The Physical, Mental, Social & Cultural Benefits of Dancing
By Susanne Greenhowe-Weis
Imagine: you’ve recently renewed your gym membership, taking advantage of the senior rates, and you’re working out your routine. You know you’re maintaining a level of fitness that suits you because it feels good, and every so often you increase the weights and extend your running on the machines. You notice that everyone else is minding their own business, most of them plugged into their ear pods and music, but just doing their stuff. Suddenly, you feel that you’re missing something, but you don’t exactly know what it is. There’s no social portion of your workout routine; you don’t even have to remember what comes next because it’s so routine and everything is just feeling so mundane.
What would you say if I suggested that what you’re missing are some of the most important parts of your exercise routine? Would you be interested enough to ask me questions? I hope so because what I would suggest is that you could add tried and tested improvements to your health maintenance by dancing. Dancing? I hear you ask loudly? Yes, particularly Scottish Country Dancing. I can see you laughing and hear your questions – but questions mean that you might be interested in hearing the answers.
Scientific studies have shown that certain forms of exercise activity produce greater positive results than others, and scientists think that dance is especially powerful because it combines several brain-stimulating activities simultaneously:
aerobic exercise
learning patterns
remembering sequences
coordinating movement
listening to music
interacting socially
Very few activities combine all three.
So, what is particularly unique about Scottish Country Dancing? Compared with many other activities, SCD combines:
Physical activity
Continuous problem solving (Where do I go next?)
Music
Teamwork
Social Interaction
Memory training
Rhythm
Laughter
Many neurologists now believe that combining physical activity with cognitive challenge and social engagement is especially beneficial for healthy brain ageing. Scottish Country Dancing naturally incorporates all three.
Researchers found that older Scottish Country Dancers maintained:
Faster walking speed
Greater mobility
Better lower-body function
Higher functional fitness than similarly active women who participated in other forms of exercise.
Remarkably, the older dancers performed almost as well as women 10 years younger, suggesting that SCD may slow the age-related decline in locomotion.
Why does this matter?
Walking speed and mobility are recognized by geriatric specialists as strong indicators of healthy ageing and future independence.
SCD also provides moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise through continuous movement interval bursts of activity repeated changes in direction whole-body movement.
The physical demands closely match recommendations from the World Health Organization for weekly physical activity. The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society also highlights improvements in cardiovascular fitness, muscle strength, flexibility and endurance among regular participants.
If your strongest reaction to this information is “Prove it!”, we would be absolutely delighted to have you come to one of our classes closest to your home and join one of our dance groups to see what your reaction is afterwards. Please give us the opportunity to show you how welcome you would be and how much you would enjoy the social aspects of beneficial exercise.
Susanne Greenhowe-Weis
Dance has been part of Susanne Greenhowe-Weis’s life since she first joined a Scottish Country Dance class at the age of seven. Although ballet became her first love for the next 18 years, she has since enjoyed many dance styles and has danced in England, Mexico and with Chinese dance groups. Having lived in six countries, she has seen how dance transcends language and culture, creating friendships wherever people meet. Now Vice President of the Edmonton Caledonian Country Dance Society, she believes it’s never too late to discover the joy, friendship and lifelong learning that Scottish Country Dancing offers, and warmly welcomes newcomers of all ages and abilities.