Why Couples Should Dance Together
Romantic Partners Working Together
I’ve heard many couples say that although they love their spouse, they could never work together. While it may be unnecessary to work with our partners in all aspects of life, developing the skill to work together yields high rewards from better household management to greater intimacy.
Dancing is a great way to learn to better work together. Couples learn how to synchronize their movements to each other and the music. There is something special about learning how another person moves, and in learning how to accommodate their movements, and in refining the dance steps together.
Sometimes it can be difficult. My wife and I often joke that we also do couples counseling because of all the marital moderating we do with some of our students. We acknowledge that learning to work together can be difficult on and off the dance floor, but in almost all cases the effort leads to more joy and camaraderie in our students’ relationships.
Dance Builds the Brain and the Body
Dance is one of the best couple activities to increase longevity because of its massive benefits for the brain. Exercise and movement in general are critical for brain health and preventing chronic disease. Dance, however, takes the pot for preventing chronic diseases like dementia, and other ills of aging because it:
Increases neuroplasticity through movement, pattern recognition, and memorization
Increases executive function (especially for leaders) and mindfulness (especially for followers)
Decreases fall risk by enhancing balance, coordination, foot speed, and strength
Helps to maintain bone density, decreasing the likelihood of developing osteoporosis
Releases feel good hormones that increases life and relationship satisfaction
I could go on and on. Many of the physical and cognitive benefits of dance are interconnected and compound on each other. It’s difficult to describe just how much benefit dance can have on our wellbeing.
All these benefits come from an activity that couples can do throughout their lives together. In fact, most of the avid social dancers in the United States are older adults. People of all ages would do well to follow their example.
Increases Emotional and Physical Intimacy
Dancing is a special opportunity to greatly expand how couples experience intimacy. Many couples struggle for lack of intimacy outside the bedroom.
Dance requires involves lots of touch and physical closeness with a partner. It requires trust and connection. Many people feel intimacy is enhanced by music, which is integral to dance. Moreover, dancing is a socially acceptable activity to do in myriad places, which allows couples to be more intimate both in public and private settings.
These benefits are not exclusive for experienced dancers either. As an instructor, I’ve often been surprised by how much joy and connection my students find, even when they are completely new to dancing. Truly, joy in an activity grows with greater skill. However, in my years of experience teaching, lack for skill doesn’t take away from the joy of moving together.
Couples who dance maintaining the intention of improving intimacy are never disappointed.
There are many activities couples can engage in together to improve their relationship and health, but few if any can match the benefits of dance. It’s role in fostering cooperation, brain and body health, longevity, and intimacy is unparalleled among movement practices.
So grab your partner. Sweep ‘em off their feet, and say, “let’s dance.”
