Yes! We are dancing Saturday, November 29, 2014–same time, same place. 10:15 am Northgate Community Center!
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Next Dances: October 4, October 11, skip, October 25
No dance on October 18 as we’ll be dancing in New York City! We will miss you.–Grace and Jon
September Dancing 2014
Wow. Today was such a fantastic dance. The music, the sun sparkling through the windows. The chill of the amazing dance studio, and warming up by the 3rd song. We loved Pocket Full O’ Sunshine, U2 Magnificent, Bane from Africa and LTD Back In Love Again. What fun, fun, fun.
This dance is like living manifestation of joy, abundance, fun and happiness. I never have such a good workout as dancing this dance, in this space, to this music, with these people.
Once again I envisioned 50+ people filling up this dance hall on a Saturday morning, regularly. We are new, and only have 12-28. We have yet to break 30 people on the dance floor….but we know it will happen. How can it not? The magnetism, the upbeat joy, the thrill of starting the day with such energy, love and acceptance is palpable.
Every week I can’t wait to dance again. I miss it when I’m gone.
Thank you dancers…thank you!
Upcoming Schedule
Upcoming Schedule:
September 6th – NO DANCE – Northgate Closed for Repairs & Jon/Grace Vacation
September 13th – Northgate Community Center
September 20th – Northgate Community Center
September 27th – Northgate Community Center
October 4th – Northgate Community Center
September 20th – Northgate Community Center
September 27th – Northgate Community Center
October 4th – Northgate Community Center
We’re dancing on August 9th at an unusual time: 3:15 the music begins!
Hello all you wonderful dancers!
As you know, we keep most up to date on Facebook and then through our email list, so if you need to know the absolute latest happening, and what’s going on with F2D2 Free Form Dance Dance this very weekend…then be sure to get on the list or connect on Facebook!
Yes Dance! May 10th 10:15 am
Northgate Community Center! Same time, same place!
We dance every Saturday in May–woohoo!
Join us
April – May Dances
Every Saturday from now until the end of May is FOR SURE 10:15 am Dance at Northgate Community Center!
Come on down, try it! No need to have any dance or movement training or experience whatsoever. See what it’s like to move exactly the way you want to move, without instruction or direction.
JOY!
$10 for adults
Dancing Makes You Smarter!
Reading – 35% reduced risk of dementia Bicycling and swimming – 0% Doing crossword puzzles at least four days a week – 47% Playing golf – 0% Dancing frequently – 76%. That was the greatest risk reduction of any activity studied, cognitive or physical.
Neuroplasticity What could cause these significant cognitive benefits? In this study, neurologist Dr. Robert Katzman proposed these persons are more resistant to the effects of dementia as a result of having greater cognitive reserve and increased complexity of neuronal synapses. Like education, participation in mentally engaging activities lowers the risk of dementia by improving these neural qualities. As Harvard Medical School psychiatrist Dr. Joseph Coyle explains in an accompanying commentary: “The cerebral cortex and hippocampus, which are critical to these activities, are remarkably plastic, and they rewire themselves based upon their use.” Our brain constantly rewires its neural pathways, as needed. If it doesn’t need to, then it won’t.
- Why is dancing better than other activities for improving mental capabilities?
