Dance and Soccer

"Show me how a man dances," said a prominent South American coach,"and I'll know how he plays football."

The connection between the two activities is clear. Imagine a footballer with the ball at his feet.

He can give a pass over long distance or short, in the air or along the ground, forwards, backwards, to the sides or diagonally, using his right foot or his left. He doesn't even have to pass. He can run with the ball, dribble or shoot.

It is usually said that football owes its extraordinary global popularity to the fact that it is a simple game. But it is equally true that such simplicity includes an almost limitless variety of movements.

It means that the game can be interpreted in different ways. Different people, different cultures, can express themselves through football just as they can through dance.

Michelangelo used to argue that painting began not in the hands, but in the mind. It is the same story with football and dance.

Where the mind leads, the feet follow.

The French writer Tony Cartano is fascinated by the Argentine dance tango, and its precursor milonga. He comments on the "schizophrenic dimension of tango, and especially milonga. The dance appears totally rational, extremely structural and logical seen from outside. But when you are dancing it is something extremely passionate, full of commitment.

" This contradiction between the emotional and the rational is one of the distinguishing marks of Argentine football. On the one hand, the game and its tactics are surrounded by a logical and sophisticated debate of a level hard to find anywhere else in the world. On the other, Argentine football is charged with an emotional current so deep it defies all rational analysis.

There is much of this in tango and milonga, dances developed in the brothels that were such important social centres of late nineteenth and early twentieth century Buenos Aires. Displaced, homesick male immigrants and desperate prostitutes were all caught up in a confused mix of hopes and needs, dreams and fears. And on the football field when Argentina score the goalscorer is often caught up in an attack of anger, as if he is finally managing to cast out all of these emotions.

By way of contrast, when Brazil score there is an explosion of joy, often accompanied by choreographed dance steps of celebration - for which Africa must be given much of the credit.

When Brazil finally freed its slaves near the end of the nineteenth century they gravitated towards the cities. In Rio, especially, their African rhythmic heritage blended with influence of European immigrants to form samba. Like so much African-based music, samba was a form of social celebration, whose hypnotic rhythm enabled the dancer to transcend the difficulties of everyday reality and experience a sense of freedom.

It is no surprise that this rhythm took control of Brazilian football as the game, initially restricted to the elite, was taken over and re-interpreted by the poor.

The people found in football a form of freedom, first as a source of pleasure, and then as professionalism took hold, as a possible escape from a life of limited prospects. Samba has become synonymous with Brazilian soccer.

To this day the crowd's favourite moment is when a feint or a shimmy of a player causes his opponent to fall over. Even if the defender is instantly back on his feet he has been made to look ridiculous and inelegant. To be accused of having an inflexible waist is one of the worst insults a Brazilian player can hear.

It is all very different from the British game, where physical strength and reliability are prized above all else. The values of British football reflect the industrial society that created it.

England was the first country to experience the industrial revolution. Those countries which came later could skip some of the stages of the English process and start straight away with more advanced technology.

In England, low technology meant more need for muscle power, more need for everyone to pull together - on the factory floor, down the mine shaft, and on the football field. Being the first urban, industrial nation meant that the British working class suffered more and longer.

Torn away from rural traditions, forced to work endless hours in bestial conditions, it is no surprise that the art of seduction took a beating.

Sex became rapid and matter-of-fact, a few squelching noises in between gasps of gin and beer.

The football equivalent is the English obsession with getting the ball forward early, with trying to force a way through the opposing defence rather than having the skill and patience to play their way through.

Again and again English football has been undone by its lack of subtlety.

It needs to dance more - not the mechanised, robotic jerks of rave music, but something more joyous, seductive and expressive.

Dance teachers in the UK, then, are carrying an enormous burden of responsibility. Not only can they help people stay fit, increase their cultural level and perk up their love life.

They can also help England win the World Cup for the first time since 1966.

	About Tim Vickery
			Tim Vickery writes on South American football every week on the BBC website, every fortnight on the website of Sports Illustrated, and every month in World Soccer magazine. He can also be heard every Friday night/Saturday morning on BBC Radio 5 Live's World Football Phone In.

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Source: Daily Express - 03/10/2006

Dance Your Way To Health

From ballet and ballroom to salsa, dancing is good for your body and soul. Amy Vickers and Rachel Baird report.

