Dance not only as fun and passion, but as an effective health ally. Dancing is for all intents and purposes physical exercise and as such helps control weight, reduce latent chronic inflammation and keep the body more efficient. For these reasons, as supported by the American Dance Therapy Association, it can be a particularly valid support for all cancer patients, women and men. To spread the culture of dance as a support to patients, it was born Dance for Oncology, the first non-profit organization in the world to help cancer patients through dance. On the 7th and 8th of July – it is appropriate to say – the dances begin, with the first official training seminar 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 created last April, from his idea Carolyn Smith, world-renowned dancer and international dance judge, known to Italian television audiences for her role as president of the jury in the Rai Uno program Dancing with the Stars. Since then it has already collected 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 receive patients as early as next October.

“I thought about the many people who, like me, deal with the disease every day – says Smith – From the beginning of the treatment process I realized how much the disease affected my body movements. The sensitivity of the joints gradually failed. Therefore, my training as a dancer helped me a lot. That’s why I want to share my experience with those who are experiencing the same situation.”

The first official training program for teachers takes place on July 8 and 9 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 lesson 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

“Dancing has beneficial effects in terms of mental health and we have found this in many studies – he observes Adriana Bonifacino, Head of Clinical and Diagnostic Breasts at Idi-Irccs in Rome – This is because dance succeeds in restoring a positive relationship with his body, developing a healthy image, instilling in the patient a sense of acceptance and helping him restore the vital connection with one’s body.” The positive effects of dancing are indisputable and are good for women and men of all ages and with different oncological pathways. “It’s also a way to restore lightness, energy and new friendships,” adds Smith.

As you remember Frederick Schena, professor of 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 organs to increase their level of function for a more or less long time the end of which after a necessary recovery must be expected improvement’. Even without turning into athletes, dancing allows you to regain habits and abilities that patients often think the disease will take away forever.

“Dance for Oncology represents a great opportunity for people affected by cancer to return to a normal life after the disease – says Mauro Boldrini, director of communication of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (Aiom) and the main patient associations in the oncology field – Dancing promotes movement, which is essential to avoid relapses, but also to socialize with other people. One of the strongest risks, in fact, for patients in treatment is precisely that of falling into depression. I wanted to join 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 increasingly become an important, structured and widespread reality in the region, even in the Southern Regions where participation in screenings is lower.”