Here’s the deal, for most, taking a dance class may seem trivial… But in many cases becomes the life-changing experience that so many are seeking.

If you don’t believe it, just look at this list of the most notable benefits of dance. It’s evident that dancing positively impacts all aspects of your life: physicalemotional and mental healthsocial life and more.

Additionally, people of all ages can reap these benefits: children, students, adults and seniors.

Quick jump to:

Health Benefits of Dance

1. Improves Memory and Concentration

It has been proven that learning new moves and combinations improves memory and enhances concentration. Actually it is helpful not just for young people, but for seniors as well. Even more important is the fact, that according to the recent studies, frequent dancing is the only activity that can help protect against dementia and Alzheimer disease.

2. Flexibility and Elegance

Dancing will make you more flexible, graceful and elegant in your everyday life. It can also help you become more aware of your body, the way you move, your sense of balance and spacial orientation. Those who struggle with it or sometimes feel awkward in movements and handing things may find dancing very helpful indeed.

3. Weight and Metabolism

Dance exercises combined with healthy nutrition will help you lose weight, boost your metabolism and stay in shape! However not all dances are the same when it comes to this topic. Usually it’s all about calories and how many of them you can burn during the class. So dancing Tango will probably won’t help you a lot in this case, whereas salsa or hip hop will bring your weight down a lot faster. Just follow the link to learn which dance styles are best for weight loss. One word of caution though, choose a dance style which makes you happy and you actually want to practice even if it’s not as energy intensive as you hoped it would be. Mental stress and self hatred leads to obesity a lot more often than an extra bite of some delicious food.

4. Posture and Blood Flow

It tones your muscles, and improves posture and blood flow, which in turn boosts your immune system and overall health. For many of us it is very difficult to have a great posture with all the cell phone and computer time we have to spend daily either at work or at home. However on your dance classes and related social events of any kind you’ll be more aware about how you hold your back, you head, shoulders and so on. It won’t take as much mental stress and will power as it would if you chose to hold you back straight all of a sudden without any special reason or purpose.

And yes, good posture will align your bones and joints and it will indeed improve the blood flow to your head and other important areas of your body properly oxygenating internal organs and making you healthier. Nice bonus, right?

5. Perfect Age

You don’t need to be a certain age. Any age is perfect to start dancing! At any age such physical activity will bring lots positive changes to your body and soul! As an adult it may seem difficult at first to make yourself go to your first dance class. If you’ve never danced before you’ll will probably be very self-conscious, shy and worry a lot about it, but you shouldn’t. Many adults who have never danced in their life come to dance classes in their 30s, 40s and 50s these days. It’s totally normal and there is nothing to be hesitant about. If you want to dance – just do it.

If you are in your 60s or older you should still come to dance classes and enjoy your life as a dance student, however keep in mind that some dance styles require you to have a good physical health. It’s up you and probably your doctor (in case you have a certain health condition) to decide which dance style is more suitable for you. Argentine Tango or Bachata for example are just great for seniors. However Hip-hop or Zumba would probably be too much.

If you’re thinking about getting your kids into dancing, well then usually there is no limit here, just make sure you kid shares your passion. To find out more about the importance of dance for kids simply follow the link 😉

Mental & Emotional Benefits

6. Sleep and Stress Level

Regular physical activity produces endorphins—chemicals in the brain that improve the ability to sleep, reduce stress and anxiety. For some of the young ones this may not be among the most important advantages, but for some of us who suffer from stress on a regular basis, it is crucial to have a way to relax mentally even if it’s just 2-3 hours a week.

Another aspect of this problem is that in modern world we don’t experience physical fatigue that often, and, let me tell you, that importance of getting tired physically is highly underappreciated. So if you want to sleep tight tonight, I advise you to take a dance lesson. Your muscles will work for a while pumping some fresh oxygenated blood thought your veins and brain, and if you’ll feel a little tired in the end – is amazing!

7. Empowerment and Confidence

Attending dance classes regularly will make you feel good about yourself. It will make you more disciplined, fulfilled, confident, and in control of your daily life. Actually, feeling confident and empowered should be a “default setting” for all of us. Unfortunately nowadays people have too many mental traumas and blocks which do not allow this. This is where dancing can be extremely beneficial in helping people be more of themselves.

