---
title: Dance and stress regulation: A multidisciplinary narrative review
author: Sandra Klaperski-van der Wal
created: 2025-03-06
converted: 2026-02-23 16:05:14
source: PsychologyofSport&Exercise.pdf
---
# Dance and stress regulation: A multidisciplinary narrative review


## Page 1
Review
Dance and stress regulation: A multidisciplinary narrative review
Sandra Klaperski-van der Wal
a , b , *
, Jonathan Skinner
b , c
, Jolanta Opacka-Juffry
b
,  
Kristina Pfeffer
d , e
a
Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Thomas van Aquinostraat 4, 6525 GD, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
b
School of Life & Health Sciences, University of Roehampton, Holybourne Avenue, SW15 4JD, London, United Kingdom
c
Surrey Business School, University of Surrey, GU2 7XH, United Kingdom
d
Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
e
DRIVEN- Danish Centre for Motivation and Behaviour Science, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
ARTICLE INFO
Keywords:
Stress
Health
Dance
Exercise
Neuroscience
Anthropology
ABSTRACT
Background: Physical exercise is known to aid stress regulation, however the effects of specific exercise types are 
under-researched. Dance uniquely combines several characteristics that are known to have stress regulatory 
effects, such as music listening. Nonetheless, dance has received only little attention in studies examining the 
stress regulatory effects of exercise.
Objective: We used a multidisciplinary narrative review as a novel approach to explore the complex relationship 
between dance and stress by integrating psychological, neurobiological, physiological, and socio-cultural find -
ings. In particular, we looked at the effects of music and rhythm; partnering and social contact; and movement 
and physical activity.
Findings: There is strong empirical evidence for the beneficial stress regulatory effects of music, social contact, 
and movement, illustrating that dance can promote coping and foster resilience. Neurobiological research shows 
that these findings can be explained by the effects that music, social contact, and movement have on, amongst 
others, dopamine, oxytocin, and β -endorphin modulation and their interplay with the stress system. Socio- 
cultural considerations of the significance of dance help to understand why dance might have these unique ef -
fects. They highlight that dance can be seen as a universal form of human expression, offering a communal space 
for bonding, healing, and collective coping strategies.
Discussion: This review is the first to integrate perspectives from different disciplines on the stress regulatory 
effects of dance. It shows that dance has a large potential to aid coping and resilience at multiple levels of the 
human experience. At the same time, we identified that the existing evidence is often still limited by a narrow 
focus on exercise characteristics such as intensity levels. This hinders a more holistic understanding of underlying 
stress regulatory mechanisms and provides important directions for future research.
1. Introduction
Chronic stress is seen as a major threat for physical and mental health 
( Marin et al., 2011 ; Wickrama et al., 2022 ). Scholars from the field of 
Sport and Exercise Psychology have examined and evidenced the 
beneficial stress-regulative effects of physical activity and in particular 
physical exercise
1
for decades ( Aldana et al., 1996 ; Gerber & Pühse, 
2009 ; Klaperski, 2017 ). Their findings form the basis for a multitude of 
guidelines and practical recommendations highlighting the importance 
of exercise to cope with stress (e.g., Anxiety and Depression Association 
of America, 2022 ; NHS, 2023 ). However, only a small minority of 
studies have actually examined the effects of specific types of exercise 
( Gerber et al., 2014 ; Norris et al., 1992 ). Correlational studies that 
examine the stress-regulative role of exercise do not usually differentiate 
* Corresponding author. Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Thomas van Aquinostraat 4, 6525 GD, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
E-mail addresses: sandra.klaperski@ru.nl (S. Klaperski-van der Wal), jonathan.skinner@surrey.ac.uk (J. Skinner), kpfeffer@health.sdu.dk (K. Pfeffer). 
1
We follow the definitions provided by Caspersen et al. (1985) and define physical activity as “ any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in 
energy expenditure ” (p. 126). Two types of physical activity are exercise and sport; both require “ planned, structured and repetitive bodily movement, the objective 
of which is to improve or maintain physical fitness ” ( Caspersen et al., 1985 , p. 126). The terms “ sport ” and “ exercise ” are not always clearly distinguishable; however 
“ sport ” is often used to refer to competitive activities. In line with the review ’ s emphasis on non-competitive activities, we will subsequently focus on and discuss 
“ exercise ” .
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Psychology of Sport & Exercise
journal homep age: www.elsevi er.com/locate /psychsport
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2025.102823
Received 30 July 2024; Received in revised form 21 November 2024; Accepted 14 January 2025  
Psychology of Sport & Exercise 78 (2025) 102823 
Available online 6 February 2025 
1469-0292/© 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ). 
## Page 2
between different types of exercise but categorise participants as more 
or less active (e.g., Azagba & Sharaf, 2014 ; Yao et al., 2022 ). Experi -
mental studies with specific exercise activities as intervention pro -
grammes predominantly use aerobic activities such as running or 
aerobic workouts but claim to draw conclusions about the effects of 
“ exercise ” ( Arvidson et al., 2020 ; Klaperski & Fuchs, 2021 ). This leaves 
the field with only little knowledge on what particular types of exercise 
are most beneficial for stress regulation. This is a finding that is 
particularly surprising when considering the increasing evidence for the 
importance of individualised exercise recommendations ( Schorno et al., 
2022 ), as well as calls to move away from one-size fits all approaches in 
medicine and psychology ( Purgato et al., 2021 ). We argue that this lack 
of attention on stress-regulative effects of individual exercise types could 
be a major oversight as different exercise types can have unique 
stress-regulative characteristics. Understanding these characteristics 
better could enable professionals to make more effective exercise rec -
ommendations. The aim of the current review is to contribute to a better 
understanding by providing an interdisciplinary synthesis of the 
stress-regulative role of dance.
2
The current review will focus on dance as dance seems to have 
particularly stress-reducing and health-strengthening effects. Some of 
the few studies that did examine stress regulatory effects of different 
exercise types found dance activities to mitigate negative effects of stress 
especially well ( Gerber et al., 2014 ; Kim & Kim, 2007 ). Hanna (2006)
refers to dance as “ a stress vaccine ” (p. 38) and Buck and Snook (2020)
regard dance as “ a pathway to increased mental resilience ” (p. 302). A 
recent systematic review of the effects of dance interventions further -
more noted a unique potential for mental health effects inherent to 
dance as a specific form of physical activity ( Fong Yan et al., 2024 ). The 
authors differentiated between dance and other forms of physical ac -
tivity and focused on psychological and cognitive health outcomes; they 
concluded that structured dance can improve some psychological and 
cognitive health outcomes more than other types of physical activity. 
Building up on these findings, the present paper will, for the first time, 
provide an in-depth overview of the literature on the effects dance has 
on stress, one of the major threats for mental and physical health 
( Wickrama et al., 2022 ). More specifically, we will provide a multidis -
ciplinary review of psychological, neurobiological, and socio-cultural 
findings to answer the research question how some of the key charac -
teristics of dance contribute to stress regulation, with a focus on coping 
and resilience.
