 |  |  |
| Benefits of Ballroom Dancing For Retired Senior People |
1. A Giant Dancing Place
I started learning and practicing ballroom dancing after my retirement from my busy engineering job. In 2003,
our dance-class instructor took a group of his dance students, including me, to go to a very large dancing place
for dancing from 8 PM until midnight. This giant dancing place has 9,000 square feet of dancing floor and is the
largest dancing floor that I know about. The owner of dancing place is a friend of our dance instructor who told
us the following story.
About 20 years ago, a guy bought a supermarket and converted the entire interior of the supermarket into a
giant dancing floor. Since you know the size of typical supermarket, you know how big the dancing floor of this
giant dancing place is. The reason that this guy created such a large dancing floor is that he was a roofer
working on roofs. One day he fell down from the roof and his back got hurt badly. The prescription from his
doctor to heal his injured back was to learn and to practice ballroom dancing. Indeed, learning and practicing
ballroom dancing cured his back pain problem. Being so grateful to ballroom dancing, he created the largest
dancing floor for many people to enjoy dancing exercise with their lovely partners under very romantic
atmosphere including excellent music, lighting and interior decoration.
2. Challenges in Learning Ballroom Dancing
2.1. Forgetting the Learned Dance Steps Quickly
A common problem encountered by many beginners learning ballroom dancing is that they forget the learned
dancing steps and associated body/arm movements quickly. If the students do not put enough mental effort
and physical effort to practice what they have learned frequently, almost everybody forget those steps and
movements within about 3 days. Those learned steps and movements all evaporate and disappear very quickly
from their minds.
2.2. Some Methods to Memorize Learned Dance Steps
2.2.1. Camera or Camcorder
To cope with such problems, some of our classmates in dancing class bring cameras or camcorders and
supporting tripods to the classroom to record the movie of the dancing lessons so that they can review them
from time to time at home on their PCs or TVs. The recorded movie can be played over and over on certain
more challenging steps and movements until the student gets it right.
For example, Canon PowerShot SX10 IS compact digital camera with 16-GB memory card can record at least
3 hours of movie including video, stereo music and voice instructions of the dance teacher.
2.2.2. Pocket Voice Recorder
Another classmate carries a small voice recorder in his shirt pocket. He records important information on
dance steps by talking to his pocket recorder while learning in the dance class.
2.2.3. Hand Written Notes plus Computer
The way May Lee and I cope with such problem is to do a lot of mental homework in addition to physical
practice. We have 3 hours of dancing class on every Tuesday evening. We usually take some quick and cryptic
notes during the class. Soon after each dancing class while our memories are still fresh, we work in front of the
computer at home to put our class notes and our memories of the dance steps and movements on a Microsoft
Word file. We create one file for each type of dance such as Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango, Rumba, Samba, etc. that
we are learning. One of the advantages of using such Word file in a computer is that such file can easily be
revised and updated as we learn more in the future.
Usually, May Lee’s file has more information on lady’s part of dance steps and movements while my file has
more details on man’s part. May Lee and I exchange our draft files by e-mail attachments and merge our Word
files to obtain a more complete description of the learned dance steps and their associated movements of
body, hands, arms, fingers, feet, legs, knees, toes, heels, hips, head, eye, etc.
Then, as we continue more learning either from the classroom or from other more experienced dancers on the
dance floors in various dance parties, we enter the new information to revise and to update our Word file on
the dance. For example, our Word file on Tango has been revised and updated 31 times.
In recent two years, I have been using Method 2.2.1 with my cameras, Canon PowerShot S2IS or SX10 IS, to
record movie of my dance class and Method 2.2.3 with my notes and PC.