8. Unwind and Recover

It forces you to live in the now. It disconnects you from all your problems, giving you the chance to unwind and recover from the stresses of daily life. It’s very powerful and it’s effects on the mind somewhat resembles effects of mediation. When you start attending dance classes at first you simply have not time to think about your problems. You become totally concentrated on what your dance instructor says, on how to make this or that move, what dance move goes after that. And usually it all happens so fast, that you simply have no time to think about anything else. It’s very powerful and exciting, you just have to try to believe me.

9. Happiness and Mood

Dancing and physical interactions with other happy people is one of the most powerful natural antidepressants. It fantastically improves your mood and increases your overall happiness.

In fact, this is one of the most important benefits of dance that I can only think of. When you are happy – you feel good. When you feel good – everything around you looks and feels better and it makes you feel even happier. The happier you get – the better is the quality of your life. This is why I believe it’s crucial to be a happy being 🙂

By the way, the music you listen has a direct influence on your mood. If you want to feel better – start listening happy music regularly. Upbeat and positive attitude is guaranteed!

10. It is Fun!

With so much changing in the world and in your life, it will always be there as something fun to do.

11. Creativity and Self Expression

The dance floor will become a place where you can express your inner self, your creative soul. Not everyone can say that they have that. So if you feel that you have something to say to the world around you, if you feel the urge to express your thoughts and feelings – dancing can be one of the ways to do that in a very pleasant and natural way.

12. Thinking vs. Action

Dancing helps you get out of your head. You will learn to think less and act more… Exciting, huh?

I know it can be a little scary for some people to let go of self-imposed limits. I know that sometimes you have to really think everything through before you make a decision, but it’s not necessary all the time. This is where dancing comes in really handy.

Social Benefits

13. Friends and Love

Dancing is the best way to find new friends, expand your social circle and possibly even meet the love of your life. If this is your goal, then there is no simpler way of achieving it ♡

14. People and Social Skills

Partner dancing classes and social dancing events are the best activities to improve social skills. They help you meet many new people and give you lots of opportunities to start conversations.

15. Relationships and Romance

Dancing may improve your relationship with your partner. It will bring more romance and passion into your life. It doesn’t matter what dance style you choose, be it a partner dance or not. It also doesn’t matter if he or she chooses to attend classes with you or you go dancing on your own. In any case if that’s something you are eager to try, you should do it and see where it will lead you. A simple fact that dancing will make feel better about yourself and be more in control of your life will improve your relationship with yourself. This is really important as at first you improve relationship with yourself and only then with everyone else you interact with, because everything changes once you start understanding what self-worth really means.

16. Different Styles and Communities

All dance styles have their own unique communities that most of the time are super friendly and will gladly accept a new member like you.

17. Uniqueness and Attention

Dancing skills will make you stand out among non-dancing friends. You will feel unique and attract lots of attention from others. Do with that what you will ヅ

18. Traveling and Assimilation

If you chose one of the social dancing styles, like tango, salsa, bachata and so on, you will be able to find at least a dozen of new friends all over the world in a single night, wherever you go.

19. Festivals and Traveling

The moment you become a dancer you will start traveling more. You will be surprised, but you don’t have to be a professional full-time dancer to go to national or international festivals and workshops.

20. Evenings and Nights

Forget about boring evenings! Anywhere, anytime, alone or with a partner, with music or without it, you will want to practice some new moves.

Personal Benefits

21. It is Sexy!

Dancing is sexy! It will make you feel sexy, it will make you look sexy, it will simply make your whole life sexier. You may like it or not, but it’s just the way it is. Watch this afro dance video for example, and you’ll understand what I mean 😛

22. Masculinity and Femininity

This one is another controversial topic for some people, but it still deserves it’s place in our list. We totally support those identifying their gender their own way. But this is not about gender identification, this is about helping those who would like to learn to be more masculine of feminine. Partner dancing is perfect for this, it will help you learn the basics of masculinity and femininity on the dance floor and in your everyday life.

23. Looking Good

Dancing gives you an excuse to dress well every day and wear your best outfits for numerous events you will soon be attending. In fact, dance costumes should be a totally separate topic as there is whole new world out there waiting for you – the world of cool clothing options and beautiful dance shoes! Many don’t realize this, but the clothes we wear often changes us not just on the outside, but on the inside as well.

