Never have we experienced a longer pause to our lives than what we've experienced in the past 6 months. Honestly, at the beginning of the year I remember myself saying, "I wish we could just hit the pause button so I could get caught up". Well needless to say I never saw that actually happening, but here we are. Now we are craving movement and getting out of the house, so here are my 10 reasons why dance is more important than ever!
#1-Fitness & Strength
Important tools for everything you do, especially dancers and athletes. For some of us this isn't something that has been incorporated as much as it should have been the last 6 months. As dancers we need to keep our bodies in excellent shape to move the way we want to. At TSDPAC we offer Strength classes on top of all our classes that keep our students moving the entire 30, 40, 60, or 90 minutes they are with us!
#2-Socialization
Lately all our contact has been through a screen, and now more than ever we need to incorporate socialization back into our daily lives. Being back in the studio has been such an imporatant outlet for our students in the past two months. Being in the studio together and feeling the energy from other dancers is so important. It's also so easy to get some social time in a short, controlled, environment.
#3-Creative Movement
Movement has so many health benefits and when paired with creatively moving your body in ways that it's not used to you'll see exponential growth! Brain benefits include; improved memory, lenghtening attention span, boost decision making skills, promote growth of new nerve cells and blood vessels, improves multi-tasking and planning skills, and reduction of stress! Being free to move your body and expressing yourself is a magical gift you can give yourself. "Dance like everyone is watching!".
#4-Working toward a goal
Lately we've been cancelling trips and plans and most of us have plateaued and it feels a little too much like the movie, "Groundhog Day". In dance and the performing arts in general we are always working toward a goal. Reminding ourselves that there are things we want to accomplish and having that perserverance to push through and conquer those goals is so important. Whether its remembering choreo, finally getting that split, or working toward a specific turn or jump sequence is so important to our mental health. Its the best feeling in the world to conquer a goal!
#5-Teamwork
We all need one another. We need to depend on each other and be able to lift each other up. In a dance group this happens every class. You depend on your fellow dancers to be in class, to bring their "all", and most importantly to bring a positive attitude. Putting yourself in a position where you're a part of something bigger than yourself is an important practice to get into.
#6-Memory Skills
With everything to remember, dance is a constant memory exercise. With our dancers we've found that their dance classes help them focus their thoughts and improves their memory performance in school. But there have been several studies that have shown that dancing is linked to a 76% reduction in the risk of dementia as shown by the researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
#7-Mental Health
Getting out and being active is crucial to your mental health. Whether you are going back to school full time, part time, or not at all; the studio can serve as a wonderful outlet to connect in short bursts of time. Working toward a goal with others will take the focus off what is different these days and will give you that sense of normalcy that we all need.
#8-Confidence Building
We build confidence in our dancers from the first moment they walk in the studio. For a two year old to enter a studio without mom or dad and venture to have fun with new friends without them is a huge confidence milestone. We continue to lay the groundwork for all our dancers to grow into self-empowered confident people that will go after anything they want in their life. This is an element not be over looked during this time. It's easy to lose confidence in quarantine and we'll be right here to build it back up!
#9-Stress Reduction
They say, "the stress is real!" and that's never been more true. It seems everyday lately we are faced with another crazy obstacle. We all need to take a breather and relieve the stress. The arts are an amazing way to reduce stress. Move, breathe, express yourself, work with others, have fun, and challenge yourself every time you're in the studio.
#10-Support System
Our entire staff is committed to helping each and every student we have. Whether its regarding a class or something they're struggling with we try to mentor our students and give them the support to push through whatever is challenging them at the time. Our staff and studio serve as a support system for our students. Sometimes it's a relief just walking into that space and feeling the freedom that it provides.
We hope you join us for our new Fall/Spring Season! Click this LINK to be directed to our class schedule for more information! Contact us anytime with your questions and we'll be happy to talk with you!
If you're new to the studio you can also take advantage of our 7-day class pass offer at this LINK! We'd love to see you at the studio!