1.1. Key characteristics of dance
When Gerber and colleagues (2014) found that dancing activities 
were able to buffer detrimental effects of perceived stress on mental 
health, they speculated that this might be the case because dancing can 
distract from stressors, warrants high task concentration, provides social 
contact with peers, fosters competence, autonomy and relatedness, and 
because dancing is enjoyable. While all explanations are reasonable, 
they also relate to many other types of exercise activities. Furthermore, 
they do not account for the distinctive socio-cultural significance dance 
is assumed to have. A more holistic understanding of the unique key 
characteristics of dance can be derived from the work conducted by 
anthropological scholars. Pu ˇsnik (2010) defines dance as “ human 
expression through movement ” (p. 5) while highlighting that dance 
should not only be reduced to its physical component as it also bears 
many symbolic roles and meanings for society, as for instance seen in 
religious dance. Similarly, Hanna ( 2006 , p. 33) regards dance as, to 
paraphrase her work, exercise plus aesthetic communication. Hanna 
(2006) highlights the unique opportunities for the expression of emo -
tions, for the perception of close social ties and synchrony, and for 
interaction with music.
These descriptions of dance clearly go beyond the intensity level- 
based view of dance typically provided in exercise psychological or 
sport scientific literature. As an exception and possibly a sign for new 
endeavours in the field, the very recent review by Fong Yan et al. (2024)
highlighted that dance “ is a unique form of physical activity requiring 
complex movements combined with aesthetics, music, choreographed 
movement sequences and planned interactions with other people ” (p. 2). 
Christensen and colleagues (2021) capture the key characteristics of 
dance in their Wheel of Dance that consist of six health-relevant inter -
twined components: Music & Rhythm; Group-cohesion & Culture; Aes -
thetics, fitness & technique; Connection & connectedness; Flow & 
mindfulness; and Emotion & Fantasy (p. 9). In our eyes, only a multi -
disciplinary review can account for this complex interplay between the 
mind , the body , and culture in dance. In the following, we will thus 
summarise and integrate psychological, neurobiological and physio -
logical, as well as socio-cultural findings exploring the complex rela -
tionship between dance and stress. Based on some of the key dance 
characteristics highlighted above, we will do so in three different sec -
tions: 1. Music and rhythm; 2. Partnering and social contact; 3. Move -
ment and physical activity (see also Fig. 1 for a conceptual overview of 
the structure and content of this review). The three sections were chosen 
by the authors of this narrative review, assuming that these topics were 
the most relevant ones that touched on many of the characteristics and 
dance components previously identified; the review is thus not 
comprehensive as there are still other dance characteristics that can 
have a stress regulatory role (see also the Discussion below).
Dance not only has different characteristics, it is also being practised 
within very different domains ( Christensen et al., 2021 ) – we refer to 
these as dance types. The review will focus on recreational dance, 
meaning dance undertaken during leisure time rather than for profes -
sional or competitive reasons. This is because these two types of dance 
have different, often opposite, effects on stress and its perception. 
Competitive dance often triggers stress, e.g., by means of 
performance-related anxiety, overtraining, or injury ( Wainwright et al., 
2005 ). We will furthermore not expressly explore dance therapy 
although it is an important and widely applied means of supporting 
people with long-term disorders such as Parkinson ’ s disease ( Houston, 
2019 ) or various forms of dementia ( Palo-Bengtsson & Ekman, 2002 ; 
Palo-Bengtsson et al., 1998 ). Following a distinction made by Hanna 
(1979a , p. 332), we examine dance as aesthetic non-utilitarian move -
ment. Thus, we will not focus on dance movements as part of religious or 
ceremonial dance; it is important to be aware that this decision already 
reflects the predominant meaning dance bears in many Western cultures 
( Hanna, 2006 ; Pu ˇsnik, 2010 ). The text will refer to “ dancers ” when 
discussing people engaging in any form of recreational dance, on their 
own or with a partner or group. Before reviewing the evidence in each of 
the three subsections, we will firstly introduce the concepts of stress and 
stress regulation from the three different angles of psychology, neuro -
biology, and anthropology.
1.2. Stress
Stress is a neurobiological phenomenon that alters the normal 
functioning of the body and brain, and requires multi-level coping with 
changing physical, chemical, psychological or social factors (stressors) 
to maintain the physiological range of balanced functioning (homeo -
stasis). Homeostasis is a self-regulating dynamic phenomenon that 
maintains physiological stability in living organisms. In principle, 
external or internal factors or conditions that are beyond physiological 
2
Noteworthily, while we criticise the undifferentiated usage of the term 
“ exercise ” , it is also important to highlight that the term “ dance ” is in itself also 
still too general: “ Dance is a broad umbrella term that encompasses a wide 
variety of styles from highly structured, planned movement sequencing to 
entirely unplanned, intuitive forms of body movement ” ( Fong Yan et al., 2024 , 
p. 23) and of course also involves different music styles. Thus, our review is still 
a simplification of the subject; publications like the one by Christensen and 
colleagues (2021) provide further differentiation and specification.
S. Klaperski-van der Wal et al.                                                                                                                                                                                                              Psychology of Sport & Exercise 78 (2025) 102823 
2 
## Page 3
or psychological control or perceived to be such can disrupt homeostasis 
and act as potentially harmful stressors when posing a challenge or 
threat to an individual ( McEwen, 2017 ; Sapolsky, 2000 ; Ward et al., 
2021 , pp. 3 – 14). Organisms have developed different physiological re -
sponses to stressors; these responses restore the normal physiological 
and biochemical state and are essential for the maintenance of life. Thus, 
it is important to note that the physiological stress response is princi -
pally protective and/or adaptive ( Sapolsky, 2000 ). However, long-term 
stress can break homeostasis and lead to physiological imbalances or 
even a disease in response to persistent stressors in the form of psy -
chological, social, and cognitive stimuli (e.g., McEwen, 2017 ).
Even if the stress process comprises an inseparable combination of 
physiological, psychological, and psychosocial factors, stress initially 
depends on the acute neuro-endocrine response to a stressor 
( Hutmacher, 2021 ). This response entails the activation of the sympa -
thetic nervous system (SNS) and that of the 
hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis ( Herman et al., 2016 ). The 
SNS triggers an increase in blood pressure (systolic and diastolic) and 
heart rate, while the HPA axis executes an increase in circulating con -
centrations of cortisol as a main end-point hormonal responder to the 
stressor. As this review will touch on specific aspects of the HPA axis, we 
very briefly recall that it starts at its top tier - the hypothalamus where 
the corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) is released from the hypo -
thalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) in response to stress. The CRH 
travels via the hypothalamo-pituitary portal system down to the anterior 
pituitary where it triggers secretion of adernocorticotropic hormone 
(ACTH). The ACTH stimulates secretion of several steroid hormones 
from the adrenal cortex, among them cortisol that exerts a major impact 
on the body and brain ’ s functional responses to stress. Currently, sali -
vary cortisol is widely accepted as a biomarker of acute stress alongside 
alpha-amylase, often in combination with measurements of heart rate 
variability ( Hellhammer et al., 2009 ; Kim et al., 2018 ). To follow pat -
terns of long-term stress, some researchers also measure hair cortisol 
( Russell et al., 2012 ; Stalder et al., 2017 ).
