Dance is a timeless art form — as timeless as Hollywood legends Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers proved to be.
Astaire and Rogers didn’t just glide across the dance floor and bump into big-screen success in the 1930s. They defied time itself. They radiated vitality, strength and grace in body and mind well into their 80s.
Long before science could catch up with them, they were living proof of the power of dance for health and fitness in body and brain.
Astaire and Rogers captivated audiences worldwide for generations with their intricate footwork. They paved the way for Hollywood stars Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone to put a fresh, healthy spin on classic Tinsel Town musicals in their Oscar-winning movie, La La Land.
Stone even landed a Best Actress award for her role.
Science was ready and waiting in the wings to show that the art of dance is about much more than entertainment and winning awards.
Both Gosling and Stone are shining examples of the physical and mental health benefits that can flow from rigorous dancing in adulthood.
Stone learnt mostly tap dancing for 10 years as a child. She has described herself as “never a technically proficient dancer” and spoke publicly of how dance helped to stabilise her mood and control panic attacks.
Gosling had basic training in singing and dancing in the 1990s for his role alongside stars, including Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. That was for a revival of The Mickey Mouse Club, the TV variety show that first aired in the 1950s. It did nothing to prepare him for the gruelling training to prepare as the lead in La La Land.
Gosling’s regimen included Pilates to build core muscle. A strong core was key to the rigour required to sweep Stone off her feet, spin her above his head, and not drop her like a stone at his feet.
Research shows that dancing provides the same cardiovascular and respiratory advantages as conventional aerobic exercises, with less injury risk. Dance builds fitness, strength, balance and endurance and can preserve and enhance cognitive (thinking) functions in older adults.
It is not necessarily demanding, timewise. A Chinese study in 2018 suggests that dancing for just one to two hours per week supports brain health.
Science has identified mechanisms of action by which dance works its healthy magic. It builds new neural connectivity in the brain (what scientists call neuroplasticity) by simultaneously activating areas responsible for movement, logic, music and emotion while stimulating regions associated with long-term memory, spatial awareness and “executive function”.
Executive function is the scientific term for a set of cognitive skills — working memory, cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control — that enable planning, problem-solving, attention regulation and goal-directed behaviour.
A systematic review and analysis in BMC Geriatrics in 2023 builds on the research and focuses on dance therapy for people over 55 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which increases the risk of dementia).
The researchers concluded that dance therapy may be “an effective, non-pharmacological complementary treatment” for MCI.
The roots of the brain-boosting benefits of dance stretch far back to the dawn of human civilisation. Ancient cave paintings, neolithic pottery, archaeological finds and Egyptian tomb art show that dance is a universal human behaviour and language of movement that transcends cultural boundaries.
Human anatomy and genetic studies point to dance’s deep evolutionary roots as a form of social communication. Research also shows that humans are not alone in instinctive passion for rhythmical movement.
Many living creatures engage in dance-like behaviours that come as naturally as wagging to the tails of happy dogs. Honeybees perform a “waggle dance” to share information about location and quality of food sources with colony mates; birds indulge in elaborate courtship dance-like rituals to win a mate.
Along the way, science dispels enduring myths about dance, including that it is only for the naturally talented, the young, fit, strong and well co-ordinated; and is predominantly a “woman’s art”.
“Everybody can dance,” says SA dance specialist Julie Symmonds.
“You might not be able to dance well, but if you can tap your toes, clap your hands, and wiggle your shoulders, you can dance,” Symmonds says.
She has an honours degree in music, specialising in dance, from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and is the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Dance for Parkinson’s SA (DFPSA) and a pioneer of Dance for PD in SA.
Dance for PD is the registered trademark of a specialised form of dance and movement developed in the US in 2001 for people living with Parkinson’s.
It incorporates different dance styles and cognitive elements to improve balance, mobility and overall wellbeing in people living with the neurological condition. It is also helpful for those living with Lewy body dementia (LBD).