If a drug company claimed to have developed a single pill which would help people lose weight, keep fit, resist dementia and get happy, then everyone would assume it was lying. Yet dancing offers all these benefits and more, as anyone who dances regularly will tell you. And there's a growing amount of evidence to show it.

Earlier this month, a new study revealed that energetic dancing such as salsa and rock 'n' roll is almost as good for heart patients as pedalling on an exercise bike.

The patients took a daily, half-hour class of either dance or exercise biking. After a month, the dancers had improved their heart health and exercise capacity by 28 per cent and the cyclists by 31 per cent.

"You should be dancing for the rhythm of your heart, " said Dr Hermes Ilarraza, of the National Institute of Cardiology in Mexico City, who revealed the findings.

"It's an attractive option for many and a good incentive to exercise. "Ballroom dancing has the added benefit of being fun and social."

Another study, of schoolchildren in Hampshire, found that regular dancing made them fitter and happier with themselves.

Emma Redding, a dance science expert at the Laban dance centre in South East London, where the research was done, says: "Scientifically, after a 10-week creative dance programme they got fitter in terms of their cardiovascular health and their self-esteem was improving, too."

Salsa is being studied at the University of Derby, where researchers are seeking volunteers to help investigate whether it helps with depression.

Matt Birks, a senior lecturer in mental health, is a keen salsa dancer himself.

He says: "It's been documented that exercise can help mental health sufferers in their fight against depression. With the physical benefits of salsa, together with the social interaction and the need for full concentration during a session, I believe salsa dancing could have health benefits for depressed patients."

Physical Benefits

June Davison, cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, says that like other forms of exercise, dancing has many health benefits, if you do it vigorously and often enough.

"Dancing is particularly great because it's obviously enjoyable and sociable as well, " she says.

The health benefits of regular dancing include slashing your risk of a heart attack, reducing your blood pressure, improving your cholesterol levels, reducing your risk of diabetes and controlling your weight.

"If dancing is done as part of your regular physical activity, which needs to be moderately intense, for 30 minutes a day, five times a week, then you will get those benefits, " she says.

For dancing to count as moderately intense, "you need to be breathless, you need to feel y our heart beating and you need to be slightly sweaty, " she explains.

Dancing will also help you to lose weight because it burns calories and is a fun form of exercise, so you will want to keep doing it. The number of calories you use will depend on how energetically you're moving, how long you dance for and your body weight.

Some dance styles will also give you stronger, more flexible muscles. In ballet, contemporary and jazz dance classes, for example, there are lots of stretching and strengthening exercises to do before you get to actual dance sequences.

Whatever type of class you choose, you can also expect to become better co-ordinated and aware of your body, which in turn should help with your balance.

Your brain will benefit, too, because learning new movements and sequences forces the brain to adapt; experts recommend learning new skills such as dancing as one of the ways to stave off memory problems and dementia.

Social activity is also good for maintaining brain health, which is good news if you like more sociable styles such as ballroom, ceroc (a mix of jive and salsa), salsa and line dancing.

Emotional Benefits

Exercise, including dancing, helps some people who are depressed and can make you feel brighter even if you are perfectly comfortable with your life.

Dance science expert Emma Redding says: "In some ways, dance has the same effect as other physical activity because it releases the same endorphins, or feel good chemicals."

Learning to dance can also help you to reduce anxiety and promote a feeling of relaxation. When you are concentrating hard on mastering a new step or thinking about what comes next in a sequence, you don't have room in your head to be worrying about your problems.

Finding A Class

Don't worry if you've never danced before. There are many classes for complete beginners, where you can master the basic steps before you move onto more complex moves and dance sequences. To find local venues where you can do dance classes, inquire about what's available at your local leisure centre. Some pubs and clubs offer dance classes, too. There's also a lot of information on the internet to help you find classes in your area.

I've Got The Ballroom Bug

Peter Davies, 28, a communications manager from Cheshire.

My wife and I have always liked to keep fit and healthy and used to go swimming, running and to the gym together every week. Although this was good for the body, it wasn't particularly stimulating for our minds or social lives.

