By Leslie Simon

The general dance class program at the Arvada Center is filled with classes for people who just want to move their body, have some fun, and maybe even make some new friends. Our classes and performances encourage everyone to explore their confidence, passion, and expression through dance, and all are welcome to find their own voice through movement!

Our Dance Program Manager Lena Murphy-Colm wants people to know that it’s never too late to start dancing. Classes are designed to help you feel strong and flexible, providing a safe space to drop your mental worries and get into a peaceful flow state.

“I have played instruments since I was eight, and thoroughly enjoyed band, choir and theatre in school, but never had the opportunity to dance growing up,” said Murphy-Colm. “I actually didn't start dancing until I was 18, when I was in college to be an engineer. I was overwhelmed with the academic grind and needed a creative outlet! After taking my first dance class, I knew my future was going to completely change. Dance allowed me to express myself in ways that I had never explored before, and gave me an avenue to express my voice and internal struggles through movement. I never realized how much my body needed to move for the sake of my physical, mental, and emotional health.”

Dance does wonders for your physical health, especially as our bodies start to age; it improves cardiovascular strength, increases muscle tone, provides more flexibility, enhances balance and coordination, and helps with weight management. 

It also helps improve you from the inside, with mental health benefits including lowering cortisol which reduces depression and anxiety, and increasing cognitive functions. The complex movements, timing, and rhythm of dance leads to the formation of new neural pathways. This essentially reorganizes your brain and enables better learning, and even helps recovery from brain issues. And it just makes you plain old happy! Dance releases endorphins - the “feel good” chemical that increases feelings of pleasure and decreases pain. 

Dance can be used as somatic expression (the way our body handles our feelings), and is great for releasing pent-up emotions brought on from grief or just the stresses of daily life. I personally felt these effects from dancing recently after having to put my senior dog down. I was consumed with grief and didn’t want to move, but I forced myself to get off the couch and go dance, and that dancing healed me, turning my sadness into gratitude. 

Dance classes also create fun and approachable opportunities for meeting new people and making friends. With so much talk these days of a loneliness epidemic, it sounds like more people just need to take a dance class! 

“I tell my late-blooming dance story to all my students because many of them didn't start at the age of three or four, and they feel like they can't excel if they start when they are older,” said Murphy-Colm. “Our dance department is growing in ways that supports and honors ALL levels and ages. There is something to be said about your dance classes and studio being your second home, even if it's just for an hour. Our community members need an outlet from dealing with current events in the world, and I hope we can provide them with a safe space to express themselves through movement!”

Studies from the National Library of Medicine show that dancing is a feasible alternative to traditional physical activity, so if you are the type of person that really needs to work out but HATES working out, join a dance class.

Whether it’s Adult Ballet, Jazz and Tap, Pre-Dance classes for 3-6 years old, or Ageless Dance classes that are welcoming to everyone of all ages, you’ll have so much fun, you’ll  forget you are even exercising.