Run through the day, but then always dance the night away!
Posted January 2nd, 2007 at 7:00 AM by Valerie Cerami
Section: Running & Training, Cross Training, Health & Fitness, Exercise
From pop stars, to pro athletes (to you and I) … taking a dance class is a true power enhancer and morale booster. Exactly the little lift we all need for the cold-n-dark winter months ahead.
There are as many types of dance, as there are types of personalities.
Tap, Jazz, Hip-Hot, Hula, Salsa, Swing, Square, Exotic, Ballroom, Ballet, Break, Belly … to name but a few. I’m most certain you can find a style that suits your profile, mood and/or schedule. Need a little inspiration? Flip on WABC and watch the popular “Dancing With The Stars”, it’s sure to get your toes a’ tappin’.
What is Dance? It’s fun! It’s productive. It is an Art form. (Literally: To move rhythmically usually to music, using prescribed or improvised steps and gestures. To leap or skip about excitedly.) For our purposes, it is superb cross-training activity (sure to bring joy and benefits to all those who dabble). The health advantages run the gamut – bounding across mind, body and spirit.
Speaking of running, this form of activity is a must for runners, athletes and anyone who wants to attain – and maintain – physical prowess. No equipment required – except an open mind and willingness to learn. Dance uses bodily movements that are rhythmic, patterned (or sometimes improvised), and usually accompanied by music.
One of the oldest art forms, dance is found in every culture and is performed for purposes ranging from the ceremonial, liturgical, and magical to the theatrical, social, and simply aesthetic. Imagine waaaaay back in the 16th century, those Folk dancers didn’t even realize the health benefits they were gaining while having such fun! They did it for pure enjoyment – and so should you - in 2007 (Happy New Year)! With a bit of added knowledge and encouragement, a few perk of dancing below:
- Cardiovascular benefit – increases heart rate and stamina
- Balance and Rhythm – through choreography, technique
- Mindfulness – concentration skills honed
- Increased Flexibility - stretching as warm up and throughout class
- Superb Posture – feeling (and appearing!) taller as you learn proper alignment of your body
- Confidence – byproduct of building grace, quality of movement
- Increased Speed and Agility – dance techniques build long, lean muscles and coordination of the entire body working as a whole
- Social – being surrounded by peers enjoying a shared activity
- Prevention of Injury – learn how to use your body properly
- Develop Muscle Tone – transfer new vitality to your usual routine
- Alleviate Boredom – discover another tool to improve your primary activity
- Art and Aesthetics - the consciousness of the history of the dance form you learn, the pride of performing the movements
- Creative Expression – performing the movements as your very own, lower stress and inhibitions
- Controlled Breathing – use of abdominals and mind for breathe
- Spiritual – relaxation to release tension, reduce stress, realization of an uplifting, joyous experience through music and movement and your personal efforts
The dominating senses of athleticism and grace borne from dance can carry through to any sport – and in every step of daily life. If we can build awareness of how we move in our daily lives – we can greatly improve any physical activity. All movement is enhanced, enriched and enlivened by the unique qualities garnered from dance technique, instruction and discipline. Lets move on…
There is no need to be intimidated. Anyone at any level can try a class*. Your experience can be as playful, gentle, intense or serious – as you’d like. Put in spring in your step and start today. Personally, I’ve taken a myriad of dance classes since childhood. It’s a great way to express yourself, relieve and release stress, gain grace, build confidence, improve body tone and musculature, create impeccable posture and mostly, to turn to as a hobby or cross-training technique when the weather (or your body) isn’t cooperating or permitting your usual routine.
If anything, it’s an asset to (at least) say you’ve tried it! Fodder for party/water cooler chitchat, at the very, very least. When you can’t think of another thing to say at that New Year’s Eve party, summon up the topic of dance. Perhaps, even better, get out on the floor – no formal training required!
Generally, ballet conjures up images of little girls in frilly, pink tutus. Not according to Lynn Swann (Former Pittsburgh Steeler wide receiver), winner of a championship ring in Super Bowl IX, and Super Bowl X MVP. His Pro Football Hall of Fame citation notes: his “fluid movements” and “tremendous leaping ability” - products of several years of childhood and college dance training. A sportscaster once referred to him as “the Baryshnikov of football.” Swann says his classes in tap, jazz, and especially ballet greatly enhanced his athletic skills.
“If one movement flows to another, you’re going to be able to be evasive on the field and a good football player.”
Could his ballet training be the catalyst that to buoyed him to become the first wide receiver to earn Super Bowl MVP honors? (I think we’ve discovered his secret, cross-training weapon!).
When asked in an interview: “Mr. Swann, you took ballet to help your game, correct? How much did it help?”
The 5-11, 180 pound, NFL player replied: “I took several years of dance lessons that included ballet, tap and jazz. They helped a great deal with body control, balance, a sense of rhythm, and timing. Dance in itself is a sport, and an incredible art form.”
Summing up and proving, if you are a professional football player, athlete, physical fitness devotee, exercise enthusiast, or average Joe/Jane: Dance instruction (ballet lessons in particular) is the amulet of champions.
