Did you know that dancing makes you smarter? According to the New England Journal of Medicine, dancing wards off Alzheimer’s, dementia and increases cognitive acuity at all ages! (NEJM, 2009)
Remember dancing? In a nightclub? Back in the days when you wouldn’t be seen out before 10:30or 11 p.m. Maybe you’d take a “disco nap” beforehand so you could keep going until 3 in the morning. You’d even hit an all night coffee shop on the way home because it didn’t matter how late you stayed up. You could sleep until dinnertime.
Then you had a child. Or two or three. The disco nap has turned into that period of time when you’re putting your kid(s) to bed and trying not to nod off while reading Charlotte’s Web. Sleeping in? Not a chance. You have an early wake up call every morning, workday or not. Depending on your sleeping arrangements, the call could come in the form of the pitter pat of little feet, an elbow in the eye or a primordial shriek that evokes an image of a baby pterodactyl.
We may not miss the late nights and many of us would probably think twice about a grilled cheese and fries at 3 a.m. But the dancing! That’s what I miss. That’s the part a lot of us miss. I don’t know how many of my friends have said to me, “We should have a dance party!” and, without missing a beat, “in the afternoon and on a weekend, of course.”
Well, fortunately, Echo Parenting & Education has a great way to remedy our dancing withdrawals. Sunday afternoon on March 30 we are holding a Family Dance Party at the Echo on Sunset Boulevard. The dance party is a super fun way to connect with our kids. We’ll have a live DJ, delicious snacks from local vendors such as Two Boots and Kind Kreme, and great items to win at our opportunity draw. There will be arts and crafts on the back patio and we’re even taking requests for the DJ! Email me at kpesenti@echoparenting.org if you want to hear your favorite jam. (That’s the word the kids are using these days, so I’m told.)
Below, Dr. Peter, head of the Dance Psychology Lab at the University of Hertfordshire, on why we dance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihCh5wzNjYY
Info: Sunday, March 30 – 2pm to 5pm at The Echo (1822 Sunset Blvd, 90026) – $40 per family / $25 per person. Purchase pre-sale tickets here.
