Dear Reader,

Dancing is fun! Dancing is useful in many ways!  Dancing is as old as mankind!  Dance forms have been used…since the beginning of the gray matter known as the human brain existed…for many things.  Early man has used dance for commanding attention from the gods to secure crops of food, as an attraction tool for seduction, in fertility rituals, in art forms for entertainment, and lately…as we lead more sedentary life styles…as a form of exercise.  Many of my students, some training for competition, have began telling me different things that dance is doing for them.  I have been given their permission to use these tales in this article because the things that have happened to them have been great surprises, that they had no clue would happen when they began their dance lessons.  I truly believe there are so many different aspects of life and lifestyles that dance affects, that I think should be recognized, and too often we decide to dance for reasons totally unrelated to the following results that these students have experienced.

I would like to quote exactly the statements of these students :

Dagmar von Duisburg, Portland, Oregon

Since I started my dance lessons I have been able to quit taking my high blood pressure medication.  I have lost over 30 pounds and on many days when I didn’t feel like getting up in the morning, had to get up, get my makeup on and go for my dance lessons.  I did not realize how much I had missed my dancing.  I taught ballet when I was younger and changes in my life had taken me on many different and exciting roads, but as my husband and myself retired I suddenly had time to notice something was really missing…dance.  My husband, who does not dance, has noticed such a difference in me that he makes sure that I do not miss my dance lessons.  The excitement of designing and shopping for costume fabrics and fittings as the seamstress finishes each one is such a thrill that I continually think about dancing.  This motivates me to stay on my diet without a struggle.  I am really excited because besides preparing for more competition dancing, I will be dancing a Viennese Waltz exhibition with Remos at the Austrian Club Ball.  Boy, will a lot of people that I haven’t seen since the ball last year be surprised.

Maria Moil, Beaverton, Oregon

I have, in the past, raised and shown Arabian horses.  Since riding horses is not something that I do a lot of, from time to time when I did get a chance to ride, I noticed how much strength was missing in my legs.  I went riding the other day for a photo shoot and was amazed at how strong my legs have gotten since I started dancing.  It had been quite some time since I rode so I really was shocked how strong my legs were.  The only exercise I have been doing is my dance lessons and practicing.  This is amazing!  What a great way to stay in shape.

Connie Leslie, Portland, Oregon

I have had problems with my back for some time.  The pain has been very debilitating at times.  After simply correcting the way I walk (after Remos showed me how I was walking wrong) my back problems have gotten much better.  I was not aware that I was standing and walking with a slight lean to the left.  After he made me aware of the problem, I think about it every time I walk or sit for any period of time.

This is a problem I have had for sometime.  What a relief.  My balance since I started dancing has improved.  When I catch myself leaning to the left I correct it immediately, in a very short period of time my back is a 100% better.  Amazing!!!

Many times when I begin working with a student, one of the first things that I do is show them how to walk.  Often I could tell by the look on a new student’s face that they wondered what that has to do with dancing.  Another thing that I discuss with them is a stretching exercise that takes a few minutes in the morning, or every hour that you sit at a desk or behind a computer, that straightens your spinal column and relieves the pressure on your heart and lungs.  These little things seem to have nothing to do with dancing but in reality have everything to do with dancing. 

My dancing affects my whole life.  Of course it does because it is my occupation.  But over the years the thousands of students that I have taught, that are mostly social dancers, have told me time after time (just like the students above) what a positive affect their dancing has on their life. 

Now that students are getting in shape, losing weight, getting stronger…I am motivated.  So you see, what goes around comes around.

So keep dancing or start dancing and see what it will do for you.