Why Dance?

In this episode, Prisby shares a few of the reasons dance can be so powerful:

• Dance is for everyone. “It’s not about the skill, it’s about the feeling, and motion causes emotion,” says Prisby. “You don’t need to be a ‘dancer,’ you just need to move your body. Shift your mindset into that, if you’re moving — and it doesn’t matter in what form — you’re dancing. It’s not about having two left feet; it’s about knowing your heart is on the left side of your body.”
• Dance is inclusive of all ages, levels, languages, races, and sexes. Prisby recalls experiences in South Korea and Japan where she did not speak the language, but the moment she was on the stage, there was no need for translation. “The connection is beyond what you can imagine,” she says. “You feel like you belong.”
• Dance is a low-barrier workout. Movement in all shapes and forms — and to all rhythms — is essential for health. “I love the health aspect of dance because you don’t need equipment,” says Prisby. “While I love equipment, this is a complimentary mental and physical aspect of a healthy way of life. All you need is music and to just lose your inhibitions.”
• Dance allows you to let go and get out of your head. “You have to be concentrating on what you’re doing — your instructor’s moves, cueing — so it makes you forget not only what you look like, but what you’re going through,” says Prisby.
• Dance fosters community. Prisby shares an example of the connections that dance has helped her to nurture with Life Time member, Elizabeth, who’s near her 90s and has been taking Prisby’s Zumba class for eight years. “She’s medicine to my soul — I love to see her dance,” says Prisby. “And when they interview her, she says, ‘If it wasn’t for Jeimy, I’d be in a hospital bed.’ She’s healed me by being in the room with me and she has said I have helped heal her and to not feel alone.”