Its often said that dance is the best form of exercise as you get older. It’s not just because of the physical movements – though that is indeed a challenge: it’s most definitely because of the learning that takes place in the class.
In a typical class the teacher has a routine to teach – she demonstrates and breaks it down for the students to follow. We watch – and wonder how those 8 movements can string together and only fill one bar of music. Then she teaches another bit – repeat.
Then you have to put it all together. So far so good – until she steps back and says let me watch what you have learned.
After an hour my head hurts – so much to remember! Watching, memorising, somehow transferring the learning into the body – and it becoming a memory within. A sequence that we are now somehow hoping than when performed will look natural and fit with the music.
It’s a big ask! A series of events that tests the brain, its connection with the body and the body. And that is why dance is the best form of exercise as you get older.
My 2020 Story 