Some dance instructions in text and table formates are available at the following website:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/susan.foord/dance/
2.2.4. Mnemonic (口訣歌)
Our dance instructor also taught us some simple mnemonic songs to help us memorize the long sequences of
some complicated dances. For example, the mnemonic for the Tango dance that we learned is:
CROP IS RICE
Each letter in this 10-letter mnemonic represents the first letter in the following list of 10 major sequential
sections in the long sequence of Tango Dance:
1) Corte
2) Rock
3) Outside Step
4) Promenade
5) Inside Turn
6) Snake
7) Raise and Snap
8) Intertwine
9) Corte Sidewise
10) Exchange Side
Similarly, the following mnemonic:
TWO CHAPS
represents the following sequence of Samba dance:
1) Traveling Volta
2) Whisk
3) Outside-Inside with Palm Touch
4) Contra Bota Fogos – Simple & Windmill
5) Heel (Heel-pull-Toe-pull)
6) Arm Roll
7) Promenade
8) Shadow Walk
Our experience indicates that such mnemonics are very helpful to remember the long and complicated
sequences of dance routines.
2.2.5. Weekly Practice Session
Some dance studios in East Brunswick, and in Edison, New Jersey devotes every Friday evening from 8:30 PM
to midnight for dance students to practice their learned dances. It plays various kinds of dance music
sequentially through out the night so that the students can practice many different kinds of learned dances. The
students improve their dancing skills in such practice sessions through: (1) their own practices, (2) help from
the on-site instructors, and (3) watching the dancing practice of other more experienced students.
2.2.6. Dance Instructions on YouTube Websites or DVD or VCD Disks
Some dance instructions are available free on YouTube websites. For example, instruction for International
Waltz is available on the following YouTube website:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTU55Lwc-Y4&NR=1
Similarly, instruction for Rumba is available at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEVgaatg7QM&NR=1
In addition to YouTube, the following website also has some free dance instruction video:
http://www.ballroomdancers.com/Dances/Default.asp
Another challenge for beginners in learning dancing is the terminology and acronym used in dancing. There are
several Internet websites that provide definitions and explanations for these terminology and acronym. One
sample website is Dancer's Dictionary at:
http://www.thedancestoreonline.com/dancer-dictionary/dictionary-c.htm
Dance instructions are also available on some commercial DVD and VCD disks. They can be played over and
over again until we get them right. These DVD disks can be either borrowed from various libraries or
purchased from some dance supply websites. VCD disks from Asia can be bought from some Chinese stores.
3. Both Physical and Mental Exercise
What most beginners feel is quite true that the learned dance steps and the corresponding body movements
will disappear from their minds very quickly if they do not put enough mental effort to work on it. It is up to you
to choose your own favored strategy and method to keep what you have leaned so that they will not slip away
from you.
Therefore, ballroom dancing is not just physical activities but also substantial mental effort to keep both your
mind and body in good shape, especially for retired, senior people.
4. Duration and Amount of Exercise
Although some dances, such as Waltz, Foxtrot, Bolero, Rumba and Tango, are slow paced, and very graceful,
some other dances, such as Samba, Mambo, Salsa, Swing, Jive, Hustle, Disco, Polka, Merengue, Cha-Cha,
Viennese (Fast) Waltz and Quick Step are very fast paced and energetic.
In such dance evenings, we are doing not just dance “steps”, but also “手舞足蹈” extensively to exercise every
parts of our physical body, brain and nerve systems. We move a lot, bounce a lot, spin a lot, bend and twist
our body a lot, wave our arms and snap our hands out or up a lot, twist our neck a lot, sweat a lot, and drink a
lot of water. The Cuban walk and Cuban motion in several Latin dances also swing our hips a lot. I have to put
thick cushion insoles padding inside my dancing shoes so that the bottom of my feet can take all the pounding
in such dancing practice sessions.
The gentleman has to use substantial mental effort to lead the lady well through the long sequence of
complicated dance and the lady must also be mentally very alert to follow and to synchronize well with
gentleman's lead.
Slower dances such as Waltz may look slow and easy. But doing International Standard Waltz well at
advanced (Gold) level with very smooth wave-like up-and-down motion requires substantial strength and control
of muscle in thigh, leg and ankle to be able to keep these slow and graceful movements in good control and
well balanced. Practicing such slow and elegant dance at advanced level is almost like doing Chinese TaiChi
exercise in sync with very beautiful and romantic Waltz music. If you have good experience in doing Chinese”站
樁功” exercise, you will understand the kind of strength and control needed to do International Waltz well and
gracefully at gold level.
