When one thinks of dance, what comes to mind? Perhaps a ballerina dancing as the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker, or a street dancer in Time Square of New York City trying to earn money for a living. Or maybe the flappers in the 1920’s with their frilly seductive dresses, and feathers and jewels dangling from their body, dancing on top of tables at a party. Maybe ballroom dancing comes to mind, or the salsa, or jazz dancing, or even just simply the famous TV shows “So You Think You Can Dance,” or “Dancing with the Stars,” that incorporate several different kinds of dance genres. Dance can have many faces; the aura of a ballerina is not the same as a street dancer, or someone who can do the salsa. Each one has unique characteristics that differentiates one from the other. This is the same for humanity. Everyone is different, and has unique characteristics about them that make them who they are. Dance is made in a way that allows anyone from any background, culture, or place to invite them into a world of their own creative movement. Anyone can dance, and for any reason too. Dancing can be used for so many different reasons- therapy, stress reliever, exercise, or simply for enjoyment. All of these things benefit a person, and can greatly and easily help them out in the grand scheme of life. Through dance, people are able to improve their health by relieving stress and emotions through their mind and body physically, emotionally, spiritually, and mentally.

So, what is dance? Even though dance has been around for generations, it has always been described as, “the movement of the body in a rhythmic way, usually to music and within a given space, for the purpose of expressing an idea or emotion, releasing energy, or simply taking delight in the movement itself” (Mackrell). With dance being around for centuries, it has traveled all throughout the world. There are so many different genres of dance. There is ballet, which has so many methods that have originated from several different countries. There is the Balanchine and Vaganova Method, which originated from Russia, Cecchetti Method that came from Italy, Contemporary Ballet which originated from New York, and so many more that make ballet so unique. Israeli folk dancing is also a different genre and style of dance based upon a specific area, which allows people from that specific culture to partake in an activity that fits in with their society. Then there are the flappers, which were promiscuous dancers that rebelled against modest society. They danced in a way that expressed themselves through jazz music. All of these different forms of dance contribute to the culture of the society. From then on, dance revolutionized itself into many different kinds of genres. The great thing about all of these different kinds of dance is that they all mean and strive for the same thing- to express ideas or emotions, to release energy, and to simply take delight in the movement itself (Mackrell).

The special thing about dance is it never changes. New kinds of dance might emerge, but the love and relief through expression people get through dance is unchanging. A dancer from “Why We Dance” by Untapped says, “Where I am in my life I can always use dance to express myself. Always” (Untapped). Untapped is a movement that brings dancers from around the world together to encourage each other. It also came out as a documentary to show the beneficial impact dance has on adolescents. Through this video, dancers prove how dance is not just an art, but a way of living and letting go of all the stress that weighs you down. A lot of these dancers go through different struggles in life. Perhaps depression, abuse, or even heartbreak. Dance is simply there for them welcoming them into open arms. Technically speaking, based upon the orientation of communication theory, “dance [facilitates] verbal reflexivity and resolution of conflicting messages. The cognitive-behavior approach seeks through dance to reverse faulty thinking patterns and negative feelings about the self" (Hanna 189). This shows how dance works in a sense, how it reverses the thinking through movement, which takes away all the negativity that is clouding one’s thoughts. That being said, dance inevitably takes all the negative thoughts out of your head which causes for a positive and healthy mind and mindset. 

There are two kinds of dance that are crucial to understand. There is just simply dance, which allows one to relieve their own stress whenever they please, and there is dance therapy. One does not need a legitimate therapist to consider it dance therapy. Many dancers call dance their own personal therapy, because it is a way to let go of whatever they are going through. Then there is the actual concept of dance therapy, where there are actual dance therapists who help people by using dance to get them through whatever they are going through, whether it is mental or physical injuries. In Judith Hanna’s book, Dancing for Health: Conquering and Preventing Stress, she writes pertaining the openness of dance therapy that, “among several techniques, such as body movement, role-playing, and relaxation, that people use to cope with stress today, dance is widespread, engaging professionals, amateurs, viewers, and clients in dance therapy” (Hanna 10). Dance is not just for professionals, or people who even dance well. Dance is for anyone and everyone who wants to express themselves. There is no such thing as wrong movement in dance, but simply creative and unique movement. Dance/movement therapy (DMT) beneficially affects the health of others and can cause people to change their ways. Wiedenhofer argues that dance/movement therapy “[increases] well-being, and [reduces] stress and other self-related symptoms contributing to mood disorders” (Wiedenhofer 115). Dance therapy allows you to relax and let go of the stress that life has inhibited on oneself. Through dance therapy, one can easily learn more about themselves than they have ever learned. 