While stress depends on innate biological mechanisms, it does not 
only “ exist inside the brain ” as Hutmacher ( 2021 , p. 5) puts it. Stress, 
Hutmacher (2021) highlights, is unthinkable without the way in -
dividuals relate to, interpret, and deal with their bodies ’ reactions. It is 
thus key to also consider the individual ’ s subjective stress perceptions 
and cognitive, behavioural, and emotional reactions. These can be 
measured by means of self-report, e.g., by assessing perceived acute and 
chronic stress levels, anxiety, and health detriments. From a 
socio-cultural perspective, it is noteworthy that the understanding of 
one ’ s stress response also strongly depends on society and social prac -
tices, expectations, and notions of stress itself. In modern society, stress 
has become an endemic condition, and Hutmacher (2021) claims that 
“ being stressed out has become a way to be a person ” (p. 5) as (Western) 
societies have developed intersubjectively understandable ways of 
relating thoughts and behaviour to the bodily experience of stress, and 
of dealing with or regulating stress.
1.3. Stress regulation
Empirical evidence shows that higher physiological stress levels and 
aggravated perceptions of stress amplify the negative effects of stress on 
health ( Schulz & V ¨ogele, 2015 ). Yet, research has also identified 
different neurobiological mechanisms that regulate the net response to 
stress as well as psychological and psychosocial factors that mitigate 
stress levels and negative effects of stress.
Among the biological processes that regulate the response to stress, 
there is a feedback mechanism via cortisol and glucocorticoid receptors 
signalling back to the HPA axis, including the hypothalamus ( Pariante & 
Lightman, 2008 ). Also of relevance, β -endorphins, the brain ’ s own 
(endogenous) opioid-like modulators, are closely linked with the 
response to stress. In more detail, CRH that initiates the HPA axis also 
triggers the release of β -endorphins alongside ACTH within the anterior 
pituitary ( Nakao et al., 1978 ). In turn, β -endorphins being opioid re -
ceptor agonists co-regulate the HPA axis ( Bilkei-Gorzo et al., 2008 ). As a 
rule, opioid agonists buffer the cortisol response to stress ( Drolet et al., 
2001 ) contrary to opioid antagonists ( Kreek, 2001 ; Lovallo et al., 2012 ). 
The link between the response to stress and β -endorphins is so close that 
β -endorphins are at times used as a possible index of HPA activity ( Takai 
Fig. 1. Conceptual Overview of the Structure and Content of this Review 
Note. SNS = sympathetic nervous system; HPA = hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal.
S. Klaperski-van der Wal et al.                                                                                                                                                                                                              Psychology of Sport & Exercise 78 (2025) 102823 
3 
## Page 4
et al., 2007 ). Furthermore, the neuropeptide hormone oxytocin has been 
found to play a stress regulatory role. In response to various stimuli, 
including sensory stimuli such as touch and warmth, oxytocin is released 
into the general circulation from the posterior pituitary gland 
( Uvnas-Moberg & Petersson, 2005 ). Oxytocin facilitates social and 
emotional behaviour in humans and rodents, including enhancement of 
trust and bonding, and reduction of aggression and anxiety (for review 
see Heinrichs & Domes, 2008 ).
Beyond such biological mechanisms, in this review, we refer to stress 
regulation as an overarching term for two protective factors which alter 
and reduce negative effects of the response to stressors: coping and 
resilience ( Crum et al., 2020 ; Maiorano et al., 2020 ). Coping can be 
defined as the volitional and automatised use of thoughts, emotions, and 
behaviours to manage internal and external stressful situations 
( Stanisławski, 2019 ). Its main purpose is the reduction of the stress 
response ( Crum et al., 2020 ). Resilience can be defined as an individual’s 
capacity due to which physical and mental health can be maintained 
also in the face of stress and adversity ( Rademacher et al., 2023 ; Wu 
et al., 2013 ). Resilience levels can be increased by strengthening phys -
iological, psychological, and/or psychosocial factors ( Zueger et al., 
2023 ). Naturally, coping and resilience are closely associated: coping 
efforts affect an individual’s resilience, and a person’s resilience affects 
their coping strategies ( Ward et al., 2021 , pp. 3–14). Resilient in -
dividuals are, for instance, more likely to remain optimistic and execute 
effective coping strategies in health and disease ( Haglund et al., 2007 ).
Previous evidence has shown that individuals use exercise as a 
coping strategy, i.e., they intentionally engage in exercise to manage 
stress ( Elliott et al., 2021 ). Exercise can also lead to increases in resil -
ience levels, enabling individuals to better overcome stressful events 
( Arida & Teixeira-Machado, 2021 ; Lancaster & Callaghan, 2022 ). 
However, little is known about the mechanisms that underlie this rela -
tionship, i.e., what particular physiological, psychological, and psy -
chosocial factors are strengthened by what characteristics of exercising. 
It is key to better understand these mechanisms to make better use of 
stress regulatory processes initiated by different types of exercise. In this 
review, we will therefore explore whether and in what way one 
particular type of exercise, namely dance, can strengthen resilience 
levels and be used as a coping strategy to help regulate stress.
While the concepts of coping and resilience stem from psychology, 
research in this area has also become a focus of physiology and neuro -
science, integrating psychosocial and biological factors ( Rutter, 2006 ). 
Following a multidisciplinary approach, we will therefore present 
neurobiological findings to better understand the biological basis of the 
psychological phenomena. Studies have for instance found that differ -
ences in coping styles are related to variations in the serotonergic and 
dopaminergic inputs to the medial prefrontal cortex ( Algorani & Gupta, 
2023 ). The neural network of this part of the brain is essential for 
behavioural flexibility as an attribute of an individual’s coping style 
( Coppens et al., 2010 ). In addition, the prosocial neuropeptide oxytocin, 
which is an important anxiolytic neuromodulator, and its counterpart 
vasopressin, have been implicated in coping styles ( Algorani & Gupta, 
2023 ), and oxytocin has been found to be associated with resilience 
( Yehuda et al., 2006 ). It is plausible to expect that studying the effects of 
dance on such biomarkers for resilience, a contested concept in psy -
chology ( Rademacher et al., 2023 ), might reveal what factors related to 
dance enable a person to better regulate stress. A simultaneous consid -
eration of the socio-cultural perspective will furthermore provide a 
comparative point of view on what dance means and what dance does 
for the so-called social dancer. Drawing from the literature on the an -
thropology of dance, this review engages with the context of dance in 
the community and in wider society, also considering dance as an act of 
enjoyment and passion, and as self- and group-expression. This allows us 
to explore coping and resilience as core concepts of stress regulation in a 
variety of locations and diversity of dance forms (also referred to in the 
literature as movement systems).
2. Method
The aim of the current review was to provide an interdisciplinary 
synthesis of the stress-regulative role of recreational dance. More spe -
cifically, we wanted to summarise psychological, neurobiological, and 
socio-cultural findings on the links between stress, coping, and resilience 
and; 1. Music and rhythm; 2. Partnering and social contact; 3. Movement 
and physical activity. Considering the goal and the multidisciplinary 
approach described above, a narrative review approach was adopted.
