Your Lifestyle
Dancing
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Dancing is great fun and can improve your overall fitness and happiness with very little effort. You will be having such a good time that it will not feel like exercise at all.
Apart from the benefits of exercising such as improving your balance, it is a good opportunity to meet new people, laugh and be happy. You might start by just coming to enjoy the music and watch others dancing.
All you need to get started is comfortable clothing and most importantly well fitting shoes.
Line Dancing (or Bootscooting) is very popular, easy to learn, a good way to keep fit and you don't need a partner. The steps are low impact and easy to learn as well as being great fun. The routines are excellent for memory training.
Tap dancing is a little more energetic form of dance. You can have a lot of fun and make lots of good, healthy noise.
Belly dancing is a very old form of dance which is now popular in Australia. It is suitable for men and women of all fitness levels. Body size and shape does not matter. Just get into it and enjoy the exercise and music. Many belly dancing teachers and schools can organise demonstrations to motivate beginners.
Folk dancing has always been popular. It includes many different types such as: Square, Colonial (Bush), Polka and Morris. You can also discover your cultural origins by trying out one or more of the many Ethnic folk dances. Some forms of folk dancing are more energetic than others, so you can pick one which suits you.
More information on the various types of folk dancing available can be found at Folk Dance Australia
Rock and Roll is still popular. The music is distinctive and rhythmic and the words are probably familiar. The steps are flexible and can vary to suit the energy levels of the dancer. Apart from classes and parties, rock and roll competitions are now held in many locations.
Balle is available in many types: classical, modern and jazz to name a few. It is good for fitness. Even if you have never danced ballet, it is never too late to start learning and some dancing schools offer adult classes.
Clogging is a mixture of Tap and Line steps. ‘Cloggers’ wear soft leather shoes with noisy taps and usually dance in lines to interesting rhythms. Instructors usually call the steps so there is no need to remember complicated movements.
Ballroom/Old time dancing is a favourite for many older Australians. You could dance the Pride of Erin, Barn Dance, Slow Tango, Fox Trot, Gipsy Tap, Boston Two Step, Quickstep, Jive (slow) Waltzes (fast and slow). They are gracious, elegant dances and are still popular today.
Latin dancing is an energetic and precise form of dance. Current Latin dancing includes Salsa, Samba, Rumba, Paso Doble, Cha Cha and Fast Tango. Some people regard Latin dancing as a form of ’Dancesport‘.
You can inquire about all classes at most Senior Citizens clubs, social clubs, University of the Third Age, community centres and local Councils.
Further information on the dancing associations can be found at:
Sometimes dancing can cause or aggravate injuries. To learn more about possible injuries and avoiding them see the Better Health Channel article on ‘Dancing - Preventing injury.