Studies have shown that dance therapy opens one up to their emotions, and allows them to release feelings from their brain and onto their movements, exhibiting how they are feeling (Mellardo). Hanna writes about this by saying, “nonverbal communication, the bodily sending and receiving of messages, is integral to the dance/movement healing process and makes it unique among Western forms of therapy. The expressive body movement is assumed to reveal aspects of a person’s state of mind, personality, emotions, feelings, and range of adaptive behaviors” (Hanna 186).  Therefore, therapists have discovered that dancing allows personal growth- physically and mentally. Based upon the movement of their body, something signal clicks within their brain that allows their emotions to be moved as well along with their body. Overall, dance therapy is not just any therapy; it does so much more than push one through problems in life. It allows one to express themselves in a less bland kind of way. With dance therapy, a happy medium is definitely achieved. One gets the best of both worlds by exercising, nonverbally expressing how one feels, preventing disease, and improving one’s span of life. Hanna puts in nicely: "dance offers what prose writing or reading offer- creative cognitive patterning, storytelling, social interaction, workout of mind and spirit, and a dimension of spontaneity and fantasy. Both the sensory and the symbolic are privileged in dance" (Hanna 14). When dancing, words are being written through the movement of body. One is writing their own story through the movement they think best tells the story that is trying to be portrayed. That is what makes it so special. As one is drawing in the audience with pathos, they see the feelings, and they might even see a new story within themselves through the dancing of another.

Through dance, people learn to exercise, but also to actually enjoy exercising. A recent study was conducted that shows that dance was proven to be an interest for young female adolescents who did not seem to have an interest in exercising (Connolly 53). The experiment proved that dance benefited them physically, by giving them something that interested them that allowed them to exercise and eventually strive to be healthy. Therefore, by improving physical health, mental health is also being greatly improved as well. Alex Mellardo, a former dancer proves this by explaining through her own experience that dance is not only a fun sport that gives you an extreme workout, but also improves one’s mood and cognitive skills. She states that dance, “stimulates different brain activities at the same time, including emotional, rational, kinesthetic and musical” (Mellardo). All of these put together improves how your brain functions while sharpening the mind.

Dance allows one to let out their feelings and stress through dance movement. As Hanna puts it, “learning theory considers dance as a basic need and a safe insulated arena through which to explore feelings and thoughts in order to renew old values or introduce new ones and thereby change behavior” (Hanna 189). Dance is used as nonverbal communication, which can help one express what they cannot or do not way to say. Through nonverbal communication that dance brings out, Hanna states that, “the expressive body movement is assumed to reveal aspects of a person’s state or mind, personality, emotions, feelings, and range of adaptive behaviors” (Hanna 186). Dance is a part of being human. Technically speaking, “the configuration of human behavior that is called dance has its roots in phylogeny (development of the living species) and ontogeny (development of the individual). Humans have predispositions to dance that are shaped by cultural value and social experience” (Hanna 207). What this shows is that humans were meant to dance. Humans already automatically have this predisposition to dance- to let out emotions through movement, based upon the origin of dance. Little did humanity know that dance has always been a part of us, and how simple it can be to be used as something to cleanse oneself of the hardships that life inflicts upon society. 

Not only does dance benefit adolescents, but it also benefits older adults. Dance is not just for the young and lively, but also for those who have grown out of being able to do all those special tricks. “Dance Exercise for Older Adults: A Pilot Study Investigating Standing Balance Following a Single Lesson of Danzon” proves that older people that dance improve their locomotive skills and balance. Dancing overall improves the posture, and agility of older adults and the elderly (Gusmán-García). This study uses older adults that were not familiar with dancing, to take 30-minute dance lessons. The overall results were that dance improves balance, which comes from the cerebellum. The cerebellum plays a big part in preventing diseases. Knowing that one’s brain is important to the functioning of a person makes one think that taking care of one’s brain is crucial. Therefore, as an older person, keeping the brain intact should be their top priority. The older a person gets, the more the body deteriorates from its young state, to a much more fragile state of being. Christopher Bergland argues through his article, “Why is Dancing So Good for Your Brain?” that the advanced balance of dancers, which comes from the altered cerebellum, could prevent chronic disease). Bergland then goes on to prove that through the muscle memory of dancers, “marking” instead of dancing full-out can improve the thought process of oneself (Bergland). Therefore, dance has shown to be a great mechanism in improving one’s activeness and overall mental and physical state of being. 

