Why Dance?

Ballroom Dancing has experienced a great revival over the past few years.

Its inclusion into the Olympics as a demonstration sport is only a small indication of the trend.

Surely the movie industry has embraced the topic of ballroom dance in the recent years. "Take To The Lead" staring Antonio Banderas, "Mad Hot Ballroom", which is an insightful, inspiring and often hilarious look at a group of eleven-year old New York City public school kids who journey into the world of ballroom, "Shall We Dance", staring Richard Gere, Susana Sarandon and Jenifer Lopez, and "Dance With Me" with Vanessa Williams are just a few. Of course the almost cult movie "Strictly Ballroom" should be mentioned in this line up as well.

But not only Hollywood has caught onto the ballroom dance mania. Many TV networks experienced great success creating reality TV shos, based on Ballroom Dancing. "Dancing With The Stars" clearly took the lead in this development. This show has experienced world wide success, and has been rated the number one TV show in numerous countries.
"So You Think You Can Dance, originally produced by FOX now too has been reproduced world wide and is enjoying similar ratings to "Dancing With The Stars".
Other shows that follow the same trend are "Ballroom Boot Camp", and "American Ballroom Challenge" on WGBH, which was formerly known as "Championship Dancing".
In addition there has been a shift in the music industry and "Swing and Latin music" has been popularized tremendously lately. The result has been a sudden growth of Swing and Latin Clubs all over the country.

Dancing has many benefits:

An hour of moderate, sustained ballroom dance burns 250-300 calories - twice as much as tennis, swimming, walking, or bicycling. An hour of vigorous dancing - such as the Jitterbug or Lindy - can burn up to 400 calories. Ballroom dancing is a low-impact activity that tones and strengthens calf, thigh, and buttock muscles. It also improves flexibility, coordination, endurance, balance, and posture.

Besides improving appearance and poise, ballroom dance can enhance your overall physical condition. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute endorses ballroom dancing as a way to lower the risk of coronary heart disease, control blood pressure, reduce weight, and boost HDL cholesterol levels. Dance can also reduce back pain, slow age-related muscle loss, and, since it is weight-bearing exercise, help to build and maintain strong bones.

There are some important differences between ballroom dance and traditional aerobic exercise. For one, aerobic routines and patterns are repetitious and can lead to overuse of one set of muscles. But in ballroom dance, you can vary steps at will and create your own patterns as the music and mood change. Since part of the fun - and the challenge - of waltz or swing or salsa is change and diversity, the risk of overuse injury is low. So is the risk of boredom, which means that you are more likely to stay motivated and committed. Consider these dance facts:

• Dance contributes to increased personal confidence.
• Olympic athletes often include dance in their training to sharpen their control,agility, speed and balance.
• Dance is considered to be one of the top five physical activities, out of 60 studied. Dance contributes to good posture and body alignment.
• Dancing encourages gentle stretching.
• Dance increases your flexibility and stamina.
• As an aerobic exercise, dance benefits your cardiovascular system as you swing and sway from hips to shoulders.
• Some doctors recommend thirty minutes of dance, three times per week.