We Came to Dance

If Covid taught us anything, surely the main take must be to grab life by the balls. The fact that we all tugged our forelocks and dutifully followed the government guidelines of only going out for one hour a day, one hour a day?!!! If anyone asked you to do that now you’d think they’d lost their proverbial marbles. Yet we did as we were told and only fraternized with our household. It beggars belief now, the very thought might have you twitching and reaching for your phone to gather together the usual suspects and kickstart a party.

Now if you are of a certain age like myself you may have lost your sense of what fun is, ground down by daily life and the sad feeling that you are too old and very definitely past it. Anyone who knows me, will be a 100% certain that dancing is very important to me, some might say a lifeline, but largely the view is that it is indeed something for the youth. This saddens me to my shoulder shimmying soul.

Forget age appropriate behaviour, one thing seems to have been overlooked and undoubtedly forgotten, and that is THE FEEL GOOD FACTOR! Bridget Harrison wrote recently that “nothing improves my mood and sense of self more than losing myself on the dancefloor, immersed in the beats of an expert DJ set. It is freeing, joyful, in the moment” Bridget, I wholeheartedly agree. It IS freeing and breeds happiness from the tips of your toes to the very depth of your soul.

So that being said, I have, over the last few years come up with many a hairbrained scheme but one hasn’t been developed as it should…yet! So, going back to Covid, or rather the first few days of post covid when freedom was back on the menu, albeit with precautionary health recommendations, accompanied by my trustworthy dance partner (she knows who she is) I went to an 80s, 90s shindig at The Cheese & Grain in Frome, a venue I would definitely recommend, as it is so inclusive.

The cynics amongst you may say well of course everyone was happy to be out after being locked away for so long, but I will counter there was a much more obvious underlying vibe at play here. The place was packed with those of us who had been born in the 70s, grown up in the 80s and partied in the 90s as is often quoted. And the one overriding emotion that was in full view for all to see…..was JOY. It was the most gratifying thing to experience, people weren’t just grateful to be out, they were so happy to have somewhere where they could let their hair down, reminisce with like-minded souls and immerse themselves in the heady days of their youth. This was our time. This was wellbeing at its finest.

Everywhere you looked people were smiling, dancing and living their best life, and to be fair, they were the most friendliest, kindest, unjudgeworthy (if that’s even a word?!) crowd. So going back to my hair brained scheme, it was at that moment whilst surrounded by my fellow groovers and shakers that I had an epiphany. The more mature among us haven’t actually lost our sense of fun, as was first thought, we had just lost our tribe and it’s stomping ground. It seemed I was not the only one who thought it felt like heaven (for the pop trivia heads among you, pretty sure that’s a Fiction Factory tune, no?)

So I thought why not have a regular pop up 80s, 90s, 00s event every month or couple of months. I’m not talking about the daytime things you can go to in the clubs, which in my opinion have been far too strongly marketed at the younger 30 something crowd and suggest that we can only ‘get down on it’ during the day. I’m talking about an actual party type evening event at a random venue purely for those 50 and over. Yes I dare to be ageist and exclude anyone younger, but purely due to the fact that the tribe needs to feel like they belong. I got excited. The idea ran away with me. I came up with potential venues, pocket friendly ticket prices and even thought of a name….Reminiscense (that’s copywrited just in case you’re tempted to steal!!)

I wanted to recreate the joy that I’d experienced first hand and give the people somewhere they could feel it regularly. Of course, practicality kyboshed my excitement with a great thud of reality, that unless I was a millionaire who could afford to run the thing without profit until it took off then it would be a lot of hard work for very little return. BUT it’s only on the back burner, not completely ruled out, for now!

The main pull of the daytime club events is the fact that it is on early so you can be tucked up in bed with your ovaltine by 9. But the people I witnessed still liked to ‘party like its 1999’ well into the evening. One of my good friends recently said to me that even though I am a lover of the circadian rhythm and all things wellness, well of course I am, I am a health and wellness coach, I’m often the last one dancing on the rare night out where I partake of such a thing. And that, my friends, is because I’m very much in Bridget’s camp on this one, it gives me joy and makes me feel alive. I’m always saying dancing is good for your soul, but it goes further than that. Immersing yourself in the music, releasing all the feel good endorphins is immensely freeing and will lift even the lowest spirits.

Maybe part of the reason those of us of a certain vintage no longer have such joie de vivre isn’t to do with age but more to do with having very few outlets for joy, the emotion that gives off natural endorphins and makes you feel uplifted. Think about it, when you were younger did you feel so bogged down with the dailies, grumpy about life? Yes, one of the advantages of youth was the carefree way we could waft about without any responsibilities and the feeling that life was there for the taking. But those were the days of having fun. That three little word that gets buried beneath the depth of work, bills, obligations once we are told that it’s time we grew up and functioned as a fully fledged adult.

Donning my work hat, from a health and wellness point of view, dancing is a physical activity that can help keep you in shape, a workout that isn’t arduous but is dare I say it, enjoyable. More than that though, it is very good for reducing stress and the escapism and the natural high you get from it are off the scale beneficial to your mental health. Add to that the sociable side of connection both to yourself and to others, it is all out fantastic for your wellbeing. Something that’s good for your mental and your physical has got to tick the happiness box, right? And if you can do something that gives you a sense of belonging, a trip down memory lane and makes you feel happy, then surely that’s the therapy we’re all looking for. Money very well spent if you ask me.

Final Thoughts

The moral of the story is, you don’t hit a certain age, hang up your dancing shoes and take up knitting. To be frank, in a world that puts many pressures and difficulties our way and has mental health problems at an all time high, anything that takes you away from it all and provides a harmless and under the influence free escape has got to be a good thing. Joy is exceptionally beneficial to your wellbeing both mental and physical and has a remarkable way of making you feel that there’s so much more to love about life. So for those of you who ‘want to dance with somebody’ but want to make it ‘a night to remember’ then watch this space, Reminiscence may be coming to a venue near you soon, because after all, as Janet Jackson once sang, ‘the best things in life are free’.

PS “To dance is to be out of yourself, larger, more beautiful, more powerful.” Agnes De Wilde. Seize the day contact Positive-Soulto discover more.