Narrative reviews allow one to examine a complex topic from 
different perspectives to develop new insights by delivering a general 
overview and thoughtful interpretation of the current body of knowl -
edge ( Sukhera, 2022 ). Our review can be best identified as an empirical 
integrative narrative review, as classified by Sukhera (2022) . While this 
review approach allows for the incorporation of diverse methodologies 
and perspectives, it bears a risk of bias when not all relevant sources are 
identified ( Whittemore & Knafl, 2005 ). To reduce this bias, we first tried 
to search in a centralised, systematic way for literature that looked at 
dance and stress. We intended to develop an article collection with all 
relevant literature, to then derive psychological and/or neurobiological 
and/or socio-cultural insights that would be synthesised in the corre -
sponding subsections. However, upon closer examination of the identi -
fied literature, we realised that the sources were not sufficient to answer 
the research question of this review (see the Supplementary Online 
Material for a detailed description and the outcomes of the initial 
search). There were fewer studies that had examined stress regulatory 
effects of recreational dance than we had anticipated. We thus decided 
to adopt a more subjective subsection- and discipline-specific, decentral 
iterative and purposive search strategy to identify relevant literature 
( Sukhera, 2022 ). The goal of the adjusted scope of the review was to not 
specifically search for “dance” literature anymore, but to also identify 
and synthesise relevant literature that did not address dance as a specific 
activity (e.g., studies examining the effects of movement in synchrony 
without a dance-link).
This altered approach meant that each author writing on a subsec -
tion purposefully searched for and synthesised literature that related to 
their discipline and the topic of a subsection. This was done by a) 
examining the sources identified in the initial centralised literature 
search, b) examining sources already known to the authors as experts in 
the field,
3
and c) searching for additional literature using a much 
broader search strategy. For the latter, different databases (see the 
Supplementary Online Material) mainly with the keywords “dance”, 
“music”, “rhythm”, “partnering”, “social contact”, or “movement” in 
combination with the keywords “stress”, “coping”, or “resilience” were 
used, as well as backward and forward snowballing. Considering the 
breadth of this adapted search strategy, it was not feasible to screen all 
abstracts and to exclude studies in a systematic manner. The focus that 
we had adopted initially remained however unchanged, aiming to re -
view published academic evidence (stemming from journal articles and 
books) on non-clinical samples and recreational dance; a few exceptions 
were made to make important points, e.g., links to research on Parkinson 
Disease or Dance Movement Therapy.
The literature search and synthesis approach described above 
allowed us to deliver a relevant multidisciplinary overview that answers 
the research question of how key characteristics of dance contribute to 
stress regulation, with a particular focus on coping and resilience; yet, it 
is important to explicitly recognise that we might not have identified 
and/or included all relevant literature on the topic ( Sukhera, 2022 ). The 
current review therefore does not provide a comprehensive synthesis, 
instead it should be regarded as a first interdisciplinary interpretation of 
the evidence on the stress regulatory role of dance that aims to advance 
3
In the peer review process, several additional sources were included based 
on the reviewers’ expertise in the field. This also illustrates that a different 
author team might have included different studies in their review.
S. Klaperski-van der Wal et al.                                                                                                                                                                                                              Psychology of Sport & Exercise 78 (2025) 102823 
4 
## Page 5
new ideas and research foci ( Sukhera, 2022 ; see also the Discussion 
below). In the following, we will review our findings separately for each 
discipline for each of the three subsections. In the subsequent discussion 
section, we will summarise and integrate the results of the review. Please 
consult Fig. 1 for a brief summary of the main points of each of the 
separate sections.
3. Music and rhythm
This first section of the review considers music and rhythm as two 
key aspects of recreational dance, as seen from the multidisciplinary 
perspective of psychology, neuroscience (neurobiology and physiology), 
and anthropology (socio-cultural perspective). We acknowledge that 
music is inherently linked to the body ( Putkinen et al., 2024 ) and as such 
has potent and well documented effects on the response to stress and its 
perception, depending on the type of music. Even passive listening to 
music can have relevant physiological and psychological effects. In some 
aspects, the unique role of rhythm appears to be less researched than the 
role of music. Yet, it needs to be acknowledged that dance and music are 
closely interconnected, and that in particular in a dance context with 
rhythmic music a clear differentiation between the two concepts is 
difficult ( Orgs & Howlin, 2020 ).
3.1. Psychological findings
While music plays a pivotal role in dance, there are a lack of studies 
examining the stress-regulative effects music and/or rhythm have while 
engaging in dance. To gain deeper insights into these potential effects, 
we will first scrutinise research concerning the impact of music listening 
on coping and resilience factors in general. Subsequently, we will syn -
thesise findings on the psychological effects of music listening while 
dancing.
Whether music can improve coping in challenging situations has 
been researched by examining the effects of music listening on the acute 
stress response to artificial stressors. Thoma et al. (2013) did not find 
support for the assumption that music listening in anticipation of an 
artificial stress task (the Trier Social Stress Test) would reduce the acute 
psychological stress response to the stress task. Labb ´e et al. (2007) , 
however, found that participants who listened to self-selected relaxing 
or classical music after being exposed to a stressful cognitive speed test 
reported lower anxiety levels and more feelings of relaxation than par -
ticipants who had listened to heavy metal music; participants who had 
not listened to any music also reported higher state anxiety levels, yet, 
their relaxation ratings were similar to the self-selected and classical 
music conditions ( Labb ´e et al., 2007 ). A review on the effects of music on 
stress-induced arousal likewise found support for a reduction in arousal, 
anxiety, and/or stress levels when participants who were exposed to 
artificial stressors listened to music ( Pelletier, 2004 ). Thus, while the 
existing evidence regarding the effects of music on the acute stress 
response is not fully consistent, music has been found to possess the 
potential to positively contribute to the coping process.
Another branch of studies has tried to answer the question whether 
listening to music can improve mental health and well-being, e.g., by 
examining effects on stress and anxiety levels ( Corbijn van Willenswaard 
et al., 2017 ; Pelletier, 2004 ). The evidence shows that music-based in -
terventions can indeed have positive effects. Two large reviews looking 
at patients concluded that music interventions can lead to reductions of 
psychological distress in individuals with coronary heart disease ( Bradt 
& Dileo, 2009 ), as well as decreases in anxiety levels in cancer patients 
( Bradt et al., 2016 ). Corbijn van Willenswaard and colleagues (2017)
found no clear evidence that listening to music for at least 30 min a day 
for 2 weeks significantly reduced general stress levels in pregnant 
women. However, the authors did find that music-based interventions 
reduced anxiety levels. Overall, there are fewer reviews examining 
stress-regulative effects of passive music listening in non-clinical pop -
ulations. Yet, when considering a review of findings in non-medical and 
medical settings by de Witte et al. (2020) , a similar result pattern for 
both settings emerges. The authors found, irrespective of the setting, an 
overall significant medium-to-large effect of music interventions that 
were found to have positive effects on both physiological arousal and 
psychological stress-related experiences. More specifically, music in -
terventions reduced state anxiety, nervousness, restlessness, and feelings 
of worry, as well as salivary cortisol levels, heart rate, and blood pres -
sure, with overall larger effects for heart rate compared to blood pres -
sure and hormonal levels ( de Witte et al., 2020 ). These positive effects 
were found for predetermined relaxing music as well as for self-chosen 
music, for instrumental music, music with lyrics, and for music ther -
apy as well as music interventions; yet, most studies used only 
short-term interventions.
