THE festive season is almost here but there’s still time to learn a neat trick or two when it comes to ‘cutting a rug’ on the dance floor.
If you’ve ever watched a video of someone showing off their moves, there’s time yet to be ‘that someone’.
Better still, dance lessons are to be had at the Marburg showground hall.
There are many different kinds of dances, each one with its own signature move.
Some have strange names like the Cowboy Cha, Rock n Roll Waltz, Smokey Places, Waltz of Texas, Stray Cat Strutt and heaps more.
The instructors at Marburg have decades of experience and they’ve taught students of all ages how to dance.
Literally anyone can do it.
Even people with limited mobility, ever heard about sit down dancing or wheelchair dancing?
Yes, that’s a thing too.
So why learn to dance?
Earlier this year the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Medicine’s researchers found evidence to suggest dance was better than other physical activities in respect to improving psychological well-being and cognitive capacity.
The studies in the review included people who were healthy and those with chronic illnesses like Parkinson’s disease, heart failure, cerebral palsy and fibromyalgia.
The dance interventions encompassed a broad range of genres including theatrical dance, aerobic dance, traditional dance forms and social dance, and were compared to a number of physical activities including team sport, martial arts, walking, and weight training.
The study found structured dance of any genre was equal to and occasionally more effective than other types of interventions for improving psychological and cognitive outcomes.
This was across all age brackets.
Another benefit is the social aspect.
People also engage with others to have fun with no pressure and the same end goal in mind.
As connected as we are through social media, there’s disconnect and isolation that comes with it.
There’s the illusion that we are part of everything in our online presence.
The reality is a lot of people are alone and only have an online presence.
Learning how to dance brings confidence and you don’t need to be part of a big social group to do it.
If you think you’ve got two left feet, use both of them to get yourself to the hall at Marburg showground.
Before you know it, you could be doing the Cowboy Cha and the Stray Cat Strutt like a pro.
