One of the most amazing things about dance is just how powerful it can be. Dance can be a truly life-changing force, especially if you find it at the right time. No matter where you are, no matter how remotely you live, dance and music can find you and give you a new lease on life. For some it’s exercise. For some it’s art. For some, it can be a lifeline.
This couple from eastern China’s Zhejiang province have discovered the power of dance, and not a minute too soon.
After the husband suffered a car accident, he fell into a depression.
Living in fear, and being brought down every day, it put a strain on the running of their farm. He would wander out of the house at night, leaving her to search for him. As the husband told South China Morning Post- “I was so afraid to sleep alone. I was just scared.”
She took it upon herself to improve her husband’s mental health and asked him to learn some basic moves of a shuffle dance.
The positive effect that dance had over this man is not unique.
DMT, or “Dance and Movement Therapy”, is the practice of using dance and movement to improve mood disorders. As Psychology Today describes:
“Focusing on attaching a series of movements to music seems to be a positive distraction from painful thoughts, and the sense of achievement that comes from memorizing and then performing complicated choreography elevates mood as well.”
The husband attested to similar benefits.
As he told SCMP:
“When the music starts, my mind goes empty and I feel totally different.”
As his mental health has improved, so has their dancing.
Now integrating more and more complex moves, they’ve developed a unique “rural-style shuffle dance”. They take every opportunity to do their shuffle dance, often strutting their stuff in front of their farm house.
They’ve become quite the pros!
For a couple that began shuffling as a means to an end, they could put many other dancers to shame. Their skill and sure-footedness is seriously impressive. They seem effortless as they drift back and forth across the road or…
…even in front of their cattle!
These two talented dancers don’t need an audience to do a dance that they genuinely do for themselves. If they did want an audience they have several cows there to see them do their thing.
The couple has been dancing like this for a while, but recently decided to share.
With social distancing affecting the entire world, they decided the time had come to show the world what they’ve got.
And it’s not just Mom and Dad.
It looks like their dance routines are fun for the whole family. Everyone gets to join in on their dancing fun. What a wholesome way for the family to bond and stay healthy, not only physically, but mentally too.
Watch the full video below to enjoy this amazing shuffling couple.
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