A 2025 scientific review concluded that dance can be seen as a universal form of human expression, offering a communal space for bonding, healing, and collective coping strategies*, in other words a stress vaccine**...
We all have a certain relationship with our body, self-image and movement. Over a few months I inquired women attending dance classes of various levels in Paris, about dance.
I specifically asked 3 questions to each one.
Do you like to dance?
What level would you consider yourself - amateur, intermediate or pro ?
Why is dance important to you?
This is dance in their words.
Zoya
Level: Pro.
“I think this is how I can feel the fire of life at any moment, because sometimes it’s easy, sometimes it’s not so easy, and you can feel like everything is dark, it’s cold, the mood is going down, and if you really do not move, you sit and do nothing, I feel like physically my body becomes small, I don’t feel like I have space, like I don’t have power. But when I start to dance I feel life coming out of me, it’s like an energy, maybe it’s just blood pressure running through my veins, but it’s a nice pleasant feeling.
...Yes, we struggle physically, but it’s inevitable, and it’s even good."
...You are here, and you will be with you, till the very end, so you really have to treat yourself well, and this is what we do when we dance."
Emma
Level: Amateur.
“Dance ...
Valerie
Level: Amateur.
“Dance gives me an outlet for expression… and I forget the outside world when I’m in a dance class… also I can reconnect with my body, and I feel like it has given me a new sense of physicality, which I didn’t have before.
I’ve always really liked sports, different types of sports, I don’t warm up, I injure myself, my balance is bad, and I feel like dance is mending all these things in a way. Because it forces me to be conscious of where my different body parts are.”
Maurine
Level: Amateur.
“Dancing is important to me because it helps me clear my mind, and I can be in my body instead of in my head all the time. And for a very long time, ever since I was a child, I didn’t feel comfortable with moving, and movement in general… I kind of forbid myself from dancing, so it was a huge step when I started dancing last year for me, and now it has become so important in my routine. And it’s a way of expressing myself and I feel free… I never thought I would allow myself to dance.
...dance has helped me to be a friend with my body."
2025-2026, Paris, France, Maria Kalafatsi
Sources:
*Dance and stress regulation: A multidisciplinary narrative review (2025)
Sandra Klaperski-van der Wal, Jonathan Skinner, Jolanta Opacka-Juffry, Kristina Pfeffer
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1469029225000226
**Dancing for health: Conquering and preventing stress, J.L. Hanna (2006)