Do you have a body? Then you can dance!

**“I am not a dancer.” “I have two left feet.” “I am so uncoordinated.”**

These are common responses I hear when I tell people about the dance classes I teach. The word dance is often associated with performances on stage, with images of perfectly executed movements, lithe, agile and strong bodies, coordinated in sync with the ensemble on stage, showing grace and expression of the beauty of the human form. Or the ballet dancer, with desirable physical proportions and enviable turnout. Or memories of high school dances or youth jazz and musical theatre classes where comparison was rampant and the ego fragile.

Luckily, the body dysmorphia in the world of dance is changing and a more realistic demographic is in sight, giving all of us, no matter the size, or shape of our bodies, an opportunity to see and perhaps even feel like we can do it too.

Dance is part of being human and has nothing to do with talent. When babies hear music, they often start bopping around on their unstable legs or circling their elbows, nodding their heads and their faces are alight with joy. There is an innate desire in each of us to dance. Studies have shown that certain speeds and tones of music elicit an immediate motor skill response in the brain. As far back as human history itself, dance has been part of every culture.

Dance as an art form is a wonderful way to express ourselves, to tell our stories, to entertain and evoke emotions in others. However, it seems we have forgotten that dance as a performance art is only one side of the coin. Dance is for every single human on this planet. We can have sovereignty over our body and our own unique, expressive, beautiful dance. We can dance with physical limitations, disabilities and with how our bodies are currently holding us.

We often subconsciously undervalue dance just for dance itself. I have come to know and understand personally and from other dancers that our personal dance, the one we do that is unique to us, is valid, powerful and important. There is another reason to dance and it is to feel good. When we can detach from the idea that dance has to look good, a whole world of possibility opens up for us to reclaim our right as a human in a physical form. We can improve the health of our bodies and our brains, find joy in dance, move and express ourselves and find wonder in the fact that this beautiful body can move in all sorts of creative ways.

Dance is a wonderful way to exercise and to build endurance, flexibility, mobility and strength as well as balance, and agility. It is also incredibly wonderful for mental health and self expression. In addition, it has an immense positive effect on brain health and there are many studies currently showing the powerful effects of dance on neuroplasticity decreasing dementia. We are only now beginning to understand the benefits of dance for mental health and personal expression, as well as building resilience for our nervous systems and learning tools to listen and respond to our bodies in a more meaningful and autonomous way.

I danced from a young age and chose to study contemporary dance at a three-year technical dance college in Vancouver. My program skewed to the liberal side of the dance arts and we were exposed to the huge variety of ways that dance can be present in our world. I discovered dance for the purposes of healing, self knowing, joy, fitness and wellbeing, not only for the purposes of creating beautiful art and telling stories with the human form. Some of the modalities I was introduced to that were around in Vancouver at the time were 5Rhythms, The Nia Technique, Continuum, Authentic Movement, Dance Therapy and Contact Improvisation. Since then, I have had the opportunity to experience, learn and be fully inspired by an even wider world of dance.

Holistic dance forms look at movement as a way to move stuck energy, to help qi come back into flow, to increase our awareness in sensing our life force energy and to experience joy. From a nervous system perspective, we can become more embodied by using diverse varieties of movements such as flow, sharp, shake, stillness, breath and moving with intention. Dance, especially when blended with music, is a fantastic way to sense and express our emotional body. We can play with how emotions are expressed through the body. During a JourneyDance session for example, we purposefully amplify our emotions to help move them through the body and follow a cathartic flow.

In a Nia Technique class, we can try on different energy dynamics on purpose to increase our ability to feel and express a whole range of human experience. We are invited to play with the power, explosiveness and masculine dynamics of some martial arts like Tae Kwan Do, the showmanship and being witnessed aspect of jazz and modern dance and the fluid, water like and feminine dynamics of Aikido and Feldenkrais. We can explore being childlike and innocent, sensual and playful, or strong and vocal all in a one-hour class. Even putting on a favourite song and taking a five-minute spontaneous dance break can be a way to explore these dynamics, lift our mood and move life force energy.

Another interesting benefit that is being studied with more frequency is the joy and sense of belonging that arises from moving with a group. In her book The Joy of Movement, Kelly McGonigal discusses collective effervescence. A term coined by Emile Durkheim, it is described as the feeling of being connected to one another and to something bigger than oneself through collective experience. The ”euphoric transcendence” that is experienced when we are dancing with a group is powerful and meaningful, and often experienced in group dynamics such as rowing, parades or singing in church. The sense of entrainment that is experienced touches our instinctual need to work in harmony with the community. From a neuroscience perspective, our instincts tell us we need to cooperate in order to survive and this collective effervescence can satisfy this very human desire.

We are fortunate to have so many diverse offerings of movement available to us not only in person, but thanks to the aftermath of the pandemic, you can participate in every style of movement on virtual classes or subscription services on your smart TV, such as NiaTV streaming services. To experience the benefits of dance and movement, it can be as simple as closing your eyes and moving your hips and shoulders, or putting on your favourite song and dancing for five minutes. The more you practise moving without self-judgment and pay attention to how great it feels, the easier it becomes to drop into the joy, meaning and healing available to us in our own personal dance.

I love dance in all forms: seeing a contemporary ballet performance, or hip-hop show can fuel my inspiration for weeks. I have watched the Move series on Netflix more times than I can count. What I love most of all though is when I witness people dancing with their entire selves, full of expression and joy, it moves me to tears. I love the sense of community I have developed all over the world and within my small community at Embody Movement Studio in our little town. We get to be silly and joyful together. We get to be serious and tender and be seen and see one another’s humanity in such a profound way and we get to use something that makes us laugh, and feel incredible as a way to not only stay healthy physically but also to tend to our hearts, our souls and our relationships.

I invite you to dance, for your whole self. I’ll be over here doing the same thing and, should you wish to dance in community, please join me at Embody Movement Studio.

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