STRETCHING is good for keeping you fit and healthy during 2023 !

 I WISH YOU PEACE and HAPPINESS during 2023.

I stretch out several times each week to keep my body supple, and my back straight. Over Christmas, my grand daughter Emmy (aged four) joined in: “Yoga with Grandpa” is what Emmy called it. I call this specific workout “airplanes.” To keep flying, Emmy needs to grasp my feet with her bent knees …. a skill she has yet to perfect.

Health pages in newspapers and magazines frequently debate the benefits (or not) of stretching. Claims that “stretching does not help avoid strains and sprains,” refer to sports like jogging, where warming-up is included in the very act of starting to jog.

Stretching is definitely good before and after dancing. The Royal Scottish Country Dance Society has promoted warm-ups for 100 years. Founder Miss Jean Milligan was a sports teacher.

Anyone watching professional athletes before a match, will see them warming up to loosen their feet and ankles, stretching leg and arm and back muscles to reduce the risk of injury. Claims that stretching has no value, make little sense to me.

In any sport that requires your muscles to make sudden and unusual muscle movements – like dancing a pas de basque – it is beneficial to warm your muscles and joints beforehand. That is why we do RSCDS warm-up exercises before classes: we tune-up the feet and ankles, knees and hips, back and shoulders, calves and hamstrings ….. and then we start our evening with a gentle dance: maybe a waltz, or a reel where we start by walking and warm up to gentle dance steps.

DANCING IS GOOD FOR YOU ! STRETCHING IS GOOD TOO !

Dr Samantha Smith a specialist in clinical orthopaedics at the Yale School of Medicine, is in favor of the RSCDS style of stretching (even if Samantha herself has never heard of RSCDS !!!). In Hannah Seo’s end-of-year article in the New York Times, Dr Smith says stretching can loosen tight muscles. 

These days, if I do not stretch out before I go to bed, my evening of Scottish dancing will give me cramps in the night. In fact I sleep with woolen stockings after dancing to ensure my calf muscles do not seize up, and I wear  my warm Xmas slippers. So Happy Holidays: stretch to stay fit and healthy !

Dancing Hippos, my hilarious monthly Blogging Letter

Dancing Hippos is the name of my Blog Newsletter. If you are not on the mailing list, then write to DancingHipposNewsletter@gmail.com and we will put you on the mailing list. And if you do receive it already, then please share it with friends. A lot of people have told me it cheers them up at this difficult time of isolation, confinement and worry about viral infection. Dancing Hippos are not as elegant as Dancing Scotsmen, but they reflect my dancing and the happiness of my life in Africa.

Can we start dancing in September?????

What the French call "Contre danses" - referring to the set-lines where we are standing opposite our partners at regulation confinement distance of 6 feet - means that Scottish dancers and English Country Dancers are better protected from virus transmission that other dancers. Janet McCrorie's picture "Clasp" (top) shows how we may need adjustments: her second picture "Ceilidh Spin" reduces face-to-face impact. Her dancers even seem to be wearing masks. This may be how we should dance if we want to restart in September. AND THAT IS WHAT WE WANT!!

The Lawnmower Reel - a dance for confinement and for Carol Warner

This was the week that we were supposed to be organizing the annual Scots Bonnet bilingual St Quay Perros in Brittany. Instead of which, I am mowing my lawn. So I devised a Scottish dance that everyone can manage at home, dancing by yourself if needs be. I wrote it for Carol Warner's birthday, celebrating 30 years of her loyal service as treasurer of the Richmond Scottish Country Dancers.
Try it in  on the lawn in your own garden!

The Lawn Mower Reel March-June 2020   

written for Carol Warner's birthday June 24th  2020: "Happy Birthday CAROL" 

Devisor: Robin Edward Poulton of RSCDS-Breton Branch, also Richmond VA and Scots Bonnet St Quay

Reel   8 x 40 bars   2 Couple Repeat  4 Couple Set  Longwise Set  OR FOR ONE PERSON CONFINED

            Since dancing stopped, my physical activity has reduced to dancing with my lawn mower.

Music: Kingussie Flower (Book 21) works very well. Most 40-bar reels will do fine.