I have 3-hour dance class every week, 3-hour dance practice session on every Friday evening, and 2-hour
social dance on every 4th Sunday evening of every month. Furthermore, our dance classmates and dance club
friends also send me paper flyers or e-mail announcements of various other dance parties to participate. Some
of these dance parties are charity fund raising parties where we donate some money to the charity
organizations (e.g., American Cancer Society, education funds for schools in poor rural areas, etc.) while
enjoying ballroom dancing.
It makes you feel very good after such 3 hours of very energetic dancing exercise.
After 5 years, now I am learning new skills to deal with traffic jam on dancing floor that interrupt my familiar
dance routine, skills to lead my partner to get around the traffic jam to continue dancing smoothly and
gracefully.
5. New Dimension in Music Enjoyment
In previous years before I learned ballroom dancing, my enjoyment of music was mostly confined to classical
music. However, after I learned ballroom dancing well, a whole new dimension of music enjoyment opens up
for me.
When I hear the romantic dancing music, practically every cell in my body is resonating and dancing with the
music. It is a very deep and whole body enjoyment of the dancing music. It enhances the quality of life by
adding this new dimension of enjoyment.
6. Benefits for Your Mind
A study published in June 19, 2003 issue of New England Journal of Medicine indicates that senior people who
engage in mentally stimulating leisure activities such as ballroom dancing, reading, playing board games, and
playing musical instruments, have 63 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of
dementia. According to April 2004 Issue of Healthy Aging (Mount Sinai School of Medicine), another study of
662 pairs of twins in Sweden and other previous studies indicate that (1) identical twins do not develop
Alzheimer Disease at similar ages and (2) genetics accounted for only 48 percent of the differences in
susceptibility to the onset of Alzheimer Disease. The Sweden study was published in the February 2004 Issue
of Annals of Neurology.
Furthermore, the recent medical studies in New York University School of Medicine and in University of Illinois
(http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/10/17/improve.memory/index.html ) indicate that physical exercise is one
of the triggers that make parts of the brain regenerate themselves. Exercise that's done over a longer period of
time will tend to reduce the amount of tissue, including the brain tissue, you lose as you age.
Another study published in March 2, 2004 Issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicates
that exercise actives brain’s attention centers. Brain regions responsible for focusing attention and filtering
distractions are more active in people who are physically fit than those who are not. The study used magnetic
resonance imaging to observe the brain activities of two groups of participants while focused on a mental task.
One group had undergone six months of extensive aerobic exercise, while the participants in the other group
were out of shape or had only stretched. The findings provide further evidence that a nimble body promotes a
nimble mind.
Another one-year study led by Professor Charles Emery in Ohio State University also indicates that older
people who exercise regularly over long term are more likely to maintain the mental sharpness. Routine
workouts helped stave off not only the physical effects of aging, but also decline in memory and other brain
function (http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/04/29/old.brains.ap/index.html ).
In another study, which appears in the Dec. 28, 2004 issue of the journal Neurology, researchers found that
elderly men who decreased the duration or intensity of their physical activity level over a 10-year period
experienced a greater decline in cognitive skills, such as attention, memory, and language skills, than men who
maintained the intensity of their physical activity. The researchers in this study tracked over a 10-year period
the physical activity and mental skills of a group of 295 healthy men from Finland, Italy, and the Netherlands.
The men were born between 1900 and 1920. (SOURCES: van Gelder, D. Neurology, Dec. 28, 2004; vol 63:
pp 2316-2321. News release, American Academy of Neurology.)
7. Synergistic Benefits of Combining Exercise with Nice Music
An article in the Health Section of cnn.com on March 25, 2004:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/diet.fitness/03/25/exercise.music.reut/index.html
indicates that a study in the Ohio State University on 33 men and women shows that doing exercise while
listening to nice music pumps up brainpower substantially as compared to doing exercise without music. The
test scores of verbal fluency test doubled after the exercisers listen to nice music while doing exercise as
compared to the case of doing exercise without the nice music. The combination of music and exercise may
stimulate and increase cognitive arousal while helping to organize cognitive output. The result of this study was
published in the Journal Heart & Lung.