In their discussion, de Witte et al. (2020) present two different psy -
chological explanations for the observed effects: first, that listening to 
pleasant music could have a positive influence on emotional valence; 
and second, that music could potentially distract from stress-increasing 
thoughts and thus have positive effects. Interestingly, findings of an 
ambulatory assessment study on the stress-reducing effect of music 
conducted by Linnemann et al. (2015) do support neither of these two 
explanations: while music listening reduced subjective stress levels 
when participants listened to music to relax or when they listened to 
music in the presence of others, these effects were independent of the 
music ’ s valence or arousal; the reason to listen to music for distraction 
was even associated with increased stress levels ( Linnemann et al., 2015 , 
2016 ). Overall, it can thus be concluded that passive listening to music 
has positive psychological effects. It can also lead to decreases in stress 
levels, in particular when participants listen to music to relax or when it 
is done together with others. The majority of studies thus provide 
additional support for the assumption that music facilitates coping and 
that it increases resilience levels by strengthening important health and 
well-being factors; however, studies examining these effects in the dance 
setting are currently lacking. Similarly, it is not well-understood what 
role rhythm, as an important temporal quality of music, plays for the 
stress-regulative effect found for music listening ( Kim et al., 2018 ; 
Levitin et al., 2018 ). Empirical findings from the field of music therapy 
suggest that dynamic rhythmic entrainment processes could be of 
particular importance: in 2018, Kim et al. found a larger psychophysi -
ological relaxation response when relaxation music was matched with a 
listener ’ s heartbeat, with the tempo gradually decreasing, compared to a 
condition in which relaxation music was played at a fixed beat. Yet, 
overall, the existing evidence is sparse; more and larger studies are 
needed to explore the particular stress-regulative role of rhythm ( Kim 
et al., 2018 ).
Even more insightful for this review than studies on the effects of 
music listening are studies that examined the stress-regulative effects of 
music while dancing. Although a whole line of research investigates the 
effects of music listening on exercise-related outcomes (e.g., Ghaderi 
et al., 2009 ; Karageorghis & Priest, 2012 ; Patania et al., 2020 ; see the 
Supplementary Online Material for more details), we identified only two 
relevant studies that specifically examined dance.
The first study investigated the influence of music on emotional and 
hormonal responses in partnered dance ( Murcia et al., 2009 ; see also the 
Partnering and social contact section below). The authors used four 
different experimental conditions, of which two were dancing with a 
partner with music, and dancing with a partner without music. They 
found that dancing with a partner and music had more positive effects 
on positive affect than dancing with a partner without music. Further -
more, the music condition also led to higher reductions in salivary 
cortisol. The contrast to earlier findings from Rohleder et al. (2007) , 
who found increases in cortisol concentrations in ballroom dancers, can 
very likely be explained by differences in the setting: while Murcia et al. 
(2009) investigated the effects of dancing for the purpose of enjoyment, 
Rohleder and colleagues (2007) investigated a high social evaluative 
threat situation in a competitive dance setting.
The second study that examined stress-related effects of music while 
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## Page 6
dancing was conducted by Bernardi et al. (2018) . They found that 
dancing to “groovy”
4
music (e.g., Superstition from Steve Wonder, see 
Bernardi et al., 2018 ) “produced a distinct state of heightened flow, 
which was not present when the same music was listened to without 
engaging the body” (p. 421). Regarding the experience of feelings of joy 
and power, it did not matter whether participants were dancing or only 
listening to groovy music. Nongroovy music (e.g., What a wonderful 
world from The Innocent Mission, see Bernardi et al., 2018 ) also had 
positive effects on the sense of flow, irrespective of whether participants 
were listening or dancing to it. Interestingly, copying groovy dance 
moves without music led to some feelings of joy and power, but par -
ticipants did not experience any flow, while the copying of non-groovy 
dance moves without music did not have any positive effects ( Bernardi 
et al., 2018 ). That the different study conditions led to such different 
outcomes nicely illustrates that dance influences music perception and 
that music influences dance perception ( Orgs & Howlin, 2020 ). Bernardi 
and colleagues (2018) conclude that types of movement and types of 
music which are perceived as groovy have positive effects on in -
dividuals’ feelings, and that only the combination of these two in the 
form of dancing can also create a feeling of flow; they define flow as a 
unique and strongly rewarding experience of deep absorption and 
focused attention ( Bernardi et al., 2018 ). The ability of dance and 
certain (groovy) rhythms to evoke feelings of flow possibly represents 
another way to foster resilience given that flow has been found to be 
positively associated with eudaimonic well-being and life satisfaction, 
and negatively associated with anxiety ( Mao et al., 2020 ).
3.2. Physiological and neurobiological findings
The previous section showed that music listening supports positive 
emotion regulation, and that it evokes states related to pleasure and 
reward. Neurobiological studies demonstrate how neural systems, such 
as the brain’s reward pathway, contribute to these psychological effects 
( Salimpoor et al., 2011 ; Yehuda, 2011 ; Zatorre & Salimpoor, 2013 ). The 
reward pathway implicated in the processing of reward and pleasure, 
includes the mesolimbic and mesocortical structures with the nucleus 
accumbens (NAc), the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and the prefrontal 
cortices; they use dopamine as the main neurotransmitter. Brain 
research by means of positron emission tomography (PET) has demon -
strated that dopamine is released in response to pleasurable music 
( Salimpoor et al., 2011 ). The observed dopamine release within the 
reward pathway is associated with strong emotional responses to music. 
This is interpreted as evidence of a neural mechanism underpinning the 
pleasurable and rewarding effects of music and could be seen as a 
physiological incentive to dance ( Salimpoor et al., 2011 ). Functional 
connectivity analysis conducted by Menon and Levitin (2005) has 
furthermore demonstrated that listening to music modulates the activity 
within the dopaminergic network involved in reward processing, and 
specifically the NAc and the VTA, but also the hypothalamus that is 
involved in the regulation of body homeostasis and the response to 
stress.
The fact that music stimulates the brain’s reward system is of rele -
vance to stress when considering the neural mediators implicated in 
both music perception and stress responses. Among those, there are 
β-endorphins from the group of endogenous opioids that, together with 
the neurotransmitter dopamine, play a role in the regulation of behav -
iours generated by the brain’s reward system related to pleasure, reward 
and motivational states. Those effects can reduce stress and result in an 
enhanced state of well-being associated with β-endorphins ( Veening & 
Barendregt, 2015 ). Such behavioural effects are consistent with the fact 
that β-endorphins are closely linked with the HPA as briefly addressed in 
the section on Stress regulation. The understanding that music and 
rhythmic stimulation can activate the brain’s reward system and, as a 
result, reduce stress, informs and justifies the use of rhythmic music in 
neurorehabilitation ( Kotchoubey et al., 2015 ).
Noteworthily, music perception is a complex task for the brain as it 
implicates not only the brain’s reward systems but also other separate 
and overlapping cortical networks necessary for the integration of 
melody, harmony, pitch, rhythm, and timbre (e.g., Schmithorst, 2005 ). 
Rhythm is a very important element of music and dance. It is appropriate 
to recall that rhythms are ubiquitous in the natural environment and 
that they are important innate elements of life. Hence, it is plausible to 
expect cross-species responses to musical rhythms or music with a beat. 