24. Connection and Perception

You will learn to connect with people and the world on a new level – something which words can’t begin to describe.

25. Changes in Life

It may drastically change your life for the better in many ways. It has changed mine and most likely will change yours if you’ll give it a chance. You can find lots and lots of stories on the internet to prove that.

26. Sense of Well-being

Improves the overall quality of your life. Just look at all the things mentioned here! It is amazing, isn’t it?!

Other Reasons to Start Dancing

27. Pricing and Experience

It is inexpensive. In most cases, you don’t need any special equipment. You don’t need any license or previous experience either.

For some of social dance styles such as bachata or salsa you won’t even need dancing shoes or change clothes before the class. Many people will come to this type of classes right after work and won’t have anything with them, so this is acceptable. Is it recommended? Probably not, as there is a reason why dance shoes and comfortable clothes exist, but still it’s not required especially at first. Check with your local studio and their rules as this may be different from one school to another.

Of course there are also dance styles that will require you to have some special equipment, such as pole dancing for example. But don’t expect to be required to bring your own dance pole to the class. You can buy a dance pole and install it at home for practicing, but in the dance studio they will have their own, so no worries there as well. In any case it’s always a good idea to ask you dance teacher whether there is any need in special equipment as their maybe times where it’s actually needed.

28. Partners

You don’t need to have a partner! Yes, you can come to partner dance classes alone and it will be perfectly normal. Most people do just that. I’ve been teaching adults to dance for a few years and 90% of them come to classes without a partner. What’s more important is that many of them are happily married, it’s just their partners are not into dancing.

I believe this is totally normal – you don’t have to drag your loved ones to a partner dance class if he or she doesn’t want it. I’ve seen this type of couples, worked with them and sometimes it’s quite fun, but there are also times when it wasn’t not such a good idea. Please don’t force and push each other into doing what you don’t want to too much, be reasonable when you want to get someone outside of their comfort zone.

29. Judges and Competition

You don’t have to compete with others if you don’t want to. There are competitive and non-competitive schools out there. So, those not willing to be judged can always enjoy learning in a natural and drama-free environment.

30. Listen and Feel

Your definition of “Good Music” will probably change. You will learn to listen songs in a new unexpected way. You will hear more and feel more.

31. The Essence of Good

“Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.” – Voltaire

Some common sense

Before we continue, just one question – does it mean that every dancer has a perfect health, relationship, mood and life in general?

Of course not, because it’s not just about dancing, it’s more about loving what you do, loving yourself and others. It’s about finding balance in all of it and prioritizing what’s more important at this time. It’s about planning your next move and finding the right steps to achieve your goals. It’s all about being who you are and enjoying it. It’s not just about dancing – it’s about living your life. And if dancing is something that excites you at this moment of you life, go for it.

Infographic: 31 Solid Reasons to Start Dancing

This is a long one as you can see. We’ve tried to put every here. Hopefully it’s still readable, sorry if not. At least we tried, LOL! Share this article and the infographic with others if you feel like it, thank you!

Infographic illustrating 31 benefits of dance

Bottom Line

I really do hope we’ve convinced you at least to some degree to enroll in one of your local dance schools.

After you’ve learned about so many benefits of dancing, you definitely should be, because dancing can be beneficial for your body, your emotional health, it can improve your social life and it can do lots of other amazing things to you. Just give it a chance and you won’t be disappointed and don’t forget to have fun on your way to becoming a dancer.

If you are ready to take the next step and drastically change your life for the better, I suggest making a phone call to the nearest studio and let them know that you are coming.

Another great thing to do before you actually attend your first class is to find a way to get yourself excited about dancing in general. Watch some videos, find a style that you may enjoy, buy some new outfit specifically for this reason and check out the best dance bags that would be perfect for carrying shoes and extra clothes for the classes.

All of this will make you think of this new adventure more as a quest in a positive stress-free manner rather than something you should force your self to do because someone said it’s so beneficial. It will be beneficial only if you do actually want to do it yourself.

Thank you for reading and don’t forget to leave a comment below and let us know what’s on your mind.