The Importance Of Community Dance

Dancing can make a child feel physically refreshed and improve their cognitive behaviour, reducing the risk of serious mental health issues such as loneliness, anxiety and depression, as the engagement in physical activity increases the outlet of endorphins, which trigger positive feelings in the body and reducing levels of Cortisol, which is a stress enhancing hormone (Macdonald, 2010). Dance has physical benefits for the growth development in children, helping improve posture through the development of muscle growth, which helps support the skeletal system (Alpert, 2011). The constant switching of weight bearing helps strengthen muscles around vital bones such as the femur, tibia and fibula; additionally, dance can increase flexibility, special

Community Dance is a strand of participatory dance practices that offer a broad range of movement styles which are not dance style specific (Amans, 2008: 4). Because of the diverse styles, relaxed guidelines and creative freedom community dance has to offer, one can assume that it opens itself up to a much wider range of people of all abilities. Community dance organisations will often adapt to the needs of their community; this is regarding the demands of a specific dance style based on the culture or upbringing of the public area, which may enhance friendships and socialisation within a community (Amans, 2008: 13). However, it is apparent that more than £56 million of the funding for arts has been cut since 2009 (Hutchison, 2016). Because of these cuts, it has resulted in the reduction of community art funding by roughly 40% between 2010 and 2016 (Hutchison, 2016). Consequently, resulting in fewer community dance practices, which in addition creates less opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to partake in dance outside of school. It is difficult to comprehend why the arts get such a limited amount of funding and attention when the benefits are exceedingly beneficial for anyone and everyone, no matter what their ambition may

Although this is somewhat true and can provide some of the same benefits, such as the release of endorphins and the reduced risk of health problems, it does not provide other beneficial aspects such as social interactions or life skills that dance has to offer. Through this research, it is evident to see that dance should be considered a vital subject in educational organisations, as it can provide life skills which can be applied to any profession in a socially collaborative way. Additionally, the practice of dance offers skills that can assist a person through life, whether it be problem solving or social skills which can help to relieve loneliness and other mental health issues. The movement of dance helps reduce the risk of musculoskeletal problems and relief pain caused by these issues, which can provide a better quality of life. Society needs to distant themselves from the association of dance and competitive life styles, and focus more on the benefits it can provide to individuals. Children should be encouraged to have the freedom of creativity and expression through movement, rather than being subdued to academic subjects, which involve no practical skills and does not trigger their kinaesthetic learning capabilities. Funding the arts should be considered a priority, reflecting on the life style