An earlier neuroimaging study on the neural basis of human dance 
demonstrated a synchronised interaction of the brain network during 
spatially patterned rhythmic movements of dance ( Brown et al., 2006 ). 
Beat perception and synchronisation are common in humans; innate 
beat synchronisation has even been observed in human newborn infants 
( Winkler et al., 2009 ). But beat synchronisation is also displayed by 
nonhuman animals, including rats; the latter recently studied in depth 
by the Takahashi group ( Ito et al., 2022 ). Their well-publicised study 
reports that both the rat and human participants had optimal beat 
synchronicity based on the head movements and neural recordings, 
which suggests similar neural mechanisms for beat synchronisation in 
rats and humans ( Ito et al., 2022 ). In line with these findings, theories 
state that the perception of and synchronisation with external and in -
ternal rhythms are vital for the survival of organisms. Hence, music and 
dance evoke rhythm-related rewards and emotions that have both bio -
logical and social functions ( Wang, 2015 ). Further research is needed to 
understand the role of dance rhythm in stress regulation from the 
neurobiology perspective.
Yehuda (2011) , while broadly reviewing the role of music in stress, 
draws attention to the fact that electrical activity in the brain is affected 
by listening to music. Studies found that relaxation techniques as well as 
relaxation music can increase alpha waves (6–12 Hz) appearing during 
relaxation and theta waves (4–7 Hz) that are observed during deep 
relaxation ( Yehuda, 2011 ). It is also of relevance that most of the limbic 
brain subregions that are involved in responses to music, such as the 
cingulate cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala ( Harvey, 2020 ), have a 
pronounced presence of oxytocin fibres and high levels of oxytocin re -
ceptors (cited after Harvey, 2020 , also Landgraf & Neumann, 2004 ). 
Although there is a scarcity of studies directly addressing the role of 
oxytocin in responses to music, it has been demonstrated that listening 
to slow-tempo and fast-tempo music was associated with an increase in 
salivary oxytocin levels and a decrease in cortisol, respectively ( Ooishi 
et al., 2017 ). The authors interpret that changes in oxytocin and cortisol 
linked to music listening play a role in physiological relaxation and 
emotional excitation, respectively ( Ooishi et al., 2017 ). Such findings 
provide important neurobiological explanations why music in -
terventions and music therapy can be successful in stress-related health 
conditions ( de Witte et al., 2020 , 2022 ). Of broad relevance, frequently 
published measurements of heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability 
(HRV) as the physiological indicators of the activity of the peripheral 
autonomous nervous system confirm that various genres of music reduce 
or increase those parameters of which HRV is used as an indirect indi -
cator of stress.
3.3. Socio-cultural findings
The psychological findings reviewed above provide evidence that 
music and rhythm have unique beneficial stress-regulative effects, and 
the neurobiological findings give important insight into potentially 
underlying physiological mechanisms (see also Fig. 1 ). However, it re -
mains unknown why music has these unique effects. A review of socio- 
cultural findings within the realm of music, rhythm, and stress can 
4
Levitin et al. (2018) characterise groovy music as music that compels 
somebody to move along with it. When moving to groovy music, people 
“become aware of its rhythmic flow, and groove is manifested as the kinematic 
feeling arising from one’s embodied experience of entrainment to the music” 
( Levitin et al., 2018 , p. 64).
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## Page 7
provide important answers to this question to advance the understand -
ing of the socio-cultural importance of music and rhythm.
Anthropological considerations present a diversity of disciplinary 
positions on this subject, ranging from socio-cultural to more evolu -
tionary perspectives. Contemporary psychologists and biolinguistics 
specialists note that hominids have a propensity and predisposition for 
sound pattern recognition and production – a "preparedness of our 
neural system" ( Ravignani & Madison, 2017 , p. 3) whether trait by 
evolutionary adaptation or by-product by evolutionary exaptation. The 
anthropologist and discipline-founding ethnomusicologist John 
Blacking, in his groundbreaking work in the 1970s that predates this 
new field of biomusicology ( Ravignani et al., 2014 ), states that music is 
"humanly organized sound" ( Blacking, 1973 , p. 32). The ability to pro -
duce and understand sounds that are considered as standard "physio -
logical and cognitive processes" (1973, p. 7) presumed by Blacking to be 
genetically inherited faculties: structured sounds are perceived through 
instances of structured listening such as ritual performances amongst the 
Venda of South Africa or England ’ s English Symphony Orchestra. 
Similarly, humanly organised sound leads to "soundly organised hu -
manity", so Blacking (1973 , p. 89) concludes, arguing that the rela -
tionship between the production and interpretation of sound is akin to 
that of the production and regulation of society. Bond (2008) makes 
similar assumptions in her study of sensory impaired infants. Working to 
disinter the relations between dance and biology, she suggests that 
sound and movement relate to the formation of "aesthetic community". 
They are the building blocks of society, Bond (2008) postulates: rit -
ualised vocalisations, and sounds and movements that externalise pri -
vate experiences and feelings into a public world of shared meanings and 
understandings. The habitual, regulated self-expression of somaesthetic 
knowledge – body receptivity as aisthesis – can be found cross-culturally 
as well as across the lifespan. It is typically tied to music, but not 
necessarily, with some movement systems such as site-specific dance 
focusing upon the external place of movement rather than a connection 
between sound and movement ( Hunter, 2011 ). Mime would be a similar 
example of physical expression and aesthetic non-verbal communication 
less closely tied to sound, or the more rhythmic movements of Japanese 
butoh ( Fraleigh, 1999 ). However, while the above positions can all be 
argued for, most of them remain speculative in the end.
Adopting an evolutionary perspective, Ravignani (2019) proposes 
rhythmic cognition as a function of evolution, for example via sexual 
selection. Synchrony by sound and movement could offer evolutionary 
adaptational advantage and group stressor-prevention, or the potential 
to uncover what Ravignani (2019 , p. 78) refers to as "rhythmic phy -
logenies" in classifications of animals from the songs of the zebra finch to 
the staccato hooting of the bonobo. Distinctions between communica -
tion and music in non-human animals are notoriously difficult to 
maintain, especially with music ’ s design features such as isochrony 
(regular pulse or beat), instrumentality ("sound tools"; Nettl, 1983 ), 
intentionality, and performative contexts. The difficulty of the evolu -
tionary perspective is that it leaves out the arts-based aesthetic ( Fink 
et al., 2021 , p. 351) and potentially produces "untestable just-so" stories 
of the past ( Fitch, 2006 , p. 207) with its "rhythmic complexity" ( Morley, 
2012 ). Ravignani requests future research still isolate "the genetic and 
neuro-hormonal biological substrates responsible for perception and 
production of isochronous behaviour in humans as well as other ani -
mals" ( Ravignani & Madison, 2017 , p. 9); yet, while this will undoubt -
edly give clarity in the social understanding of stress systems and 
stressor relief, it also reflects that the scientific quest upon which the 
above community-related propositions rest is still unfound.
Ethnographically, and from a social constructionist perspective, both 
music and dance are "nonverbal communication" systems ( Hanna, 
1979b ). They are "performative modes of thought" as bodily intelligence 
exercises an exteriority of the self and group (cf. ( Grau, 1999 , p. 166). 
