BBC News story here
Admittedly it's about Salsa, but it looks like the conclusions apply generally to partner dancing.
BBC News story here
Admittedly it's about Salsa, but it looks like the conclusions apply generally to partner dancing.
Love dance, will travel
I wonder if this would have been such a big problem had they chosen to do their study with Ceroc/MJ, rather than Salsa.Originally Posted by the BBC story
Let your mind go and your body will follow. – Steve Martin, LA Story
Well, according to this press release, the guy running the study is a salsa dancer, so that probably influenced his choice somewhat
But yes, Ceroc / MJ would definitely have been a better choice from a "retention" point of view. Would it have been more effective, though? I'm not sure - you've got to think and work a bit to get salsa, which maybe is more effective than just turning up. It'd be interesting to see a comparative study of effectiveness of different dance forms.
( Of course, if it'd been tango, they'd probably have sunk even deeper into depression )
I don't need the BBC to write a story to know that dancing is good for you! And I would defy anyone to come to Southport for a day and draw any other conclusion. Oh yes, just remembered, nearly anyone....
I think (I hope!) it's a bit more sophisticated than that.
Apparently, they're using the Beck Depression Inventory - and the results (summary here) seem to be effective.
It's an interesting question whether it's "salsa" or "partner dancing" that is the cause, however - if the latter, then Ceroc would be better because it's a shallower learning curve, and therefore a higher retention rate.
Christ no - the last thing I'd do to someone with depression is to send them to Pontins for a weekend. It's quite possible for normal people to get depressed at these events, emotions are heightened and so on - you often see people who are miserable and/or crying. So it'd be massively irresponsible to do that, it could tip them over.
An even more interesting question is if the results are from selection bias since they only include the 30% or so who actually stuck with the Salsa classes. I would suspect those people would tend to be the ones whose depression was least "severe" (for want of a better term) in the first place.
From experience of both Salsa and Ceroc, I'd think Ceroc would work a lot better - I think it's a far more welcoming environment for beginners. Conversely, a lot (although not all) of Salsa classes have elements that almost seem designed to demoralise beginners. (E.g. the classes that have the group warm-up, but don't break any of it down for beginners. It makes a huge difference if you find a class which actually teaches it).
Of course, sleep deprivation will do that... But even without that, I'm not sure weekenders are ideal for newcomers to dance, even if they don't suffer from depression.Christ no - the last thing I'd do to someone with depression is to send them to Pontins for a weekend. It's quite possible for normal people to get depressed at these events, emotions are heightened and so on - you often see people who are miserable and/or crying.
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