April 29 – International Dance Day ~ CookingFood.Org

Posted on April 29, 2014

Dancing – it's an art form seen in every human culture.

Turn on music with a good beat in a room full of toddlers, and you can see dance (of sorts) being reinvented all over again!

Many non-human animals, even, can dance. And it's not just animals that have been carefully trained, either. Scientists have determined that bonobos, sea lions, cockatoos, and other animals can make motion in synch with a beat—and without any training to do so, they will adjust their motions to keep up with the beat if the beat gets faster or slower!

April 29 has been International Dance Day ever since 1982, when the International Dance Council announced the new holiday. I have a feeling that the holiday's creators would be pleased with the popularity of dancing and of dance shows, these days, especially “So You Think You Can Dance” and “Dancing With the Stars.”

How do you celebrate a day like today?

Dance (of course!) – either put on some music and just move and groove to the beat, or get together with some friends and hold a dance party.

Learn to dance – there are amazing numbers of YouTube videos you can use to learn country, ballroom, or jazz dancing, or hundreds of other sorts of dance!

Watch a dance movie.

Or enjoy dance through videos. Again, there are soooooo many to choose from; the difficulty won't be finding dances to watch, it will be choosing which of the thousands you want to watch...