Why Do People Dance?

That’s it. Simply, why? What is it about moving our bodies to a song we love that is so joyfully Pavlovian? Why do we watch videos, obsess over our reflection in the kitchen window, and yes, take lessons to perfect something that could quickly be labelled as trivial? Why do we put ourselves through the physical fatigue and the occasional social awkwardness just to call ourselves dancers? Why do we love it so?

There are the obvious answers. We dance for physical fitness. We dance for mental clarity. We dance for emotional stability and other such pluses.

There must be something great about dancing that is more than just hypothetical; it must be almost imperceptible. We cannot seem to explain it, yet we all know it so well that we do not hesitate to tap our feet to a Gershwin melody or pulse with the percussion of jazz rhythm. So why do we dance?

Perhaps dance is the way we show ourselves when words are inadequate. The joy we feel over new found love, the determination we have in the face of great sorrow or adversity, the passionate fire of our youth, and the peacefulness of our softer and more graceful years – maybe they are never expressed more fully than through a waltz, or a tango, or a jive. We all want to be recognised, and if we could truly speak the words that express our feelings, how deep and powerful they would surely be. But alas, those words never seem to come to us just right.

Maybe Dance Is Simply a Translator for the Human Heart

Perhaps dance is the means through which we explain the world who we truly are and who we can be. All of us, if we are honest, believe deep down that we are not ordinary. We know ourselves to be remarkably unique, with many layers of personality and talent woven in such a way that no one on earth could have the same make-up. We know it. We just do not always know how to prove it.

Maybe Dance Gives Us the Opportunity

And perhaps dance is how we choose to remember, how we hold on to the past. It is how we relive the fun-filled days of our youth or the time we looked in their eyes and knew they were the one. It is our tribute to the heroes of the past who jitterbugged like carefree boys and girls when tomorrow they would march as men and women to defend freedom’s cause. It is the chance to be a princess again, waiting for an outstretched hand and the call to a romance that is graceful, true, and not as forgotten as the cynics say. When we dance, we can remember them all a little better, feel the butterflies once again, and if only for a moment, return to the most refined part of our lives when the time was of no matter for we were dancing.

The best part is anyone can do it. With the right mentors, it’s fun and easy to do. The most laborious part is taking that first step to pick up the phone, to schedule a lesson, to walk inside a dance studio. Once you take those first steps, the steps on the ballroom are as easy as a breath of fresh air.