  1-8   1s cast down the outside and back again (mowing the edges of your lawn); 

  9-16 1s down the middle and back (mowing the centre of your lawn) 

17-24 1s down the middle for 4 bars and turn right hand  (mowing around a flower bed)

            2s step up on 23-24

25-32 1s dance back up to 2^nd place and turn left hand (another flower bed) remaining in the middle for

33-40  Poussette. 1s finish in 1^st place to begin again, since there are probably no 2s or 3s or 4s

            The Poussette is putting the lawn mower back in the garage to go off for a well-earned drink

This dance is part of the “Robern”  collection of satirical dances (Bern & Robin) that are huge fun but that no one will ever actually dance.

This beautiful RSCDS card by talented artist Janet McCrorie is called "Roon aboot" and it appears to show two elegant couples dancing left hands across. Dancers are wearing red and green kilts, a red dress and a green dress. You can see the movement, feel the reel and the swirl. You can buy Janet's cards from the RSCDS bookshop: perfect for birthdays, for congratulations or for condolences.

Dance Fit and Healthy?  Just look at these happy and healthy dancers at the Virginian Christmas 2019 Scottish dance - none of them looks over eighty, which proves that dancing is good for you.

THE RESEARCH:

Dr Kathrin Rehfeld of Magdeburg University in Germany has published research results that explain WHY dance is the best activity for keeping us young. Her 18-month study of a cohort of 68-year-olds compared effects of strenuous exercise routines for volunteers with effects of dance routines for others. I tried to find a picture of Kathrin Rehfeld: google turned up pictures of elderly people dancing, and a message: “Teen brains found in elderly dancers” which is not at all my objective. I hated being a teenager!

Both groups of volunteers – runners and dancers - improved their physical endurance and suppleness; and both showed an increase in the hippocamp region of the brain. 

The first research result appears to be: dance improves your balance. Run on roads or run on the treadmill (which was originally invented in 19^th century England as a punishment for convicts and paupers, if I remember correctly) and you will keep fit and reduce your heart-rate ….. but if you dance, you get the same physical benefits PLUS better balance.

Another benefit of the dance routines was mental. Dr Rehfeld observes: “We taught different dance routines every week, in order to keep the volunteers in a state of apprenticeship. The most difficult part for them was to remember the routines, once the instructor stopped calling out instructions.”  Huh!  Scottish dancers remember the formations after a briefing.

The dancers were also kinder and friendlier people, developed stronger toe-nails and their hair started to curl ….  No, here I am joking. But it is apparent that the combination of dance movement and music provides stimulus to the brain and neurosystem, improving “holistic harmony” if that means anything?  Best are Scottish dances, with their familiar formations constantly  repeated in different and challenging combinations. I am also a Bavarian Schuplattl dancer, which requires energy, balance and suppleness (I must tell Kathrin Rehfeld). But Scottish dancing is mentally more stimulating .... and the music is better.

THE CONCLUSION

The Magdeburg research results (which I here summarize in brutally unscientific form) prove what has already been shown in earlier studies, in New Zealand, UK and USA: that dance is beneficial for young and old alike, maintaining physical fitness, improving balance and keeping our brains active. Even if you not want to have the brain of a teenager, dancing will keep your brain spritely and dynamic, with good balance, friendship, music, joy and laughter.

DanceFitandHealthyAt70 is a reality! All my happy dancing friends prove it .... and so do I.

Highland Dance is strong and elegant, and quite different from the country dances I most enjoy. I used to enjoy Highland when I still had a youthful spring in my step. Now that I can only lift myself one inch off the ground, I have established the rule that I will demonstrate Highland only to people sitting in wheelchairs. When we raise our arms in Highland, we are imitating the antlers of a great stag - from which it become obvious that this was a male hunters' style of dancing. In this painting, Janet McCrorie shows very well the youth as well as the strength of the dancers. Who are female. In my book I DANCE THEREFORE I AM, you will meet many great female dancers including some who teach Highland and Ladies' Step Dancing which a related genre. So much fun !

Dancing and Dementia

Dancing reverses signs of an aging brain

Crosswords are fine; Yoga is good for you; but research shows that DANCING is most successful in stimulating the mind and the body, balance, memory and focus.  Dance to stay fit & healthy!