Accordingly, many athletic coaches use this magic charm knowledge in recommending ballet training, since it improves flexibility, strength, stamina, kinetic focus, toning of all the muscles and muscle groups, and is an efficient aerobic exercise. Dancers know all about muscle memory. Now it is being recognized that athletes can benefit from classes involving simple and elegant technique and concentrated studies in movement. The importance of dance, especially ballet, builds fantastic athletic skills for any sport.
There is an ever-increasing correlation between any sport and dance. As an early proponent of ballet training for athletes, Roni Mahler, now an artistic associate for Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley, extols the valuable effects of dance. She first spotted the connections between sports and ballet after a baseball game at Yankee Stadium. She describes:
“A shortstop does a huge chasse before releasing the ball. And for both ballet and baseball you need strong ankles and knees … A basketball player can’t jump without doing a plie. It may not be graceful and deep with your feet turned out, but it’s the same thing.”
With this understanding, Mahler began teaching ballet to college football players in the late 1970s, during her tenure as a professor at Kansas State University. In 1984, when Mahler taught a twelve-week series of ballet classes for the Cleveland Browns, the idea was so novel that major press agencies sent photographers!
The players soon discovered that ballet training delivered some real benefits. Using turnout to rotate legs from the hips helps to strengthen smaller, more injury-susceptible muscles used in running. By practicing changement and tendu, players gained improved flexibility in their ankles and feet, which translated to increased agility, come game time.
In further support, John A. Bergfeld, the Browns’ medical advisor, saw results too: Groin injuries decreased the season following Mahler’s class. Ballet training had taught the players, who had to crouch during games, an awareness of their pelvis positioning and had increased the range of motion in their hips.
Similarly, tap dancers are prone to many of the same injuries as people who run or play running sports, because tap is based on walking and running. Correct technical training can minimize injury. Tap dancers demonstrate the transfer of weight and the relaxed ankle. Good body movement - a sense of relaxation and ease, movement being organic to the step – is a lesson we should all learn.
Alongside sports, dance is a marvelous way to energize your body, find your focus and locate your core-center for the day – and for longevity. Thinking toward the future, the benefits of dance are lifelong and life-sustaining – a virtual “fountain of youth”. Just marvel at Madonna (over 40!). With early roots as a dance artist – she returns to the art form with a vengeance in: Confessions On A Dance Floor. Can dance’s virtues help us all look – and move – like that when we reach that stage?
Another stellar role model is Martha Graham (a pioneer of modern dance), who lived to a healthy age of 96. She stood ramrod straight, knowing the benefits of good form – and that a poor posture can strain the lower back. 
She exemplified mindful dancing, and mindful maintenance, to keep you pain free and agile - well into the golden years.
Martha Graham’s impact on dance was staggering and often compared to that of Picasso’s on painting, Stravinsky’s on music, and Frank Lloyd Wright’s on architecture. Her contributions transformed the art form, revitalizing and expanding dance around the world. She created the Martha Graham Dance Company, in 1926. It is the oldest, most celebrated modern dance company in the world. Earning recognition, Former President Gerald R. Ford presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Martha Graham, the first dancer so honored.
More than just a way to keep in shape, dance is a way of life. A few core luminaries made modern dance a respected and recognized name. Modern dance is now so mainstream, that New York Sports Clubs (in NYC) hold beginner classes in ballet, jazz and Graham Technique. Principal (even famous!) dancers teach their specialties to the general public. It is not the lofty, only doable by professionals attitude.
Dance is available to all (even on DVD’s, if you’re shy). Check your local listings for Studios (customarily, a free-trial, drop-in class is offered). You’ll develop: quality of movement, grace, balance, strength, and body awareness. Whether you bogie in your living room – or become a prima ballerina – just dance! For your pleasure and your health!
It is fitting too end with a tribute in the remembrance of an era’s icon, which made our collective toes tap … In the immortal words of the Godfather of Soul:
“The one thing that can solve most of our problems is dancing.” - James Brown
Lastly, remember to live-by and possibly dazzle your friends with the quotes:
“If you can talk, you can sing.
If you can walk, you can dance.”
— African Proverb“Dance is for everybody.”
— Alvin Ailey, American Dance Theatre
***Note: We encourage EVERYONE to see a doctor before altering their diet, taking a supplement and/or performing athletic, fitness or other strenuous physical activity. It is your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness and usefulness of any information, instruction, opinion or advice contained in the content. Please also see our complete disclaimer.***
Tags: aesthetics, agility, art, art form, balance, Ballet, Ballroom, belly, Break, creativity, cross training, dance, dancing, Dancing With The Stars, emmitt smith, Exotic, expression, flexibility, flexible, gerald ford, Hip Hot, Hula, injury prevention, Jazz, modern dance, posture, relax, relaxation, rhythm, rhythmic, Salsa, spiritual, Square, Swing, Tap, technique
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The Final Sprint
Great post. I agree dance is underrated as a tool for physical conditioning, and also it’s just plain fun!
January 3rd, 2007 at 9:58 pm