Hagen and Bryant (2003) press for an approach to dance as functional in 
terms of a socio-cultural explanation for the role of music – and dance – 
in society. The authors explain that music and dance can be seen as 
aesthetic, non-utilitarian and sometimes pre- or proto-linguistic 
communication systems that derive from the need for alliance forma -
tion between non-group members. For Hagen and Bryant (2003) , music 
and dance are coalition signalling systems that developed during ac -
tivities such as war and politics. Thus, music serves to establish wider 
alliances and to subsequently maintain social cohesion and internal 
stability that ultimately give onto a group protection from environ -
mental stressors. Complex rehearsals and performances necessitate close 
group interaction as rhythm is articulated, such as the "social rhythm" 
found in Brazilian Candombl ´e ( Sj ø rslev, 2013 ); the "communitas" 
( Turner, 1969 ) of traditional and modern dance events; and the 
hyper-density and solidarity of togetherness, collaboration or intimacy 
between artist and audience ( Chrysagis & Karampampas, 2017 , p. 9). 
Moreover, music – and dance – can easily be appreciated and decoded by 
even wider audiences ( Hagen & Bryant, 2003 , p. 30) (an additional 
example is provided in the Supplementary Online Material).
4. Partnering and social contact
Dance provides not only physical activity, motor coordination, and 
sensory and emotional responses to music and rhythm. Many types of 
dance also involve forms of physical or social contact and partnering: 
touch, social interactions, group entrainment, or movement in syn -
chrony – all leading to a perception of togetherness, i.e. joint agency as a 
social unit ( Cross et al., 2024 ; Phillips-Silver & Keller, 2012 ). The broad 
attractiveness, sense of social cohesion, and significance of social con -
tact in human lives motivate people across various ages to dance with 
others ( Coogan et al., 2023 ; Qu et al., 2023 ). This section is focused on 
partnering and social contact in dance as those key aspects uniquely add 
to the constellation of dance features as a form of complex activity that 
extends well beyond physical exercise or expression of movement tuned 
to music and rhythm.
4.1. Psychological findings
The presence of and connection with others in leisure time dance 
activities, from line dancing to nightclub clubbing, is considered to be an 
important factor for the stress regulatory effects attributed to dance 
( Garcia-Mispireta, 2023 ; Nadasen, 2008 ; Tarr et al., 2015 ). Yet, there is 
not a lot of evidence on stress-related psychological effects of partnering 
and social contact in dance. One of the few experimental studies that 
examined the effects of social contact in dance more systematically is the 
one by Murcia et al. (2009) that has already been described above. The 
authors found that dancing tango without a partner but with music did 
not have the same beneficial effects on affect as dancing with a partner 
and music. On a descriptive level, having no partner resulted in even 
lower positive affect levels than having no music, yet, the difference 
between the two conditions was not statistically significant. Cortisol 
levels also decreased when participants were dancing without a partner, 
yet not as much as in the partner-tango condition ( Murcia et al., 2009 ). 
However, it can of course be argued that dancing tango without a 
partner is quite unusual and that it is thus no surprise that not the same 
beneficial effects as in normal tango dance emerge.
Instead of looking at the losses when a partner is removed, it is 
therefore also interesting to look at the gains when a partner or social 
contact is added. Unfortunately, we do not know of a study that sys -
tematically examined such gains in a dancing context, but several 
studies found benefits of exercising together with a partner for other 
exercise types. Sackett-Fox et al. (2021) , for instance, found that par -
ticipants experienced higher positive affect when exercising with their 
romantic partner than when exercising alone. Stress levels were not 
examined, yet higher positive affect levels are regarded to strengthen 
well-being and thus also play an important stress regulatory role, 
possibly fostering resilience levels ( Lyubomirsky et al., 2005 ). Other 
studies likewise found exercise to have more beneficial health effects 
when performed together with others ( Kanamori et al., 2016 ) or as part 
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## Page 8
of a sports team ( Eime et al., 2013 ). It is hypothesised that strengthened 
social factors cause these additional health benefits, for instance an in -
crease in levels of social connectedness or social support. Remarkably, 
these social factors have received only little attention in studies exam -
ining the stress regulatory effects of exercise ( Plante et al., 2001 ), and a 
distinction of exercise or group exercise is usually not made in experi -
mental studies (e.g., Klaperski & Fuchs, 2021 ), impeding meaningful 
inferences.
In addition to studies examining the effects of social contact while 
exercising, studies investigating the effects of social/partner support on 
the acute stress response can provide insights into the importance of 
social contact and/or touch for stress regulation. While several studies in 
this area found that social support by a partner and/or stranger 
decreased the acute physiological stress response, they found no dif -
ferences regarding the acute subjective stress response ( Ditzen et al., 
2007 ; Kirschbaum et al., 1995 ) or state anxiety levels ( Ditzen et al., 
2007 ). The findings by Kirschbaum et al. (1995) furthermore point to -
wards sex-specific patterns of the effects of social support, as only men 
showed reduced physiological stress responses when supported by their 
partners (stranger support did not have this effect). Ditzen and col -
leagues (2007) did find positive effects on the physiological stress 
response in female participants, yet only in the case of physical contact, 
not when male participants provided their female partners with verbal 
social support (all examined participant dyads were heterosexual cou -
ples). Thus overall, the evidence in this field is still unclear and studies 
examining the effects of touch of non-romantic friends or dance partners 
are lacking. An interesting piece of evidence, that actually supports the 
idea that positive effects can also be initiated by the presence of 
non-romantic partners stems from Linnemann et al. (2016) . They 
examined real-life stress levels and the effects of music listening in an 
ambulatory assessment study over seven days. Results indicated that 
listening to music in the presence of others led to more profound re -
ductions in subjective stress levels; this effect occurred independently of 
the familiarity of the others present. The authors explained their find -
ings with a potential increased feeling of social cohesion ( Linnemann 
et al., 2016 ).
In addition to the stress-reductive effects of physical contact, the 
synchronisation with somebody else, especially when moving to music, 
is considered to cause positive feelings toward a partner, trust, and social 
bonding ( de Witte et al., 2020 ; Horwitz et al., 2022 ). Lang et al. (2017)
found that participants who showed high levels of synchronous arm 
movements were rated as more likeable than participants who 
synchronised their movements less. Another study investigating the ef -
fects of music on interpersonal coordination showed that participants 
who were asked to engage in chair rocking synchronised their chair 
rocking more strongly when listening to music and furthermore reported 
to feel more connected to their fellow chair rocking participant in the 
study ( Demos et al., 2012 ). This corresponds with another study ’ s 
findings showing that participants who listened (via headphones) to the 
same music and danced in synchrony felt closer to each other than 
participants who listened to the same music but who performed different 
movements ( Tarr et al., 2015 ). Findings by von Zimmermann et al. 
(2018) furthermore highlight that in a larger group not unitary syn -
chrony but distributed coordination, i.e., echoing others movement, 
predicted liking of others. Considering that the feeling of social 
connectedness is an important resilience factor ( Richards, 2016 ), these 
findings provide support for the unique stress-regulative effects of 
movement in synchrony and movement as coordinated action.