Many people like to stereotype dance- specifically ballet. In the article, “Dance Needs to Stop Fetishing Thin,” Judith Mackrell generalized that up until modern times, circumstances have greatly influenced what the ideal dancer or ballerina’s body must look like. From the 1920’s and the flappers until now, dance has obviously played a big part in our society (Mackrell). We should not stereotype dancers into believing that they should look thin enough to be the “perfect ballerina.” Society should promote a healthy body, rather than a thin body- one that their own self distorted to look the part. Also, in “Body Image of Dancers in Los Angeles: The Cult of Slenderness and Media Influence Among Dance Students,” Tereasa Heiland talks about how dancers in Los Angeles show that body image is a huge burden upon a dancer. Through their personal experiences their bodies are compared to those of the Russian style, which influences them to starve themselves, and other actions to get slender, bone thin bodies that ballet directors so desire. From the beginning of dance, dance has always been an art to look at the body. So many dancers have died from anorexia, drug addiction, in pursuit of wanting to be thin. All of this goes into play of the horrible body image that dancers can acquire. This eventually can lead to malnutrition, which is not beneficial at all. It forces dancers to constantly reevaluate who they are and what they look like, just to play the part and make it in the dance world. Being a dancer can easily cause one to lead astray based on the environment that is forced upon them. But it is not necessarily dance that puts them in a position to harm themselves, it is society pressuring them to look a certain way because that is normal. Most of these hardships only come through professional work in dance. Hanna writes, “the pursuit of a dance career has stressor elements, for example, competition, stage fright, physical injury, racism, economic difficulties, and career transition” (Hanna 1). All of these hardships involve dance at a professional level, which therefore knocks out dance therapy from being non-beneficial.  

One of the greatest ballerinas of this modern day and age is Misty Copeland. Misty Copeland started off living in poverty, with no idea of the potential she had. At the age of 13, she started ballet, and now at the age of 35 she has become one of the biggest faces of ballet. The biggest struggle in her journey to become a prima ballerina was her body image. Everyone told her she would not make it with large breasts and defined muscles. That was not the ideal ballerina body that was sought out for professional ballet companies. Needless to say, since the age of 18 she has been a part of the American Ballet Theatre company- one of the most prestigious dance companies in the United States. She became the face of Time Magazine’s Top 100 Influential at one point in her life. She has been a role model to dancers all around the world, leaving a legacy for anyone who has the dream to become a dancer. She has proven that no matter what size you are, no matter how defined you are, passion is what matters. She has created a strong and positive body image for dancers. 

For a lot of people, it is difficult to find the right words to say when expressing themselves. When watching someone dance, a story is being told through movement, without words. Many people don’t realize how unique of an art dance is. Dance allows one to fully express emotions and feelings, and also allows one to do that through exercise- moving the body aerobically. Dance is not only a beautiful way of expression, but it is also beautiful to look at. Many people find pleasure in just simply watching someone dance, telling maybe not their story, but even someone else’s. One could honestly explain their own entire existential crisis through dance. Dance is special to where anyone can participate in it, not just people who have the potential and attributes to be a dancer. From the perfect words of Hanna, "dance is more than physical exercise for fitness and movement satisfaction. Dance also permits emotional, intellectual, and aesthetic exploration" (Hanna 208).  Through dance one is not only getting exercise out of it, but also being able to tell someone a story through arms, legs, movement whatsoever. One’s mind is automatically being sharpened by all the cognitive skills that are being used just to dance. It seems difficult to think that one is doing that all at once, but it simply comes natural. It is a part of being human. It reconnects society with the emotions that are churning inside each and every individual. And each story-movement of expression- is never the same. Anyone can concoct an idea and make it their own, a dance like no other. 

Dance is not just an art, but a magical way to show what you are fighting for. By dancing, no one has to travel to faraway places to escape the inevitable inner struggles that everyone endures. Dance is the gateway to a new and personal world that transfers thoughts into movement. So, to describe what goes on from one’s mind to the body while dancing Hanna writes, “through dance, people meet demons, ward of death, shake off sin and evil, come to terms with life crises, mediate paradoxes, resolve conflict, revitalize the past to re-create the present, enhance their self-concept and body image, attract attention, assert themselves, confront the strong, and persuade others to change their ways” (Hanna 217). Dance is the medium that anyone and everyone needs. If everyone danced, and expressed what they normally do not or cannot say, the world would be better off. Like Hanna said, dance can persuade others to change their ways. Every aspect of dance proves that one can change their ways through this kind of expression, and also do it by exercise movement. It is arguably proven that dance improves one’s health by relieving the stress of emotions, feelings, and chaos of life through their mind and body. To dance is to thrive, and to thrive is to live. 
