“Researchers discovered that dancing in synchronicity with others can have surprising impacts on health, wellness and how close we feel with those around us. Even the most pitiful hand dancing or two-step performed beside another person can provide bursts of endorphins, hormones that provide us with feelings of well-being and pain relief, and help us feel more emotionally connected with others around us.” University of Oxford
“Synchrony and exertion during dance independently raise pain threshold and encourage social bonding
Group dancing is a ubiquitous human activity that involves exertive synchronized movement to music. It is hypothesized to play a role in social bonding, potentially via the release of endorphins, which are analgesic and reward-inducing, and have been implicated in primate social bonding. We used a 2 × 2 experimental design to examine effects of exertion and synchrony on bonding. Both demonstrated significant independent positive effects on pain threshold (a proxy for endorphin activation) and in-group bonding. This suggests that dance which involves both exertive and synchronized movement may be an effective group bonding activity.” University of Oxford postdoctoral researchers : Bronwyn Tarr, Jacques Launay, Emma Cohen, Robin Dunbar
Full finding: http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/11/10/20150767