” – I hear my heart scream.

In reflecting on why I feel this constant need to justify just how ‘different’ it is, I realise it’s because the benefits that dancing can provide for our physiological health and mental wellbeing are largely misunderstood.

Dance occupies an important place in the social structure of all human cultures throughout history. Dance as a form of fitness is not a fad. It’s not a trend. In fact, there’s a scientific reason to explain why thrusting feels so god-damn good – it’s benefits are four-fold; positively impacting our body, our mind, our heart and our spirit.

It stimulates cognitive activity, requires a level of physical stamina, and connects with emotional centres in the brain. To dance by yourself can be freeing, and to dance with others can be the most rewarding and electric form of ‘fitness,’ possibly due to the bigger release of endorphins you get when you dance (as compared to other forms of exercise).

Dance is more than movement. It’s the perfect blend of a sport and a creative pursuit. It’s less of a construct and more of a deconstruction. To dance is to take the opportunity to remove the layers, the job titles, the multiple hats we wear… It’s an opportunity to connect with the body you inhabit – nothing more and nothing less – in this short and wonderful life.

We really care about reframing what it means to dance. If you’re twerking. If you’re swaying. If you’re shaking your ass. If you’re jumping. If you’re dropping it low. If you’re grabbing your crotch. If you’re wobbling. If you’re thrusting. If you’re grabbing your ‘mic.’ If you’re lip syncing. If you’re jigging. If you’re slapping. If you’re moving your head. Whatever the f*** you’re doing – it’s probably more cathartic than you know. Or maybe you already know.

If so, go you – perhaps I’m preaching to the choir.

But some societies around the world ban dancing. The movement of a woman’s hips is labelled as obscene in some cultures. In others, it’s a glorification of fertility, or what it means to be female. Dance is a language, and our ability to listen to and speak it is what can strengthen, grow, challenge and evolve our health and mental awareness. Being able to connect to your body through dance and music helps in a myriad of ways:

The ability to express emotion
Provides stress relief
Increased physical fitness, strength and motor skills
Stronger bones
Improved memory
Heart and lung health
Balance and spatial awareness
Improved confidence and self-esteem
Encouragement of creativity and imagination

Oh yeah, and you can enjoy it too. At its core, dance is a universal language that knows no grammar police.

We need to get rid of the idea of what a ‘dancer’ is. Because we are all dancers. But for many of us, we’ve had a limiting belief that we’re not. One cause of this may be because it’s all too easy to compare ourselves to a professional dancer or singer or actor in our society – perhaps the celebrities or influencer’s that occupy your instagram feed – and assume that you’re not good enough because you’re not like them.

But a dancer isn’t someone who has a certain physique. A dancer isn’t someone who is in time to the music, and it’s definitely not someone who knows all the cool and tricky moves. Those things certainly contribute to what makes a talented performer, but the one thing that ‘professional’ has in common with you – is the ability to let go of the mind and let the body do the talking. It’s just whether or not you’re able and keen on surrendering to that. Because while it’s not easy, it’s definitely worth it.

If you’ve seen the Social Dilemma, the data about how adolescent girls in particular suffer from internalising mental health issues compared to those of previous decades may have concerned you. It concerns us too. One recent study explored the experiences of young women aged 13-18 – they were to participate in an 8-month dance intervention.

The emerging results showed that dance enriched their ability to ‘claim space. A non-judgemental atmosphere and their enjoyment in dance gave rise to emotional expression, acceptance and trust in their abilities. By engaging in an activity for pleasure – that is to say because they WANTED to do it, not because they HAD to, or because they felt pressure to – was an essential component in claiming. Dat. Space.

You’ve got to love what you’re doing if you want it to be woven seamlessly into the fabric of your life. That’s why so many gym memberships are unused! (Unless you genuinely love lifting weights and doing burpees (in which case, we salute you!).

* salute *

Seriously.

You’ve got to WANT to do it if you want it to be a well-integrated part of your world.

We know that dancing increases access to ‘embodied knowledge’ – which is to say that we’re able to become more emotionally aware of our own emotional processes and increase our ability to interpret the emotions of others. Researchers have explained how the term ‘embodiment’ refers to the body’s ‘emotional feedback system through which our physical bodies affect our brains – culminating in moments of pure freedom and joy – as we channel our most basic biological expression and social needs.

“Dance is suggested to capture and embed all aspects of embodiment, as it is an intellectual, emotional, and physical mediator for understanding our bodily way of being-in-the-world” – Block & Kissell, 2001.

So sure, we’re not professional ballerina’s – we’ll always watch Parris Goebel or the Royal Ballet in total AWE and admiration – but we’ll also know that their ability to tune into that greater state of embodied self is an ability within ourselves too, no matter how ‘clumsy’ we think we are.

We are all dancers. That’s why it feels so good. Because the ability is already there – we just need to take away the layers to find it.

– Thoughts by Abby

RESEARCH:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/good-news/seven-seas/why-dancing-feels-good/

References: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3402/qhw.v11.31946?src=recsys

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01612840500502940

http://www.disabilityresource.org/29-top-five-advantages-of-dance-therapy

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/12/from-depression-to-parkinson-s-disease-the-healing-power-of-dance/

http://www.drustvo-antropologov.si/AN/PDF/2010_3/Anthropological_Notebooks_XVI_3_Pusnik.pdf

There's a scientific reason as to why thrusting to 80s jams feels so good.