Therefore, ballroom dancing is very beneficial to the mental health of senior people through at least 3
mechanisms: (A) substantial mental exercise to keep your mind sharp as described in Sections 2, (B) a nimble
body promotes a nimble mind as described in Section 6, and (C) synergistic benefit of combining exercise with
nice music.
8. Exercise and Life Extension
According to the December 2004 Issue of Health After 50 - Johns Hopkins Medical Letter, a large study from
Sweden has found that even modest exercise in people aged 65 or older is associated with a longer life. The
authors of the study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, questioned 3,206 men and
women about their activity levels. Over a mean follow-up of 12 years, people who exercised once or twice a
week at different intensities had a 42 % lower mortality risk then inactive people.
9. Summaries and Concluding Remark
The benefits of ballroom dancing for retired senior people are:
A. Good physical exercise for longer and healthy life,
B. Good mental exercise to keep your mind sharp,
C. A frequent advice from doctors is: “Use it or lose it”. Ballroom dancing exercises both your physical
and mental facilities very well to keep both of them in good shape.
D. Dancing with your lovely partner together under very romantic music and atmosphere is much more fun,
enjoyable and romantic than doing exercise alone,
E. You get more friends and classmates with a common interest on ballroom dancing and exercise. I am
now a member of a (Chinese) Happy Dance Club with many friends in the club.
F. You can participate and actively enjoy more social events with dancing instead of being just like another
piece of passive furniture in the party room.
G. Adding a whole new dimension of music enjoyment to enhance your quality of life.
H. Can be done regularly without being interrupted by the bad weather such as rain, cold weather or snow.
If you believe that exercise is good for your physical and mental health, why not enjoy ballroom dancing
exercise with your lovely partner under very romantic atmosphere and music so that both can benefit
simultaneously?
I started learning and practicing ballroom dancing after my retirement from my busy engineering job. In 2003,
our dance-class instructor took a group of his dance students, including me, to go to a very large dancing place
for dancing from 8 PM until midnight. This giant dancing place has 9,000 square feet of dancing floor and is the
largest dancing floor that I know about. The owner of dancing place is a friend of our dance instructor who told
us the following story.
About 20 years ago, a guy bought a supermarket and converted the entire interior of the supermarket into a
giant dancing floor. Since you know the size of typical supermarket, you know how big the dancing floor of this
giant dancing place is. The reason that this guy created such a large dancing floor is that he was a roofer
working on roofs. One day he fell down from the roof and his back got hurt badly. The prescription from his
doctor to heal his injured back was to learn and to practice ballroom dancing. Indeed, learning and practicing
ballroom dancing cured his back pain problem. Being so grateful to ballroom dancing, he created the largest
dancing floor for many people to enjoy dancing exercise with their lovely partners under very romantic
atmosphere including excellent music, lighting and interior decoration.
2. Challenges in Learning Ballroom Dancing
2.1. Forgetting the Learned Dance Steps Quickly
A common problem encountered by many beginners learning ballroom dancing is that they forget the learned
dancing steps and associated body/arm movements quickly. If the students do not put enough mental effort
and physical effort to practice what they have learned frequently, almost everybody forget those steps and
movements within about 3 days. Those learned steps and movements all evaporate and disappear very quickly
from their minds.
2.2. Some Methods to Memorize Learned Dance Steps
2.2.1. Camera or Camcorder
To cope with such problems, some of our classmates in dancing class bring cameras or camcorders and
supporting tripods to the classroom to record the movie of the dancing lessons so that they can review them
from time to time at home on their PCs or TVs. The recorded movie can be played over and over on certain
more challenging steps and movements until the student gets it right.
For example, Canon PowerShot SX10 IS compact digital camera with 16-GB memory card can record at least
3 hours of movie including video, stereo music and voice instructions of the dance teacher.
