World Dance Day: How dance can keep you active and healthy as you age 2023

World Day of Dance 2023: World Dance Day is approaching, so put on your dancing shoes and shake off your concerns! Today, we commemorate the universal language of movement and its ability to bring people from all over the world together.

From ancient tribal rituals to contemporary performances, dance has been a part of human expression for as long as we can recall. It is a universal language that speaks to our spirits, expressing emotions and conveying narratives in ways that words simply cannot. From traditional folk dances to contemporary hip-hop and ballet, dance possesses the ability to articulate emotion, tell stories, and even transcend language barriers.

World Dance Day 2023

Geeta Chandran, a classical performer and Padma Shree recipient, told HT Lifestyle, “The classical dances of India take learning far beyond physical activities. While the body is unquestionably the primary instrument for dance, dance pedagogy incorporates invaluable lessons of culture, history, and philosophy that are taught and analyzed through an empowering lens that profoundly expands the students’ minds.

While the physical body is driven to its absolute limit, there are other subliminal learnings that strengthen the vital body-mind connection; this is the fundamental premise of Indian classical dance. Classical dance weaves abstract notions of Joy, Beauty, Values, Aspirations, Myth, and Spirituality with skill.

She continues, “Through the teaching-learning process, students of classical dance discover the intricate connections between the classical dance tradition and other disciplines:

Philosophy, Ritual, Religion, Myths, Ancient texts, Poetry, Literature, Art (Painting and Sculpture), Cultural Studies, Yoga, Handicrafts and Handlooms, and Beauty and Aesthetics. Thus, the journey of classical dance becomes a live voyage of acquiring multiple skills.”

Geeta explained classical dance’s many benefits to physical and emotional health:

• corporeal interaction via corporeal movement
• Imagination through melody
• Bhava and Manifestation
• Appropriateness and Aesthetics
• Understanding and investigating inner space

Benefits of dancing for physical well-being:

• A healthy organism is an active one.
• Dance makes the body malleable and enables it to communicate in a highly aesthetic language.
• The methodical use of both major and peripheral muscle groups in dance.
• Dance promotes excellent posture, which contributes to overall body fitness.
• Dance strengthens the vertebrae and improves stamina.

Mental health advantages of dancing

• Daily dancing maintains a healthy and active brain.
• The exhilaration of accomplishing physical tasks is extremely satisfying.
• Dance enhances memory and teaches one to live in the moment.
• Sequencing in dance keeps the mind acute and vigilant.
• Dance induces emotional well-being due to the production of certain hormones that contribute to our happiness.
• The performative aspect of dance enhances one’s sense of self-worth, which in turn encourages the pursuit of new objectives and perfection.