As we grow older we suffer a decline in mental and physical fitness, which can be made worse by conditions like Alzheimer's disease. A new study, published in the open-access journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, shows that older people who routinely partake in physical exercise can reverse the signs of aging in the brain, and dancing has the most profound effect.

"Exercise has the beneficial effect of slowing down or even counteracting age-related decline in mental and physical capacity," says Dr Kathrin Rehfeld, lead author of the study, based at the German center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Magdeburg, Germany. "In this study, we show that two different types of physical exercise (dancing and endurance training) both increase the area of the brain that declines with age. In comparison, it was only dancing that led to noticeable behavioral changes in terms of improved balance."

Elderly volunteers, with an average age of 68, were recruited to the study and assigned either an eighteen-month weekly course of learning dance routines, or endurance and flexibility training. Both groups showed an increase in the hippocampus region of the brain. This is important because this area can be prone to age-related decline and is affected by diseases like Alzheimer's. It also plays a key role in memory and learning, as well as keeping one's balance.
While previous research has shown that physical exercise can combat age-related brain decline, it is not known if one type of exercise can be better than another. To assess this, the exercise routines given to the volunteers differed. The traditional fitness training program conducted mainly repetitive exercises, such as cycling or Nordic walking, but the dance group were challenged with something new each week.

Dr Rehfeld explains, "We tried to provide our seniors in the dance group with constantly changing dance routines of different genres (Jazz, Square, Latin-American and Line Dance). Steps, arm-patterns, formations, speed and rhythms were changed every second week to keep them in a constant learning process. The most challenging aspect for them was to recall the routines under the pressure of time and without any cues from the instructor."
These extra challenges are thought to account for the noticeable difference in balance displayed by those participants in dancing group. Dr Rehfeld and her colleagues are building on this research to trial new fitness programs that have the potential of maximizing anti-aging effects on the brain.

"Right now, we are evaluating a new system called "Jymmin" (jamming and gymnastic). This is a sensor-based system which generates sounds (melodies, rhythm) based on physical activity. We know that dementia patients react strongly when listening to music. We want to combine the promising aspects of physical activity and active music making in a feasibility study with dementia patients."

Dr Rehfeld concludes with advice that could get us up out of our seats and dancing to our favorite beat.
"I believe that everybody would like to live an independent and healthy life, for as long as possible. Physical activity is one of the lifestyle factors that can contribute to this, counteracting several risk factors and slowing down age-related decline. I think dancing is a powerful tool to set new challenges for body and mind, especially in older age."
This study falls into a broader collection of research investigating the cognitive and neural effects of physical and cognitive activity across the lifespan.

Source for this information: Kathrin Rehfeld et al, Dancing or Fitness Sport? The Effects of Two Training Programs on Hippocampal Plasticity and Balance Abilities in Healthy Seniors, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (2017). DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00305

Journal information: Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

Dancing Scottish with a famous Ballerina

Diane Cavero is a star of the Martha Graham Ballet Company in New York, and she has just returned to her family in Europe. A qualified Graham Teacher, a choreographer and Renaissance dance and sword-fighting specialist, Diane came to discover Scottish Dance with us in Brittany. Naturally, she picked up the steps at once. She hears the music so perfectly! If Diane came to St Andrews, she would be in the Demonstration Team after one week: in 2020 perhaps. It is a joy to dance with such talent. After all, I Dance Therefore I Am, and so does Diane Cavero.

Bob Hope & James Cagney great dance routine

Well I dance as an amateur, and I do not tap dance. Wish I did !  Here is a wonderful dance routine well worth seeing for dance skills and laughs:  http://videos2view.net/Hope-Cagney.htm

Comedian Bob Hope and actor James Cagney put on a show for their friends in the Friars' Club.

Thank you Wilbur for sending me this great link.

UK's Health Secretary supports DANCING for health

A new initiative launched by British Health Secretary Matt Hancock, doctors in the U.K. will soon be able to prescribe dance classes—along with art, music, sports, gardening and more—for patients suffering from conditions as various as dementia, lung problems and mental health issues.

In the Nov 2018 issue of Dance Magazine, reporter Lauren Wingenroth reported just how significant an impact movement can have as a form of treatment. For instance, when Mark Morris Dance Group's successful Dance for Parkinson's Disease program was profiled in the Journal of Neural Transmission in 2016, researchers found that patients who took 16 classes over eight weeks showed a 10.4 percent improvement in overall movement, a 26.7 percent improvement in walking and a 18.5 percent improvement in tremors. In 2010.