2.2.2. Pocket Voice Recorder
Another classmate carries a small voice recorder in his shirt pocket. He records important information on
dance steps by talking to his pocket recorder while learning in the dance class.
2.2.3. Hand Written Notes plus Computer
The way May Lee and I cope with such problem is to do a lot of mental homework in addition to physical
practice. We have 3 hours of dancing class on every Tuesday evening. We usually take some quick and cryptic
notes during the class. Soon after each dancing class while our memories are still fresh, we work in front of the
computer at home to put our class notes and our memories of the dance steps and movements on a Microsoft
Word file. We create one file for each type of dance such as Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango, Rumba, Samba, etc. that
we are learning. One of the advantages of using such Word file in a computer is that such file can easily be
revised and updated as we learn more in the future.
Usually, May Lee’s file has more information on lady’s part of dance steps and movements while my file has
more details on man’s part. May Lee and I exchange our draft files by e-mail attachments and merge our Word
files to obtain a more complete description of the learned dance steps and their associated movements of
body, hands, arms, fingers, feet, legs, knees, toes, heels, hips, head, eye, etc.
Then, as we continue more learning either from the classroom or from other more experienced dancers on the
dance floors in various dance parties, we enter the new information to revise and to update our Word file on
the dance. For example, our Word file on Tango has been revised and updated 31 times.
In recent two years, I have been using Method 2.2.1 with my cameras, Canon PowerShot S2IS or SX10 IS, to
record movie of my dance class and Method 2.2.3 with my notes and PC.
Some dance instructions in text and table formates are available at the following website:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/susan.foord/dance/
2.2.4. Mnemonic (口訣歌)
Our dance instructor also taught us some simple mnemonic songs to help us memorize the long sequences of
some complicated dances. For example, the mnemonic for the Tango dance that we learned is:
CROP IS RICE
Each letter in this 10-letter mnemonic represents the first letter in the following list of 10 major sequential
sections in the long sequence of Tango Dance:
1) Corte
2) Rock
3) Outside Step
4) Promenade
5) Inside Turn
6) Snake
7) Raise and Snap
8) Intertwine
9) Corte Sidewise
10) Exchange Side
Similarly, the following mnemonic:
TWO CHAPS
represents the following sequence of Samba dance:
1) Traveling Volta
2) Whisk
3) Outside-Inside with Palm Touch
4) Contra Bota Fogos – Simple & Windmill
5) Heel (Heel-pull-Toe-pull)
6) Arm Roll
7) Promenade
8) Shadow Walk
Our experience indicates that such mnemonics are very helpful to remember the long and complicated
sequences of dance routines.
2.2.5. Weekly Practice Session
Some dance studios in East Brunswick, and in Edison, New Jersey devotes every Friday evening from 8:30 PM
to midnight for dance students to practice their learned dances. It plays various kinds of dance music
sequentially through out the night so that the students can practice many different kinds of learned dances. The
students improve their dancing skills in such practice sessions through: (1) their own practices, (2) help from
the on-site instructors, and (3) watching the dancing practice of other more experienced students.
2.2.6. Dance Instructions on YouTube Websites or DVD or VCD Disks
Some dance instructions are available free on YouTube websites. For example, instruction for International
Waltz is available on the following YouTube website:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTU55Lwc-Y4&NR=1
Similarly, instruction for Rumba is available at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEVgaatg7QM&NR=1
In addition to YouTube, the following website also has some free dance instruction video:
http://www.ballroomdancers.com/Dances/Default.asp
Another challenge for beginners in learning dancing is the terminology and acronym used in dancing. There are
several Internet websites that provide definitions and explanations for these terminology and acronym. One
sample website is Dancer's Dictionary at:
http://www.thedancestoreonline.com/dancer-dictionary/dictionary-c.htm
Dance instructions are also available on some commercial DVD and VCD disks. They can be played over and
over again until we get them right. These DVD disks can be either borrowed from various libraries or
purchased from some dance supply websites. VCD disks from Asia can be bought from some Chinese stores.
