Tumors, taking care of yourself through dance

Dancing not only as fun and passion, but as an effective health ally. Dance is to all intents and purposes physical exercise and as such it helps to control weight, reduce latent chronic inflammation and keep the body more efficient. For these reasons, as also supported by the American Dance Therapy Association, it can be a particularly valid support for all cancer patients, both women and men. To spread the culture of dance as a support to patients, Dance For Oncology was born, the first non-profit association in the world that helps cancer patients through dance. On 7 and 8 July – it is appropriate to say – the dances begin, with the first official training course for teachers, which will take place at the Hotel Villa Fiorita in Monastier in the province of Treviso.

Dance for Oncology

Dance for Oncology (D4O) was officially formed last April, from an idea by Carolyn Smith, world-renowned dancer and international dance judge, known to the Italian TV audience for her role as president of the jury in the Rai Uno program Dancing with the Stars. Since then she has already gathered numerous signatures of dance teachers from every Italian city who have decided to offer their preparation for the project and make their dance schools available to welcome patients as early as next October.

“I thought of the many people who, like me, deal with the disease every day – says Smith – Since the beginning of the therapeutic process I realized how much the disease affected my body movements. The sensitivity of the joints gradually failed. My training as a dancer has therefore been of great help to me. This is why I want to share my experience with those who are experiencing the same situation”.

The first official training course for teachers is held on 8 and 9 July at the Hotel Villa Fiorita in Monastier in the province of Treviso. Here over fifty teachers were invited to attend the lessons, learn about the parameters of the course and meet the founding partners of the project together with Carolyn Smith: Ernestino Michielotto, Pietro Marchetti, Adriana Bonifacino, Paolo Ruggeri, Giorgian Putanu, Mauro Boldrini.

The benefits of dancing

“Dance has beneficial effects in terms of mental health and we have found it in many researches – he observes Adriana Bonifacino, head of clinical and diagnostic breasts at Idi-Irccs in Rome – This is because dance manages to re-establish a positive relationship with one’s body, to develop a healthy image, instilling a sense of acceptance in the patient and helping him to restore the connection vital with one’s body”. The positive effects of dance are indisputable and are good for women and men of all ages and with different oncological paths. “It’s also a way to help restore light-heartedness, energy and new friendships,” adds Smith.

As you remember Frederick Schena, professor in sports sciences at the University of Verona who will participate in the course as a speaker, dance involves body and mind: “Dance stimulates the various systems and most of the organs to increase their level of functioning for a more or less long at the end of which, after a necessary recovery, an improvement must be expected”. Even without turning into athletes, dancing allows you to recover habits and possibilities that patients often think the disease will take away forever.

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“Dance for Oncology represents a great opportunity for people affected by cancer to return to a life of normalcy after the disease – he says Mauro Boldrini, director of communication of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (Aiom) and of the main associations of patients in the oncological field – Dance promotes movement, which is essential to avoid relapses, but also socialization with other people. One of the strongest risks, in fact, in patients undergoing therapy is precisely that of falling into depression. I wanted to be a member of this association because over the years I have seen that thanks to the progress of innovation it is possible for thousands of people to overcome the disease and return to a good quality of life. I hope that Dance for Oncology will become more and more an important, structured and widespread reality in the area, even in the Southern Regions where participation in screening is lower”.