The aim of Dancing for Well-Being, above everything else, is to have FUN!
The business of getting older and/or having to cope with illness, disability, pain, bereavement, caring responsibilities can knock the stuffing out of us. It’s harder to go out and do activities we used to enjoy in the company of family and friends. We can start to lose our “social muscles” as well as our physical ones. Dancing for Well-Being exercises both sets of muscles as it always generates a lot of chatting and laughing among group members.
What to expect at a Dancing for Well-Being session:
The basic structure of each session is usually the same – a warm up, some dancing, a warm down, all of which takes about an hour, then there’s half an hour for socialising with tea, coffee and biscuits.
The group leader will guide you through and suggest adaptations and variations where needed. The dances can be done seated or standing and the complexity and vigour can be scaled up or down to match everyone’s abilities and limitations. So Dancing for Well-Being can suit a wide range of people – from those who find they just need to slow up a bit to those who are physically very frail or with cognitive impairments caused by illnesses like dementia.
What our members say:
“It’s a tonic – even on a miserable day there is laughter. Music – excellent, exercise – brilliant. Just what the doctor ordered!”
“I always feel I’ve exercised my arms, legs, brain, and my tongue as well, because there’s a lot of chatting and laughter. It’s great fun!”
“At no time have I been made to feel a newcomer. The cup of tea with a chat for the last half hour of the session is a brilliant way of getting to know people”
“My husband and I have been going to the Dancing for Well-Being group at the Friends Meeting House in Harrogate for quite some time now and we both enjoy the exercise and get a great deal of pleasure from participating in the sessions”
“I support Kay who has dementia but loves singing, dancing, music and meeting people, so this group is ideal for her. Whenever I remind her we’re going to the group she always says how much she enjoys it”
Music:
We try to use music that is simply irresistible so you can’t help wanting to dance to it. You may not dance like you used to but you’ll be amazed at what you can still do. The music we dance to is from all over the world and from all sorts of genres and eras. Most of it will be familiar songs that you’ll recognize and be able to sing along to while we dance.
Props:
For some dances we use props, like scarves, velvet elastic, hats and cheerleader pompoms which add to the fun. You can let your hair down, be spontaneous, relax and let the music and movements and companionship lift your spirits.
Accessibility:
Dancing for Well-Being has an Equal Opportunities Policy. We are committed to promoting accessibility, valuing cultural diversity, promoting participation, equality of opportunity, inclusive communities and reducing disadvantage and exclusion in all that we do.
We deliver our groups and sessions in local accessible community venues, close to public transport and with parking wherever possible.
If you’ve always been told you’ve got two left feet or no sense of rhythm so have never danced much, please don’t let that stop you now. With Dancing for Well-Being there are no right or wrong steps, only variations! With most dances we invite you to copy our moves, but there’s no pressure to do so. We encourage everyone to go at their own pace and rhythm, and move in their own individual way.
Celebrations:
Whilst the group leader will guide you through the dances, the experience and pleasure we have at each session is very much a joint effort. Each member plays a vital part in the fun we have by bringing their own personality and sense of humour to the group.
We love to celebrate birthdays and wedding anniversaries….
And we love a good party too in summer and at Christmas!
