Jazz dancing is perhaps one of the most iconic styles of dance to date. After being featured in countless musicals, films, TV shows and music videos, Jazz has progressed over the decades and formed a variation of styles and movements. Contemporary Jazz, Funk Jazz and Commercial Jazz are a few examples of the innovative new styles of the dance, some more mainstream than others.
Jazz dance is full of African American influence, brought to America by slaves who used expressive forms of dance to communicate with one another. By the late 1800s and early 1900s, jazz dance was prevalent in minstrel shows, with performers bringing additional styles and elements to the dance, including tap, ballet, and even comedy. These shows were highly problematic and offensive, but the influence these performers had on the style cannot be overlooked.
As the world progressed into the 20th century, swing music was born. Jazz dances became faster paced and more upbeat, with improvisation encouraged for both musicians and dancers, which eventually became a defining feature of the style. Movements became more intricate and energetic, and more and more jazz dance styles were born, including the iconic Charleston and Lindy Hop.
Today, Jazz dancing is seen all throughout mainstream media. There are many subgenres of Jazz, such as Jazz-fusion and Jazz-funk, which merge various dance styles with Jazz, creating an entirely new performance style.
Though heavily adapted through the years, the fundamentals of Jazz dancing have remained the same.
Below are 5 Benefits of Jazz Dancing for your Mind and Body:
Builds Confidence
As stated above, one of the most fundamental aspects of Jazz dancing is exhibiting your personality through your movements and dance style. It’s all about putting on a performance, so using your facial expressions and movements to portray confidence and individuality is vital.
Once you have practised this through Jazz dancing, you will find it naturally flowing into your everyday life too. Confidence allows you to thrive!
Improves Memory
It is vital the moves must be memorised off by heart in Jazz dancing. You must be able to focus on your performance and personality whilst keeping the dynamic of the movements. When you’re constantly thinking what the next step is, you’re unable to let loose and have fun, which is how Jazz should be performed!
Memorising dance moves is a great way to improve your memory overall, which is a key skill to practise, particulary as we get older.
Suitable for Everyone
Though jazz dancing often consists of complex movements and co-ordination, another big aspect is isolated movements. This is where the focus is on one singular part of the body, whether that be an arm, foot or head.
This is ideal for beginner dancers as having just the one focus allows you to work on your performance and prepare for the next steps.
Improves Co-ordination
On the contrary to the above point, Jazz also has complex movements and sequences which can take a lot of practice to master. Moving separate areas of the body in contrasting ways will get easier over time as your brain function improves. This can be tested by patting your head and rubbing your tummy – doing this should get a lot easier after a few Jazz dance classes!
Co-ordination is vital in everyday life to avoid falls, injuries, and to keep our brains sharp.
Builds Creativity
One consistent aspect of Jazz dancing is freestyling, whether this be adding small movements and gestures onto the structured steps, or a whole section of the dance dedicated to creating your own moves. This is vital to show off your individuality and personalise your performance.
Expressing emotion and personality which compliments the music and structured movements is great for building your creative thinking skills, as well as heaps of fun!
“Dance has the power to heal, to inspire, and to communicate things that can’t be put into words.”
– Bob Fosse
Xpress-Yourself Dance CIC run weekly Keep Dancing classes, suitable for older adults across, Birmingham, Solihull, Walsall, Sandwell and online. Keep Dancing will teach you dances from around the world with no need for a dance partner. Find your nearest Keep Dancing class here.
If you enjoyed reading 5 Benefits of Jazz Dancing for your Mind and Body, you might want to consider reading 5 Benefits of the Viennese Waltz.
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