Why should men learn to ballroom dance?

Introduction

Either you are reading this because you are a man thinking about ballroom dancing or a woman trying to figure out how to make a man learn to dance in the ballroom. In any case, the article is about why men should learn to dance.

There are 4 main reasons why a man should learn to dance in the ballroom. They are Style and Sophistication, A challenge, Something to learn and Be more of a man. I’ll talk about each of these first.

Style and sophistication

Who is probably the most elegant and sophisticated man and yet still a man? By the way, I am allowing consideration of fictional characters to be considered when contemplating this question. You may come up with a number of possible answers, but the one that comes to mind is James Bond. Can you really imagine James Bond being as impressive a character as him if he couldn’t dance?

Even if you didn’t think about James Bond, just think about what things would make a man a little more impressive. Make a list in your head. You most likely think that knowing how to dance socially with a woman certainly fits on that list. You can make excuses for why it shouldn’t be, but deep down, you know it’s there.

I’ll talk more about why it’s on this list later. However, I can use an observation now as to why I might think that.

Social dancing is actually one of the greatest cultural contributions the West has made to the world. When I was living in China, I noticed that social dancing had a similar perception to martial arts in the West. It was like a stereotype from the heyday of Western culture. A friend of mine who is from Sri Lanka pointed out that until social dancing was introduced, one danced alone as a way of worshiping the gods. Social dance brought a completely new vision of dance. A very western sight. When you learn ballroom dancing, you automatically learn one of the finest aspects of a culture. You can’t help but get a little more sophisticated when you do this.

And we’re talking a James Bond / Rhett Butler kind of manly sophistication here.

A challenge

What kind of man walks away from a challenge?

Ballroom dancing actually offers the kind of challenge that really gives a man the opportunity to be a man.

It is not just a physical challenge that can be met simply by increasing strength or speed. You need to master the movement. You also have to face one of the biggest fears a man has: looking foolish. One of the reasons many men try to argue that they don’t need to learn to dance or that the ballroom is not for any man is the fear of looking foolish if they try.

The truth is that a man is unlikely to look good when he first tries to dance. Then you will worry about how you look when you first dance socially. Do you really think you should spend your life worrying about what other people think? Working through such a negative belief toward a goal of sufficient mastery is an excellent challenge for any man. Ballroom dancing offers an excellent avenue for such a challenge.

When you accept the challenge of ballroom dancing, you will know that you have truly taken up a challenge that has made you a better person.

Something to learn and keep the brain active.

Life can get pretty boring when you don’t learn something new. When you start learning to dance as a couple, a new world will open up for you. There’s the history, the culture, the physiology, the music, the steps, the routines, and even more.

You will not master this in a short period of time. Instead, you will find that as you learn more, there is more to learn again. This is part of the challenge I mentioned earlier. Social dancing will always offer you something to work on.

However, the great thing about this is that you can decide if you want to dance a specific dance better, learn a new dance, or learn more moves for a dance. Whether it is deep learning or broad learning, social dance will always have something to offer you.

This alone can keep your brain in good health, but dancing also makes you think when you dance.

Not only do you have to pay attention to the woman you are dancing with in order to guide her, but you also have to navigate the dance floor so as not to collide with others. You should also do this without wasting time. You must pay attention to what you see, hear, and feel. Then you must also infer what to do next from these stimuli.

It is this high cognitive workload of dance that makes social dance the best way to prevent Alzheimer’s. Research has shown that social dancing is better than reading (twice as good) and crossword puzzles (about 1.5 times better) when it comes to preventing dementia. If you want to keep your brain in good shape (and you should), then social dancing is for you.

Be more of a man

You probably think that partner dancing is a bit old-fashioned. Well, when it comes to gender roles, it certainly is. You may never be like that in everyday life, but in ballroom dancing a man is a leader. He will support and protect the woman he’s dancing with as he leads her around the dance floor. He will hold you confidently so that you feel safe and secure. He will be physically strong, but will offer a gentle hug so that she can happily lose herself in the dance. More or less as you see it portrayed on television.

You can offer it to a woman.

As a tango instructor I know once said, we cannot engage in such practices in everyday life. So dance gives us the opportunity to explore the sensations that arise from being like this. By taking up ballroom dancing, a man will have the opportunity to exercise his masculine side more so that he can later feel more comfortable using it in his everyday life.

This alone can help a man to be more confident and attractive to women. However, the fact that you can dance will also make you more attractive to women. Additionally, social dancing will increase the level of close physical contact you will have with various women. This will also improve your confidence with women and therefore your attractiveness.

This confidence adds to the confidence that will come simply by taking on the challenge of dance and the confidence of having that extra sophistication that you will have from knowing how to dance. Remember James Bond and Rhett Butler from before.

Resume

So if you are looking for reasons why a man should learn to dance, then you have them:

• Sophistication
• A challenge
• Keeping the brain healthy
• Be more confident as a man

It certainly does not accept ballroom dancing because it is an easy option. You accept it because it is a serious challenge that offers benefits that are well worth the effort. You will likely find it confrontational, but that is why you do it.