Associate Professor of Dance and Director of the Dance Minor Program Debbie Belue recently presented a workshop entitled “Smart Moves: Building Brainpower with Dance” at Vanderbilt University’s Curb Center for Art, Enterprise and Public Policy. The workshop focused on learning, creativity and intelligence as processes of a whole body experience. Participants were introduced to specific movement sequences that serve to organize the body and brain in preparation for learning and creative problem solving.
Belue described the benefits of regular dance and musical involvement in the elderly population, as these integrated, cross-lateral movements are stimulating to the memory system. Additionally, Belue described the benefits of play therapy for children who have been diagnosed with ADHD. In her dance technique courses, she promotes dance as an interactive experience with life-long benefits.