1) strength, flexibility, stamina. If you’ve ever danced or watched closely as someone danced … it is immediately obvious how many muscle groups come into play. How you have to stretch and lightly stress your body … step, step, retreat, dip, stop, start … and so on. Try doing it for a night and you’ll see the next morning how much you’ve used your body.
2) timing, coordination. When you dance to music, it’s all about staying on the beat, moving to the rhythm and the mood. This requires real integration of body and mind. Listening, starting to move, moving, slowing down, stopping … speeding up suddenly, stopping with grace and strength … and on and on.
3) interaction, communication with your partner. In dancing, you need to be sensitive to your partner in every moment. The leader moves, the partner responds. The leader pushes, follower retreats or perhaps pushes back, depending on the dance and the music. Lead, follow, stop, start … it is literally a dance of communication and sensitivity. Partners are forced to keep their communication skills and sensitivity at a peak.
4) planning, mental activity, awareness. For leaders in particular, in the lead-follow couple. Leaders must always be aware of the shifting configuration of the dance floor. Who is where, who is moving where, what the music is moving towards and how the leader wishes to guide the dance along that direction. Seeing what is here now and planning what will be 4,5 or 10 seconds later … all of these skills are exercised and developed.
5) reflexes. This goes along closely with item 3. The music changes, speeds up, slows down, pauses … the dance and the couple must change. Leader leads and follower follows … if the follower is a bit slow and didn’t get the lead, the leader must adjust the flow, pause, stop, change into something else. And must do so within a limited time frame.
6) involvement with other human beings. When you dance to inevitably mix with, interact with a group of other human beings. In doing so, the possibility of isolation that might result from the death of spouse, friends, family, is much reduced. And many studies have shown that maintaining meaningful human relationships is an important factor in longevity.