By Kameron Brooke | Reporter
You’re with your friends, and a song everyone knows starts playing. People start dancing, but you don’t. Why?
The most common reasons I’ve heard for why people don’t dance are claiming to not know how and being scared to try due to the possibility of looking stupid. To me, dancing is quite literally moving your body while music is on.
The simplest tap of your foot or bop of your head is a form of dancing. Granted, some people are more naturally rhythmic than others, but I refuse to believe that rhythm can’t be found. You have to try first, though.
Dance has been one of my passions for as long as I can remember. I’ve been in and out of dance classes since I was a little girl. Dancing is a primary way I express myself.
I release emotion through my movement. It’s a way for me to relate to others and just have fun. I love seeing other people dance almost as much as I love dancing myself. Seeing my friends move, feel the music and make it their own makes me so happy.
I’ve been on the other end as well. I’m a bit shy and tend to get nervous easily, so sometimes I find myself being more of a watcher than a participant. Every time that happens, I regret it so much because I let caring what people think overshadow something I know I love to do — and look exquisite doing, at that. This can be you too.
Dancing is natural. It’s self-expression through movement, and we all have the capacity to express ourselves. However, there are many things that hold people back from dancing or trying to learn. I have literally seen people with absolutely no rhythm in any part of their body learn to dance with the beat of a song.
I think it can be more challenging if it is not something that comes naturally, but it’s certainly not insurmountable. There are many mental and physical health benefits that come from dancing as well.
There are different benefits of a free-flowing (also known as conscious) dance and a choreographed dance. A study published in the National Library of Medicine analyzed how dance benefits adults and helps maintain brain health with age.
According to a ScienceDirect article entitled “Conscious dance: Perceived benefits and psychological well-being of participants,” conscious dance proved to be more helpful with depression and anxiety.
One thing I can say from experience is it’s never too late to start dancing. I danced very consistently when I was a kid but ended up taking an extremely long break to focus on other sports and activities; I didn’t get back into it until this year.
While I have danced before, I still felt a sense of insecurity and awkwardness, especially when I was in social settings. I just went for it — and kept going for it — and now there’s not a dance circle I’m not in the middle of.
With all of this being said, dance!
It is so much fun, and it’s freeing. Stop caring what people think. If I’m watching, just know you’re being hyped up.
