Dance is just an entertainment for some people. And dance is freedom of expression for others.
Any type of celebration is incomplete without dance. A wedding function or reception should have a couple dancing. A child’s birthday or prom always has a dance party.
Besides that feeling of joy or partying, dance is also used to express an idea or thought. Dancers use movement to spread awareness about a socio-political, economic, or climate crisis. A dancer’s body becomes a tool for self-expression.
What is Freedom?
“Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint, and the absence of a despotic government.”
Freedom is dancing freely without being judged harshly. Freedom has no boundaries, but it does not harms anyone. Freedom is living in an unbiased world where everyone is treated equally. Freedom accepts differences of opinion that leads to the growth of a country. Freedom means unity in diversity.
How dance creates freedom?
Human beings are creatures of habit. Our surroundings influence what we eat, what we wear, how we travel, what profession we choose, etc. These are conscious choices we make for a successful life.
But most importantly, our surroundings also affect the way we move, sit, stand, bend, and turn. These habits we often take for granted.
When a person is confident, he or she always looks straight ahead with their chin up. The walking stride is firm. The person is able to look another person in the eye without feeling awkward. The person is in control of his or her situation.
People who are restricted by society in any way or has faced trauma or bullying become emotionally insecure. They don’t trust people easily. They always feel judged by insensitive people. Their body language changes. Their conflicted and anxious emotions deeply affect their posture and habits. The body loses balance, stamina, and strength.
DMT, or Dance Movement Therapy, helps create awareness of the mind and body. It reduces the feeling of numbness by directing a person’s attention to how their body moves in the present moment. By removing the web of lies and overthinking, it rewires the brain to focus on positive energies.
Movement breaks the invisible wall that a person has created around themselves. The person becomes more open to receiving and giving love. That’s freedom of expression.
Dance is the most emotionally fulfilling physical activity.
Dance helps release the complex emotions from the mind. Physical activity like dance stimulates the cognitive neurons. Dance keeps your mind active.
"Other studies show that dance helps reduce stress, increases levels of the feel-good hormone serotonin, and helps develop new neural connections, especially in regions involved in executive function, long-term memory, and spatial recognition."
When we let our bodies move to our favourite music, whether it’s slow or fast, it stimulates so many emotions. The music that we have been listening to since childhood holds so many memories. Religious music makes us feel connected to God. Patriotic music fills us with pride. Romantic music always reminds us of relationships.
“There’s no question, anecdotally at least, that music has a very stimulating effect on physical activity,” says Daniel Tarsy, MD, an HMS professor of neurology and director of the Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). “And I think that applies to dance, as well.”
A baby expresses his joy of seeing a parent by smiling and moving his or her body. The moment any rhythmic music is played, the baby starts shaking his head or butt. That is the most honest form of happiness expressed through dancing.
When we feel free to move and dance without caring about the judgement of society, that’s freedom. Freedom to move from one location to another, from one country to another. Moving from one phase of life to another, stronger life. That’s freedom.
Dance and music promotes harmony
Everything has rhythm, balance, and synchronisation. The earth moves around the universe at its axis. The chanting of OM in yoga has a strong, continuous, soulful vibration. The singing of the birds has a wonderful musical quality. Our heartbeat follows a fixed rhythm pattern. A balanced combination of spices in cooking makes a meal delicious.
Likewise, a balance of mind and body is essential for living a healthy life. Dance creates harmony by engaging the mind and body simultaneously.
The different muscles of the body work together to function properly.
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”
1 Corinthians 12:21
The hands and legs when move in perfect synchronisation with the expression of music, it creates harmony. If we try to disconnect one from the other, it will not be able to express itself completely. You cannot dance well by disconnecting your emotions from the choreography. There will be a disconnect between the audience and the performer.
Just like our muscles have different functions yet work together. Likewise, we are all different, and each one of us is unique. But we are all humans who want to live peacefully.
We all are not that different after all. When a dancer presents a performance of love between a mother and her child, it’s a universal theme. When a dancer describes in performance a struggle to live, it’s universal. These are similar emotions understood by people of all countries, genders, religions, and ages.
Comparison divides people. Our body teaches us that every muscle has its own strength and weaknesses. One is not above the other because we can only function independently if we have one common goal: to live in harmony.
True freedom is acceptance of every difference and yet a willingness to work for the common good.
References
Dancing and the Brain, 2015.
What Is Freedom? By Katharine Gammon published June 27, 2012.
https://www.livescience.com/21212-what-is-freedom.html
I love dancing. It helps me de-stress. Thanks for this insightful post. ❤️
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Thank you Ezioma for reading and liking this post. Keep dancing 💃👍
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