LBD is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by abnormal deposits of alpha-synuclein proteins (known as Lewy bodies) in the brain. These protein deposits disrupt cognitive, motor and autonomic functions, leading to symptoms that overlap with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
Symmonds was the first certified Dance for PD teacher in Africa and is one of a select group of practitioners worldwide authorised to train other teaching artists in the programme.
While still actively involved in DFPSA, she emigrated to Scotland with her family in 2019. Symmonds now runs Dance for PD classes in rural villages within Stirlingshire and in the Dance for Health programme at Scottish Ballet in Glasgow.
She points out that Dance for PD teachers are not dance therapists as such. Rather, they are “teachers of dance-based movement classes with therapeutic benefits”.
Dance for PD has expanded globally and inspired a range of science-based initiatives based on the therapeutic benefits of dance.
That’s a welcome phenomenon since both Parkinson’s and dementia diseases are global public health threats, largely due to ageing populations. Parkinson’s is one of the world’s fastest growing neurological conditions, along with diabetic neuropathy.
Participants in Symmonds’ classes include psychiatrists, lawyers, engineers and school principals.
“All have led interesting lives,” Symmonds says. “They still have a voice, autonomy, lots to share and a story to tell.”
Some participants have more mobility issues than others. Symmonds, therefore, offers standing and seated options, including wheelchairs, to ensure that they can engage fully and comfortably and feel included throughout.
“We all need to feel useful, appreciated and included,” she says.
Symmonds clearly derives significant job satisfaction from her line of work. “Every single class gives me goose bumps and giggles.
“We learn to laugh again and at the same time, give the mind, body and soul some much-needed TLC,” she says.
“Dance is movement. We all have movement in our bodies and we can all benefit from healthy movement.”
More men than women participate in her Stirlingshire classes. That’s not surprising, since the incidence of Parkinson’s is higher in men than it is in women.
The age range is also wide: from early 30s to well into their 90s. Again, that’s not surprising.
Doctors diagnose Parkinson’s mostly in people aged between 60 and 70. Early- or young-onset Parkinson’s sisease (YOPD) is less common and can occur before age 50 (about 10% of cases). In rare cases, diagnosis comes even earlier.
Hollywood actor Michael J Fox was just 29 when first diagnosed in 1991 (he only went public in 1998); boxer Muhammad Ali was diagnosed at age 42 in 1984 (neurologists on his medical team confirmed a primary YOPD diagnosis, not dementia from repeated blows to the head, as some speculated); actor-comedian Robin Williams was first diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2014, and posthumously with LBD after his death by suicide at 63 that same year.
To boost the benefits of Dance for PD for participants in Killearn village classes, Symmonds has teamed up with local musician Clare Cushing, who has added innovative singing, breathing and specialised musical instrument components to the classes.
“People living with Parkinson’s can experience a range of different symptoms, and in many cases, their voice is affected,” Cushing says. “This can negatively affect communicate and exacerbate feelings of frustration and social isolation.”
Cushing has also introduced tuned and untuned percussion instruments, including hand chimes, djembe drums, bells and rain sticks as an all-round “tonic” for participants in body and mind.
A more recent spin-off of research into dance for brain health is “neurodance” classes. As the name implies, neurodance fuses neuroscience and dance. It is developed by movement specialists and cognitive scientists to improve brain health through dance and physical exercises with a cognitive component.
Neurodance proponents claim benefit for ageing populations and people with neurodegenerative conditions and anyone wanting to boost mental agility through rhythmic and engaging movement patterns.
Among scientists who have contributed to groundwork research behind neurodance is Nicola Clayton, professor of comparative cognition in the psychology department at Cambridge University.
In addition to research and teaching, Clayton is a dancer, specialising in tango and salsa, and scientist in residence at the Rambert Dance Company, England’s oldest existing dance company.
Rambert offers dance and wellness classes and courses for people of all ages and abilities to ensure that dance remains “inspiring, engaging and relevant to everyone”.
Astaire once said: “Old age is like everything else — to make a success of it, you’ve got to start young.”
Symmonds says: “Age is just a number, and it’s never too late to boost brain health by learning to dance.”
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