3. Both Physical and Mental Exercise
What most beginners feel is quite true that the learned dance steps and the corresponding body movements
will disappear from their minds very quickly if they do not put enough mental effort to work on it. It is up to you
to choose your own favored strategy and method to keep what you have leaned so that they will not slip away
from you.
Therefore, ballroom dancing is not just physical activities but also substantial mental effort to keep both your
mind and body in good shape, especially for retired, senior people.
4. Duration and Amount of Exercise
Although some dances, such as Waltz, Foxtrot, Bolero, Rumba and Tango, are slow paced, and very graceful,
some other dances, such as Samba, Mambo, Salsa, Swing, Jive, Hustle, Disco, Polka, Merengue, Cha-Cha,
Viennese (Fast) Waltz and Quick Step are very fast paced and energetic.
In such dance evenings, we are doing not just dance “steps”, but also “手舞足蹈” extensively to exercise every
parts of our physical body, brain and nerve systems. We move a lot, bounce a lot, spin a lot, bend and twist
our body a lot, wave our arms and snap our hands out or up a lot, twist our neck a lot, sweat a lot, and drink a
lot of water. The Cuban walk and Cuban motion in several Latin dances also swing our hips a lot. I have to put
thick cushion insoles padding inside my dancing shoes so that the bottom of my feet can take all the pounding
in such dancing practice sessions.
The gentleman has to use substantial mental effort to lead the lady well through the long sequence of
complicated dance and the lady must also be mentally very alert to follow and to synchronize well with
gentleman's lead.
Slower dances such as Waltz may look slow and easy. But doing International Standard Waltz well at
advanced (Gold) level with very smooth wave-like up-and-down motion requires substantial strength and control
of muscle in thigh, leg and ankle to be able to keep these slow and graceful movements in good control and
well balanced. Practicing such slow and elegant dance at advanced level is almost like doing Chinese TaiChi
exercise in sync with very beautiful and romantic Waltz music. If you have good experience in doing Chinese”站
樁功” exercise, you will understand the kind of strength and control needed to do International Waltz well and
gracefully at gold level.
I have 3-hour dance class every week, 3-hour dance practice session on every Friday evening, and 2-hour
social dance on every 4th Sunday evening of every month. Furthermore, our dance classmates and dance club
friends also send me paper flyers or e-mail announcements of various other dance parties to participate. Some
of these dance parties are charity fund raising parties where we donate some money to the charity
organizations (e.g., American Cancer Society, education funds for schools in poor rural areas, etc.) while
enjoying ballroom dancing.
It makes you feel very good after such 3 hours of very energetic dancing exercise.
After 5 years, now I am learning new skills to deal with traffic jam on dancing floor that interrupt my familiar
dance routine, skills to lead my partner to get around the traffic jam to continue dancing smoothly and
gracefully.
5. New Dimension in Music Enjoyment
In previous years before I learned ballroom dancing, my enjoyment of music was mostly confined to classical
music. However, after I learned ballroom dancing well, a whole new dimension of music enjoyment opens up
for me.
When I hear the romantic dancing music, practically every cell in my body is resonating and dancing with the
music. It is a very deep and whole body enjoyment of the dancing music. It enhances the quality of life by
adding this new dimension of enjoyment.
6. Benefits for Your Mind
A study published in June 19, 2003 issue of New England Journal of Medicine indicates that senior people who
engage in mentally stimulating leisure activities such as ballroom dancing, reading, playing board games, and
playing musical instruments, have 63 percent lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of
dementia. According to April 2004 Issue of Healthy Aging (Mount Sinai School of Medicine), another study of
662 pairs of twins in Sweden and other previous studies indicate that (1) identical twins do not develop
Alzheimer Disease at similar ages and (2) genetics accounted for only 48 percent of the differences in
susceptibility to the onset of Alzheimer Disease. The Sweden study was published in the February 2004 Issue
of Annals of Neurology.
