
Visalia Smooth Dancers

Why Dance Matters
Social dancing is not only fun, it's good for your health.
Science agrees.
"Researchers have suspected for at least 15 years that dance has salutary effects on the brain, particularly in protecting memory. In a 2003 study in the New England Journal of Medicine, a group of New York scientists tracked the activities of a large cohort of senior citizens without dementia for about five years. The only physical activity that was associated with a reduced risk of developing dementia was dancing — and the association was stronger than it was for cognitive activities like reading, board games or playing a musical instrument. More recent studies suggest that social dance, in which participants must react quickly to unanticipated input from their partners, may be especially beneficial."
-- Stanford Magazine
So there you have it.
READ THE WHOLE THING:

Here's another study about the health benefits of social dancing:
Dancer Perceptions of the Cognitive, Social, Emotional, and Physical Benefits of Modern Styles of Partnered Dancing