Name: Dancing for the brain ⏲️ 6 Minute English
Uploaded: 2024-04-20T21:04:30.000Z
Duration: 6 min 22 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Just listening to the music and letting it move my body. What about you, Neil?

Do you often hit the dance floor? Sometimes,

but I'm not a great dancer. To be honest, I get a bit embarrassed.

But maybe I shouldn't, because it has been proved that dancing has

many physical and mental health benefits, including releasing stress,

boosting your mood or just enjoying a fun night out.

In this programme, we'll be hearing how dancing can benefit our brains

And, as usual, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.

is that there are so many different styles, from ballet

and ballroom dancing, to tap, hip hop and jazz.

But my question is about a very unusual style,

a traditional English folk dance where performers wearing black hats

and colourful waistcoats hit sticks together while moving in patterns.

But do you know the name of this unusual dance,

The Highland fling, b) Flamenco or c) Morris dancing?

OK, we'll find out later in the programme. Besides Beth,

someone else who loves to dance is Julia Ravey, presenter of BBC

Julia tells us exactly why she loves dancing so much.

I love nothing more than a night or a day out where I can just dance

it's just such a release and is something that I definitely rely

on to get the stress out of my body. And I now

everyone is not a fan, 'cause some people can find dancing to be awkward

or uncomfortable, and I've seen people who avoid the dance floor at all costs,

an idiom meaning very well or very quickly. For her, dancing is

a release, a way of freeing emotions, feelings or tension from her body.

Not everyone is the same as Julia, though.

And if, like me, the thought of dancing makes you uncomfortable,

you might avoid the dance floor at all costs,

That's a pity, Neil, because the benefits of dancing are huge –

also known as Dr Dance. Over four decades

he has studied how dancing helps improve brain function

in everyone, from children and adults, to older people living with diseases

like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. Dr Lovatt's

dance therapy involves spontaneous movements, closing your eyes

It promotes divergent thinking, leading to happier, more creative brains.

That’s exactly what Julia Ravey asked Dr Lovatt for BBC

What would you say to the person listening

who maybe does not dance at all right now,

maybe would like to dance a bit more, maybe for them

they are still a little bit on the fence about whether they want to dance?

How can everyone get a little bit more movement into their daily life?

OK, so the very first thing to do, I would suggest, is to lay on your bed

with your eyes closed, and to find a piece of music that you like...

Close your eyes and then just hear the beat and feel the rhythm.

Julia mentions people who are sitting on the fence, who still haven't decided

if they will do something or not, in this case, dance. Dr Lovatt's

close your eyes and listen to some music.

Soon, you'll feel a twitch, a small, sudden and involuntary movement

It seems a dance a day keeps the doctor away!

Maybe after I've revealed the answer to my question.

Right. You asked for the name of the traditional English folk dance

where dancers wear colourful waistcoats and hit sticks,

Beth! Morris dancing is the name of the unusual English folk dance,

not flamenco, which of course is Spanish,

or the Highland fling, which comes from Scotland.

we have learned starting with boogie, strut your stuff,

throw shapes and hit the dance floor, all modern idioms meaning to dance.

If you do something like nobody's business,

A release is the act of freeing emotions, feelings

even if it involves a lot of difficulty, time or effort.

Subtitles ListPlay Video

Dancing for the brain ⏲️ 6 Minute English

awkward

stuff

absolutely

mental