Day celebrates art, health

By Amanda Phipps

phippsa@thejohnsonian.com

Turn up the music and burn some calories.

People of all ages can get into better shape by dancing. It’s a type of exercise that’s not only fun, but a workout as well.

Nigel Lythgoe, the producer for the Fox show “So You Think You Can Dance,” announced this year that Congress officially recognizes July 31 as National Dance Day. Lythgoe created the day with the aim of “promoting health and self-esteem through the art form of dance,” according to the show’s website.

Congress member Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced National Dance Day as a day to “promote dance education and physical fitness across the U.S.” on July 31 at a press conference in Washington, D.C., according to the website.

Dancing mixes exercising and fun, said Cassandra Bell, who teaches aerobic dance and biology.

“It is a great cardio workout that most people haven’t considered before,” she said. “It doesn’t matter how you dance, it just gets people up and moving.”

Bell said people are more likely to keep up with exercising if they don’t see it as work.

“People will stay more consistent with their workouts if it becomes fun,” she said. “Music is key; find something you like.”

Dancing can help people live healthier lifestyles in many ways, said Sandra Neels, associate professor of dance and theater.

“Each form of dance gets the body in a different kind of shape,” she said.

Neels said tap dance results in thinner thighs and modern, jazz and ballet styles of dance work the whole body. Modern and hip-hop dance styles work the cardiovascular system.

Dancers also eat healthier, drink more water and have better lung capacity, Neels said. Sweating can also remove toxins, and learning rhythms and moving quickly can sharpen the mind.

Besides better eating habits, dancing forces people to stretch, which can be beneficial to their health, Neels said.

“Stretching can help people keep their height,” she said.

Dancing has more than just health benefits, associate theater and dance professor Mary Beth Thompson said.

“Dance releases natural endorphins and it makes people feel better,” she said. “It can be a positive addiction.”

Using dance as a form of exercise can get people into shape, but it’s also a release from everyday life, Thompson said.

“It takes people out of themselves,” she said. “It puts people right there in the moment. That movement cannot be re-created.”

Classes, such as aerobic dance and Zumba, offer people a chance to have fun while exercising. The classes can inspire people to make healthier choices, business administration major  Beyanca  Vinson said. She took aerobic dance in the spring of 2009.

“The class made exercise more fun,” she said. “It was better than just lifting weights, and the music got my mind off the exercise.”

After taking aerobic dance, Vinson said she started watching her diet and protein intake and joined a cardio kick class.

“The kick class wasn’t really dancing, and I didn’t get any results from it,” she said.

Even so, Vinson said she was more hyped about exercise when it involved music and dance.

Neels said dancing is becoming more popular because of dance shows.

“Our kids see people from the shows do forms outside of their style, and it encourages them to take dance classes,” she said.

Thompson also said dance is becoming more important. “Dance represents movement and celebration,” she said.

National Dance Day will hopefully encourage more people to dance, Thompson said.

“We want the whole world to dance,” she said. “It is about time we did this.”