Jump Around!

Did you know that dance is good exercise? And it’s not just for the willowy, graceful, and young. For most of human history (and prehistory), everybody danced – young and old, rich and poor – it was a communal activity that brought people together for a bit of fun.

?Dancing improves physical health by building strength, flexibility, coordination, and balance. It’s also been shown to improve mood and even cognition – improving memory, orientation, and concentration. And those benefits apply for all kinds of people – healthy college students, elderly parkinson’s patients, even people suffering from dementia.

There are all kinds of dance styles to try, from sedate minuets, to salsa, from line dancing to ballroom, to just plain moving-to-music. One of them could be right for you!

While you can, like Billy Idol, just start dancin’ by yourself, there are tons of groups to join, lessons you can take, and places to go. The easiest way to find events or lessons near you is to google the kind of dance you might be interested in. You can also type “free dance lessons” into your search engine of choice. Just about every city has weekly offerings of free mini-lessons followed by music at a local bar or club. Meetup.com offers a good way to search for social dance opportunities nearby – for instance, a search for English Country Dance (much like that pictured above) brought up this. In summer, many New York City parks feature free dance events for the community. The world is your dance floor – maybe it’s time to step out onto it.