DANCE FIT AND HEALTHY is the theme of my blog; and my amusing book on this subject is called "I Dance Therefore I Am"  .... which you can buy on Amazon. 

Thistle School has begun July 2019

Friends of mine are dancing in North Carolina at the famous Thistle School, now in its 39th and final year of existence. The great Mo Rutherford and Neil Copland (wonderful musicians celebrated in the Perth chapter of my book "I Dance Therefore I Am") are providing the music. Thistle School is world famous.  Let us salute Duard and Betty Lee for their dedication to dancing and for their many years of success in promoting "the greatest happiness of the greatest number" through Scottish dance. This banner hangs outside the dormitory building at Thistle School:

The best place for a holiday and for dancing: St Andrews, Scotland

St Andrews, Scotland is the best place to dance AND the best place for golf: a choice of nine courses to play in site, and dozens more in the towns all around.  Beyond the Royal and Ancient Golf Club on the right (the Home of Golf) is the sea and two miles of West Sands. Fabulous swimming, wonderful walking. but beware of stupid  English tourists. Here are some of their complaints:

1. "On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find 

that almost every restaurant served curry.  I don't like spicy food." 

2. "They should not allow topless sunbathing on the beach.  It was 

very distracting for my husband who just wanted to relax."  

3. "We went on holiday to Spain and had a problem with the 

taxi drivers as they were all Spanish." 

Happy birthday, Philip ! We used to dance together .....  hope you are still dancing and keeping healthy!

HERE is a great article by writer Marilyn Friedman that fits perfectly with the title and theme of this Blog: telling the amusing story of a man who danced until he died.


https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/30/well/move/health-benefits-dancing.html?fbclid=IwAR3AOjGzUQWPfArcoQNhs1CXCcpZlYJKwdHUBsWYYFwfQAjRBickUfd8kvo 

"Is Dancing the Kale of Exercise?"
Research shows that dance offers a wealth of anti-aging benefits. It’s also fun.
Thank you to my Gaelic musician and dancing friend Michael Newton. Dance on!

Larks&Ravens - some comments I have received about this contra-dance nomenclature:

from Penny: "Absolutely nonsensical!  Ever since my school days (all girls, of course) whenever I dance with a woman I ask if she wants to be man or woman: no problem. So if men want to dance with each other, fine. Ask the same question. 

End of argument."

from Mal: "I feel so strongly about this that I will give up dancing rather than submit to this bullying.  As you know, I do dance calling so regardless of what the rest of the world does, we will always use the terminology "men" and "women" (or gents and ladies, guys and gals, etc.)  

Have a great day."

 

Keeping your leg muscles healthy

After dancing, I stretch out my back and shoulders, my leg muscles and my feet and - in winter at least - I wear the woolen stockings in bed in order to keep my leg muscles warm and avoid night-time cramps in my calves and thighs. It was not necessary when I was younger, but it useful these days.

Spring is here, and April 1st is no fool's day if you are a dancer. Dancing sets everything to rights, keeps your head straight and builds strong healthy muscles. Make sure you warm up those muscles with gentle movements before you dance, and "warm down" again afterwards with some good stretching - especially of the calves and back muscles, the feet and ankles. Muscles like to be kept warm (hot shower) ....   but if you have had a good dancing work-out then your feet and ankle ligaments will appreciate a cold soak (cold water in the hand basin, or even in an ice bucket) before you take that hot shower.

Happy April.   Happy Dancing. I Dance Therefore I Am.

Snow is coming, so dance to keep warm!

here in New York we can feel a nip in the air, as New England is threatened by snow .... like the snow storm that hit Virginia last month (a friend's picture below). Dancing keeps you warm; friendship keeps you cosy; dancing builds friendships. But don't forget to warm up before you dance, to avoid injury, and stretch out those muscles (feet and legs, necks and backs especially) to avoid cramps before you go to sleep.

Leaving Brooklyn for Richmond VA: different dance partners!

Manhattan taken from Brooklyn across the East River from where the ferry leaves.