Furthermore, the recent medical studies in New York University School of Medicine and in University of Illinois
(http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/10/17/improve.memory/index.html ) indicate that physical exercise is one
of the triggers that make parts of the brain regenerate themselves. Exercise that's done over a longer period of
time will tend to reduce the amount of tissue, including the brain tissue, you lose as you age.
Another study published in March 2, 2004 Issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicates
that exercise actives brain’s attention centers. Brain regions responsible for focusing attention and filtering
distractions are more active in people who are physically fit than those who are not. The study used magnetic
resonance imaging to observe the brain activities of two groups of participants while focused on a mental task.
One group had undergone six months of extensive aerobic exercise, while the participants in the other group
were out of shape or had only stretched. The findings provide further evidence that a nimble body promotes a
nimble mind.
Another one-year study led by Professor Charles Emery in Ohio State University also indicates that older
people who exercise regularly over long term are more likely to maintain the mental sharpness. Routine
workouts helped stave off not only the physical effects of aging, but also decline in memory and other brain
function (http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/04/29/old.brains.ap/index.html ).
In another study, which appears in the Dec. 28, 2004 issue of the journal Neurology, researchers found that
elderly men who decreased the duration or intensity of their physical activity level over a 10-year period
experienced a greater decline in cognitive skills, such as attention, memory, and language skills, than men who
maintained the intensity of their physical activity. The researchers in this study tracked over a 10-year period
the physical activity and mental skills of a group of 295 healthy men from Finland, Italy, and the Netherlands.
The men were born between 1900 and 1920. (SOURCES: van Gelder, D. Neurology, Dec. 28, 2004; vol 63:
pp 2316-2321. News release, American Academy of Neurology.)
7. Synergistic Benefits of Combining Exercise with Nice Music
An article in the Health Section of cnn.com on March 25, 2004:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/diet.fitness/03/25/exercise.music.reut/index.html
indicates that a study in the Ohio State University on 33 men and women shows that doing exercise while
listening to nice music pumps up brainpower substantially as compared to doing exercise without music. The
test scores of verbal fluency test doubled after the exercisers listen to nice music while doing exercise as
compared to the case of doing exercise without the nice music. The combination of music and exercise may
stimulate and increase cognitive arousal while helping to organize cognitive output. The result of this study was
published in the Journal Heart & Lung.
Therefore, ballroom dancing is very beneficial to the mental health of senior people through at least 3
mechanisms: (A) substantial mental exercise to keep your mind sharp as described in Sections 2, (B) a nimble
body promotes a nimble mind as described in Section 6, and (C) synergistic benefit of combining exercise with
nice music.
8. Exercise and Life Extension
According to the December 2004 Issue of Health After 50 - Johns Hopkins Medical Letter, a large study from
Sweden has found that even modest exercise in people aged 65 or older is associated with a longer life. The
authors of the study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, questioned 3,206 men and
women about their activity levels. Over a mean follow-up of 12 years, people who exercised once or twice a
week at different intensities had a 42 % lower mortality risk then inactive people.
9. Summaries and Concluding Remark
The benefits of ballroom dancing for retired senior people are:
A. Good physical exercise for longer and healthy life,
B. Good mental exercise to keep your mind sharp,
C. A frequent advice from doctors is: “Use it or lose it”. Ballroom dancing exercises both your physical
and mental facilities very well to keep both of them in good shape.
D. Dancing with your lovely partner together under very romantic music and atmosphere is much more fun,
enjoyable and romantic than doing exercise alone,
E. You get more friends and classmates with a common interest on ballroom dancing and exercise. I am
now a member of a (Chinese) Happy Dance Club with many friends in the club.
F. You can participate and actively enjoy more social events with dancing instead of being just like another
piece of passive furniture in the party room.
G. Adding a whole new dimension of music enjoyment to enhance your quality of life.
H. Can be done regularly without being interrupted by the bad weather such as rain, cold weather or snow.
If you believe that exercise is good for your physical and mental health, why not enjoy ballroom dancing
exercise with your lovely partner under very romantic atmosphere and music so that both can benefit
simultaneously?