- Does this mean all kinds of dancing, or is one kind of dancing better than another?That’s where this particular study falls short. It doesn’t answer these questions as a stand-alone study. Fortunately, it isn’t a stand-alone study. It’s one of many studies, over decades, which have shown that we increase our mental capacity by exercising our cognitive processes. Intelligence: Use it or lose it. And it’s the other studies which fill in the gaps in this one. Looking at all of these studies together lets us understand the bigger picture. The essence of intelligence is making decisions. The best advice, when it comes to improving your mental acuity, is to involve yourself in activities which require split-second rapid-fire decision making, as opposed to rote memory (retracing the same well-worn paths), or just working on your physical style. One way to do that is to learn something new. Not just dancing, but anything new. Don’t worry about the probability that you’ll never use it in the future. Take a class to challenge your mind. It will stimulate the connectivity of your brain by generating the need for new pathways. Difficult classes are better for you, as they will create a greater need for new neural pathways. Then take a dance class, which can be even more effective. Dancing integrates several brain functions at once — kinesthetic, rational, musical, and emotional — further increasing your neural connectivity. What kind of dancing? Do all kinds of dancing lead to increased mental acuity? No, not all forms of dancing will produce the same benefit, especially if they only work on style, or merely retrace the same memorized paths. Making as many split-second decisions as possible is the key to maintaining our cognitive abilities. Remember: intelligence is what we use when we don’t already know what to do. We wish that 25 years ago the Albert Einstein College of Medicine thought of doing side-by-side comparisons of different kinds of dancing, to find out which was better. But we can figure it out by looking at who they studied: senior citizens 75 and older, beginning in 1980. Those who danced in that particular population were former Roaring Twenties dancers (back in 1980) and then former Swing Era dancers (today), so the kind of dancing most of them continued to do in retirement was what they began when they were young: freestyle social dancing — basic foxtrot, swing, waltz and maybe some Latin. I’ve been watching senior citizens dance all of my life, from my parents (who met at a Tommy Dorsey dance), to retirement communities, to the Roseland Ballroom in New York. I almost never see memorized sequences or patterns on the dance floor. I mostly see easygoing, fairly simple social dancing — freestyle lead and follow. But freestyle social dancing isn’t that simple! It requires a lot of split-second decision-making, in both the Lead and Follow roles. At this point, I want to clarify that I’m not demonizing memorized sequence dancing or style-focused pattern-based ballroom dancing. I sometimes enjoy sequence dances myself, and there are stress-reduction benefits of any kind of dancing, cardiovascular benefits of physical exercise, and even further benefits of feeling connected to a community of dancers. So all dancing is good. But when it comes to preserving (and improving) our mental acuity, then some forms are significantly better than others. While all dancing requires some intelligence, I encourage you to use your full intelligence when dancing, in both the Lead and Follow roles. The more decision-making we can bring into our dancing, the better. Who benefits more, women or men? In social dancing, the Follow role automatically gains a benefit, by making hundreds of split-second decisions as to what to do next, sometimes unconsciously so. As I mentioned on this page, women don’t “follow”, they interpret the signals their partners are giving them, and this requires intelligence and decision-making, which is active, not passive. This benefit is greatly enhanced by dancing with different partners, not always with the same fellow. With different dance partners, you have to adjust much more and be aware of more variables. This is great for staying smarter longer. But men, you can also match her degree of decision-making if you choose to do so. Here’s how:
1) Really pay attention to your partner and what works best for her. Notice what is comfortable for her, where she is already going, which signals are successful with her and which aren’t, and constantly adapt your dancing to these observations. That’s rapid-fire split-second decision making. 2) Don’t lead the same old patterns the same way each time. Challenge yourself to try new things. Make more decisions more often. Intelligence: use it or lose it.
The huge side-benefit is that your partners will have much more fun dancing with you when you are attentive to their dancing and constantly adjusting for their comfort and continuity of motion. And as a result, you’ll have more fun too. Full engagement Those who fully utilize their intelligence in dancing, at all levels, love the way it feels. Spontaneous leading and following both involve entering a flow state. Both leading and following benefit from a highly active attention to possibilities. That’s the most succinct definition I know for intelligent dancing: a highly active attention to possibilities. And I think it’s wonderful that both the Lead and Follow role share that same ideal. The best Leads appreciate the many options that the Follow must consider every second, and respect and appreciate the Follow’s input into the collaboration of partner dancing. The Follow is finely attuned to the here-and-now in relaxed responsiveness, and so is the Lead. Once this highly active attention to possibilities, flexibility, and alert tranquility are perfected in the art of dance partnering, dancers find it even more beneficial in their other relationships, and in everyday life. Dance often The study made another important suggestion: do it often. Seniors who did crossword puzzles four days a week had a measurably lower risk of dementia than those who did the puzzles once a week. If you can’t take classes or go out dancing four times a week, then dance as much as you can. More is better. And do it now, the sooner the better. It’s essential to start building your cognitive reserve now. Some day you’ll need as many of those stepping stones across the creek as possible. Don’t wait — start building them now.
March 2014 Schedule
March 1st 10:15 am
March 8th SPECIAL TIME FOR DANCE 3-5 PM!
March 15th 10:15 am
March 22nd 10:15 am
March 29th 10:15 am
December 28th and upcoming schedule.
Free Form Dance Dance
All of the following dances are at Northgate Community Center:
December 28th
January 4th (Jon’s Birthday Dance)
January 11th
January 18th (one year anniversary dance!!!)
January 25th
10am doors open. 10:20 dance begins.
“Dance is a doorway to the wisdom of the body.”
Move on!
Jon