Dance is one of man’s oldest forms of art and storytelling, with cave painting depictions going back 30,000 years. Dances occur around the world, in every culture. Some were used for storytelling. Others were used for religious purposes. Some cultures had dances for healing, for appeasing Gods, for weather control, for courting, for festivals and celebrations, and entertaining royalty. Dances were used to teach, as social commentary and rebellion, and sometimes as just plain exercise. Dances can be as low key as the Hokey Pokey, or as tightly regulated and choreographed as grand ballet, or worse, synchronized swimming dances.
Physically, dancing is wonderful for the body.
- It burns calories
- It improves coordination
- It promotes muscle strength and flexibility
- It’s a weight-bearing exercise, so it’s good for improving joint function and staving off bone loss.
- It’s fantastic as an aerobic exercise to improve cardiovascular function, circulation, and endurance. Tap dance for just 10 minutes. Try it.
- As an exercise, it can help improve mood and increase endorphin levels in the body, making you happier.
- There is no age limit on dancing – whether you’re one or one hundred, you can do it!
- Disability isn’t an deterrent – many forms of dance can be adapted for people who cannot walk.
And dancing isn’t just for women! Plenty of men have been famous dancers – Rudolf Nuryev, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelley, Michael Jackson, Gregory Hines, Sammy Davis Jr., John Travolta, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Michael Flatley, and “Gangnam Style’s” Psy, to name just a few. Dance takes tremendous strength and physical training. Football players take ballet to improve coordination and movement. HipHop is a male-dominated dance field. In ethnic dances around the world, men predominate, from Russian squat dancing to the New Zealand Haka and the Northern Plains Indian Grass Dance, to the Aduma dance of the Masai warriors in
Kenya. Dancing, by far, is as much a man’s sport as a woman’s.
If you have to be stuck inside in the winter, why not dance! Throw some fast music on and shake out those winter blues! Throw in a ballet DVD and leap (move the furniture out of the way first!). Or join us for some New England Country Dancing at the library later this month! Don’t feel like moving? Grab a blanket and a cup of tea and check out some of these great books and movies filled with dance!
Saturday Night Fever A Chorus Line Dirty Dancing
The Nutcracker All That Jazz Billy Elliot
Step Up West Side Story Oliver!
An American In Paris La La Land Fiddler on the Roof
Swing Time Dancer A Time to Dance
Russian Winter Out Loud Life in Motion
The Girls at 17 Swann Street Dance in America: A Reader’s Anthology
If the Force is with you, you can check out a film from the most successful film series of all times: George Lucas’ Star Wars. The library has every 
You can share in the voyages of the Starship Enterprise with Star Trek. The library has many of the 
Oh, they’ll sneak up on you. You’ll be chuckling along with a funny movie when suddenly – hey, what’s that lump in your throat all about? They get you when your guard is down, those comedies with little bits of sadness tucked in. If you’re looking for a movie that’ll make you laugh AND tug at your heartstrings, I’ve got just the list for you:
Planes, Trains , and Automobiles
. Tom Hanks plays a boy who wakes up in the body of a grown man. Hanks is adorable as the suddenly “big” Josh trying to navigate in the adult world. Watch out for the ending, though, have tissues ready!
The Bucket List
Click
In Bruges
Little Miss Sunshine
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
WALL-E
Up
Studios, the film company known for making ground-breaking and award-winning (and record-breaking, with more than 
What is Catmull’s secret? Of course a strong bottom line is what investors want, and Catmull agrees, but he refuses to allow the creativity of the artists to be stymied in any way. There are no superstars – not even preferred parking. Everyone from the janitor to the lunch lady to the writer is allowed equal – respected – input. Employees are encouraged to do what it takes to keep happy and relaxed, because happy employees are productive employees. They are encouraged to take time for classes offered at work – art, archery, whatever. If they are producing a film in Africa, a team of writers and artists will take a field trip to Africa and experience what they are trying to portray. Films, from first idea pitch to final cut – are brought up for constant, honest review, where the ensemble team toss ideas off each other about the work, good or bad, and the film may take a twist for the better from it. Every artist is respected every step of the way. Written into the contracts is a proviso that if a film reaches a certain amount of return, a portion of that is given to the employees as a bonus.
There are only two days a year when no major sports games are held: the day before baseball’s Major League All-Star Game, and the day after. On every other day of the year, a major sporting event occurs somewhere in the country. Indeed, there are only 26 days a year when the PGA is not on tour, 51 days without tennis, and 95 days without a NASCAR event. Many sport seasons overlap – baseball ends long after football starts, basketball begins during football, and hockey runs long after baseball starts.
sport was Indy car racing, and if you practice that, police get annoyed. I earned an inter-dorm basketball championship shirt in college, but that was because we won three games by default, and yes, I watch two full weeks of the Olympics each time.
Mountain
actual world championships (but no flying on the brooms), and there is still a push to make Quidditch an Olympic sport. Or you can follow Connecticut Quidditch teams at Yale, UConn, or Quinnipiac to watch live action on the pitch. (Yes, I’m serious. My daughter’s team ranked 22nd in the world).
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