What’s your “go to” dance move? This may seem like an innocent enough question, but how you groove says a lot more about you than you may think.
Yes, from the classic running man to the more advanced techniques of the robot, there is science to suggest our brains are able to extract a lot of information about a person just from watching them dance!
Source: Pixabay
A lot of the research around dance and the way that we interpret it centers around something called social cognition. Basically, this is how we make sense of other people and social situations. These studies suggest that we aren’t only good at interpreting emotion from dance, but people with more dance experience actually have improved social cognition!
Alright, so at this point, I’m sure you’re wondering, what’s the science behind a “good” dancer? This great video from the YouTube channel SciShow Psych helps us get an in-depth look at what our moves are saying about us, and how they may just be helping us live longer!
So, gentlemen get those right knees flailing, and ladies start independently shaking your hands!
Now, if someone questions your dance moves, you’ve got some hard science to back up your artistic choices.
These benefits of dance aren’t just theoretical.
Dance provides an incredible form of therapy for patients with limited or deteriorating mobility. The group Dance for PD is helping patients with Parkinson’s Disease by using dance as therapy.
Oh, and if you want yet another reason to get up and dance, here’s an article we wrote a while back that still brings a smile to my face every time I see it. I mean, it’s hard not to bond with complete strangers when you’re doing an absurd dance routine together!
Dance on my friends, and, if you’re looking for some new dance partners, why not share this article with them? It may just get them moving!
Stay beautiful & keep laughing!
-Liesl
Keep on dancing!
Ever wondered what the hardest move in ballet is? Or, what it looks like when people figure out how to dance while hanging off the sides of buildings?
Head over to our full library of articles about dance and check it out!
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Notes:
- “What Your Dance Moves Say About Who You Are.” YouTube, SciShow Psych, 4 June 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpBzDBXQQe8. Accessed 18 June 2018. ↩
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