BREXIT is a threat to the British economy, and threat to the stability of the United Kingdom, and a threat to Peace in Europe. The final chapter of my book I DANCE THEREFORE I AM discusses peace, peace dancing, Sufi dancing and the poet Rumi, the reasons why BREXIT is a disaster waiting to happen. Let us pray that it does not happen this week. Le us pray that sensible people realise it is undoable, and therefore that we should revoke our application to leave the EU.

If BREXIT happens, the United Kingdom is doomed and I shall apply for a Scottish passport.
Meanwhile the only solution is to keep dancing, keep healthy, and SPINAROOND with the same joy that fills Janet McCrorie's picture.

 Dancing has started again after the Summer break. Dancing with young people (even with very young people) is not only important, but lovely to do. My book (below) argues that dance teachers should commit to teaching children as well as adults, or they should not receive RSCDS certificates
because we are killing the dance culture that we love if we do not teach our kids. My children Edward and Catherine (shown on the book cover) dance very well. So should all our children.
This book is full of wisdom and dancing, stories and laughter: the perfect gift for your friends.

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

still dancing with beautiful music and beautiful women

Dance Fit and Healthy at 70 means keeping your body fit and supple, stretching daily, walking plenty, dancing regularly and believing that while today is great,  tomorrow will be even better. Live with a smile on your face, and you will find that your tomorrows will nearly always be wonderful.

Advice:   never put off until tomorrow, what you can do today .... because if you enjoyed it today, you can do it again tomorrow. LIKE DANCING ! Here is a happy memory of the June 2019 Breton Ball. I might actually be doing this again this evening AND dancing again tomorrow.

Demo-level dancing on a Tuesday night: what a treat !

We had such a GREAT dance evening in Richmond this Tuesday at The Dance Space with its beautiful wood floor - we produced a set of demonstration level dances with wonderful women dancers : Moira and Tina are two of the best dancers I have ever had the joy of seeing, as well as Julie, Susan, Rochelle, Elisabeth, Carol….. and there were five demo-level men dancing: Scott Morrison, John Thoburn, Malcolm Shealey, Bern Runk and the author of that now-famous dancing memoir I DANCE THEREFORE I AM.

Which we proved to be true this evening.  

Janet McCrorie's painting called CLASP illustrates perfectly the fun we had tonight.  

Buy Janet's greetings cards! They benefit the RSCDS and they are fine cards.

We danced some fun and tricky dances including Mrs MacPherson of Inveran; The Clumsy Lover (he was not present on the dance floor this evening, but he obviously liked to set-and-link); Jean Martin of Aberdeen (a lovely Strathspey for a lovely lady); Napier’s Index with its fun reels and 4-bar turns; and others.

The RSCDS Richmond Christmas dance program looks enticing..….. especially when you think who will be dancing there. Plan to be in Richmond VA on December 7th this year !  

Scottish country and highland from #Janet McCrorie

Two more beautiful pictures from my favourite dance painter, sold to support #RSCDS. 

Another beautiful dance painting BEFORE YOUR EYES by Janet McCrorie, whose art I am privileged to show you. Like my amusing book I DANCE THEREFORE I AM, sales of Janet McCrorie's paintings and elegant greetings cards benefit the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society of which we are proud members - in my own case, a Life Member since 1967 when I was still a student at St Andrews University dancing every week with the university's Celtic Society. I still send occasional donations to the Celtic Society, to encourage the art and practice and joy of DANCING among young people! I have a lifetime of pleasure on the dance floor.  My own children Catherine Leila and Edward can be seen dancing on the cover of my book: the perfect gift for a dance friend.

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.

I share with you a piece of wisdom that applies to peace negotiations, to BREXIT and Boris Johnson, to problems such as racism, bullying, sexism, sexual harassment, the Middle East..... especially the Middle East: one can imagine so many possible ways to insult people with this quotation!

George Bernard Shaw said: "I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a PIG. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it."

More beautiful Janet McCrorie dance pictures

"On your toes" and

and "Pink Mist" - sweet dance movements with whirl and swirl: thank you, Janet

I DANCE THEREFORE I AM -  it keeps me healthy and happy !