We wanted to try something new that we'd both enjoy and which would introduce us to new people and keep us in shape. We discovered ballroom dancing. Rebecca was really up for it but I was apprehensive at first because I thought that it was too old for me and difficult to pick up. I was completely wrong. There was a whole range of young and old people at the class and the music was more upbeat than I expected.

We do the waltz, tango and foxtrot, and I'm becoming quite a fan of salsa.

It's surprising how energetic a class is and how much of a workout it gives the whole body. It really feels like you've had a good workout and after a 90-minute session, my leg muscles ache.

We've been going about twice a week now for about two years and have met some great people.

Salsa Makes Me Happy

Rachel Baird has been a student from Maria since 2004.

Rachel Baird, 34, Daily Express health journalist from Clapham, South London.

I love my weekly salsa lessons. They are fun, they are sociable, they give my brain, heart and lungs a reasonable workout and they make me feel happy.

My brain might seem like an unlikely beneficiary but learning steps and remembering to do them in the correct sequence forces the brain to adapt to dealing with new information and tasks. That, say the experts, is a good way to keep your brain sharp ? you either use it or lose it.

The knowledge that I can learn moves that once looked impossible has also helped to increase my self-confidence.

Salsa must be good for my heart and lungs, too, because the sequences can be fast and furious, and often leave me a little breathless.

Best of all, I always walk out of the class feeling happier and more energetic than when I went in.

I Relax With Line Dancing

Lisa Howells, 34, a freelance journalist, lives in Streatham Hill, South London.

I've been line dancing every week for two and a half years. The class usually involves about 35 people, from twentysomethings to people over 50, singles and married couples.

It is a great mental workout as some of the dances can have 60 or more steps to learn and there are literally hundreds of dances, with new ones being invented all the time. It's also a very effective de-stresser ? remembering the moves means that you cannot spend the evening worrying about the stresses and strains in the rest of your life.

Physically, it can be incredibly challenging ? no matter how fit you are, you sweat buckets. Your heart rate increases during the fast dances and the various kicks, hitches, turns and dips work all the muscles in your lower half, particularly the thighs, calves and bottom, all of which have toned up since I began. It also boosts my levels of feel good chemicals ?

it's impossible to come out of there in a bad mood. As it is hosted in a pub, you get the extra benefit of it being sociable and you can combine it with the antioxidant benefits of a glass of red wine. I also used to pole dance, which was very physical and gave me more body confidence and a leaner all-over physique. My arm muscles became very defined, I toned my thighs and core muscles and I built a lot of upper body strength.

5 Rhythms frees my spirit ,Amy Vickers, 34, Daily Express health journalist who lives in Bermondsey, South London.

For years, I was a dance phobic, unless I had a drink inside me. But then I came across a dance which finally put all my inhibitions about dancing in public to rest.

5 Rhythms, a kind of movement meditation, is becoming increasingly popular across the UK. It's a barefoot dance to everyday music, where the teacher guides you through five different dance rhythms: flowing (gentle motion), staccato (increasing the pulse rate), chaos (starting to sweat), lyrical (luxuriating in it) and stillness (arriving at relaxation). A typical class lasts around two hours. There are no steps to learn, no wrong or right ways to dance ? it's all about letting your spirit move freely, and enjoying the connection with other dancers. It leaves you feeling full of energy and vitality and much more in tune with your body and your feelings.

It's actually quite therapeutic. I recently went on a week-long 5Rhythms holiday where we danced for three hours every morning. It left me emotionally drained but feeling more alive than ever. Aside from being a great form of physical exercise, it is an excellent stress release, helps my balance and really opens up my heart and lungs.

Belly DANCING KEEPS ME FIT, ELI APPLEBY, 25, an engineer, lives in Lambeth, South London .

I Love belly dancing because it's a great form of exercise and lots of fun. I started doing classes at university about two years ago and found it kept me fit and toned, so I now go to a class once a week, for an hour-and-a-half. It tones my legs, bum and waist, and it's much more fun than going to the gym. It's also pretty good for the arms because you're using them for veil work and snake arms. My arms really ache after a session. I also find it's great for burning calories, for flexibility and for improving posture. I like doing something different. I do have a gym membership but I prefer not to use it. It's really quite popular now ? there is such a range of women who do the same class as me, from teenage girls to ladies in their 60s, and there's all sorts of abilities. Even if you can't do all the moves, there's always something you can do.

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