4.2. Neurobiological and physiological findings
Social behaviours are universal across the animal kingdom; they 
underpin reproduction, species success and survival. This also applies to 
humans who evolved as a social and highly affiliative species. Human 
social behaviour plays a significant role in the complexity of individual 
well-being and mental health, as highlighted by the psychological effects 
reviewed above. A large number of studies in the area of social neuro -
science have been published and it is beyond the remit of the present 
review to explore them all here in detail. As a summary, it can be stated 
that social experience can be a source of comfort or anxiety, thus 
affecting the perception of stress and its physiological manifestations 
( Insel, 2002 ). The brain networks involved in social behaviours and 
social cognition have been researched in depth together with their 
molecular, cellular, and computational mechanisms ( Chen & Hong, 
2018 ). The neurobiology of social behaviour points at the involvement 
of the neuropeptides oxytocin and vasopressin, which are distributed 
within the limbic system as mentioned above (e.g., Landgraf & Neu -
mann, 2004 ). As already stated in the section Stress regulation , oxytocin 
supports positive social interactions and attachment ( Insel & Young, 
2001 ); it also plays a role as a protective factor against stress, including 
psychosocial stress in humans ( Heinrichs et al., 2003 ). Social touch as an 
element of social contact can in particular act as a stress buffer through 
engaging the brain pathways and networks that regulate social attach -
ment via oxytocin and endorphin signalling ( Morrison, 2016 ).
The present focus is maintained on the aspects of social behaviours 
associated with dance. To our knowledge, there is a striking paucity of 
research on the links between dance as a social experience and oxytocin 
as a prosocial hormone/neuromodulator. A study of relevance in this 
context is the one that assessed the role of intranasally administered 
oxytocin in modulating synchrony during dance ( Josef et al., 2019 ). 
Interestingly, administration of oxytocin (vs. placebo) increased move -
ment synchrony in dancing pairs, thus leading the authors to the 
conclusion that central oxytocin is implicated in synchronised inter -
personal movement during dance ( Josef et al., 2019 ). This interpretation 
remains consistent with the role of oxytocin in the regulation of social 
behaviour (e.g., Heinrichs et al., 2009 ). It is fair to assume that the 
aspect of social contact and synchrony in dance, both an attractive and 
important element of people ’ s motivation to dance socially, is regulated 
by the brain ’ s oxytocin system. Future research needs to bring more 
evidence in support of this hypothesis.
Regarding the topic of partnering in dance, a novel two-person fMRI 
study observed the brain activity in trained couple dancers who alter -
nated between being the leader and the follower ( Chauvign ´e et al., 
2018 ). The leading dancer ’ s brain displayed a pattern of self-orientation, 
in association with activation of the brain areas involved in motor 
planning and monitoring, navigation, and error correction. In contrast, 
the brain of the dancer who was following showed a more sensory, 
externally-oriented pattern ( Chauvign ´e et al., 2018 ). Studies of this kind 
demonstrate the intricate neural controls implicated in dance not only as 
a movement exercise but also as social interaction.
4.3. Socio-cultural findings
The preceding sections highlighted how partnering - or even mir -
roring/synchronising with another person - can positively impact stress 
reduction. The neurobiological position appears to extend the socio- 
cultural suggestion made by Blacking who proposed that humans have 
"species-specific characteristics" ( Blacking, 1977 , p. 8). In his view, 
humans are biologically programmed to come together and cooperate, 
and that in that interaction and coherence, humans evince sensibilities 
that allow them to appreciate and respond to others. In the shared so -
matic experience of a partner dance there is a synchrony that is elicited 
expressly by shared music-making and dancing: two people typically 
come together, engage and share understandings of each other ’ s phys -
icality. This capacity to become entrained with another person is seen as 
important facilitator of coordinated activities ( Phillips-Silver et al., 
2010 ).
From an evolutionary anthropology perspective, research in the last 
two decades has developed from descriptive ethnographic studies of 
music-making, marching, and dancing - what McNeill (1995) had 
described as the "muscular bonding" rituals. Wiltermuth and Heath 
(2009) experimented with synchronous movement and singing to 
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8 
## Page 9
discover that synchrony facilitates future cooperation in group activ -
ities. Evolutionary psychologist Dunbar (2004) (see also Liebenberg, 
2017 ) proposed the more formative position that the endorphins given 
off from rituals of primate grooming, collective music-making, dance, 
and religious worship are an adaptive strategy to promote group 
bonding and prosocial behaviour. In effect, attention to music and 
rhythm are a critical aspect of the continued evolution of primates. This 
social advantage hypothesis has since been tested by Cohen and col -
leagues ( Cohen et al., 2009 , 2014 ; Tarr et al., 2015 ). They demonstrated 
that synchrony in drumming, dancing, and rowing led to the release of 
opioids and elevated pain thresholds (a proxy for endorphins). The 
assumed direct connection between neurohormones and prosocial 
behaviour was, however, not borne out in drumming experiments in 
Brazil ( Cohen et al., 2014 ), for all the resilience to pain.
In addition to these processes mainly focused on others, dancing with 
others also influences subjective states. In her early work, Hanna covers 
a range of sociocultural examples on affect, what she defines as "the 
conscious subjective aspect of emotion" ( Hanna, 1987 , p. 67). Pleasure 
in dancing with another, satisfaction in learning and executing moves in 
unison, excitement and a sense of novelty at significant meaningful 
practices, altered states of consciousness from dance highs to ecstatic 
trance possessions: these can all be the effects of partner social dancing 
that, in their catharsis, share a reduction in stress levels. Whether ritual 
dance (for war, for celebration, for commemoration, for possession) or 
social dance (for physical enjoyment, for social company, for exotic 
difference, for feminist independence [cf. Skinner, 2007 ; Skinner & 
Neveu Kringelbach, 2012 ]), Hanna (2006 , p. 51) refers to the various 
dancings as formative "stress management programmes". They are the 
precursors to dance as therapy whether informally as in the counter to 
conditions associated with Parkinson’s ( Houston, 2019 ), PSTD 
( Dieterich-Hartwell, 2017 ), depression and schizophrenia, or formally 
as dance movement therapy (DMT) ( Chaiklin & Wengrower, 2015 ).
DMT is not the focus of this review. We thus recognise its importance 
and cover a few more aspects of it in the Supplementary Online Material. 
Here, we only briefly note the distinct variation of DMT in the wider 
form of Contact Improvisation. This dance-art developed in the United 
States in the early 1970s as a social experiment is what dance anthro -
pologist Novack (1990 , p. 3) refers to as "egalitarianism and commu -
nality". It is a non-compositional movement of its time that demonstrates 
American cultural values, such as utilitarian individualism. It develops 
by stimulus and response whereby the flow of energy between dancers is 
key. It promotes responsiveness in the body and is sensual rather than 
sexual. Bodies move together independently "with no set moves other 
than an awareness of their dynamic exchange of touch" ( Pallant, 2017 , 
p. 9). Novack (1990 , p. 185) promotes this folk dance" for fostering ‘both 
calm peacefulness and wild disorientation’ as dancers become 
comfortable following the laws of nature with their bodies (friction, 
gravity, momentum, inertia) even should it lead to disorientation.
This ability to assume and relinquish agency, to also demonstrate 
attunement within the self and between the self and the other (inter- and 
intra-kinaesthetic attunement) is a pathway to de-stressing. It is exam -
ined more recently by Deans and Pini (2022) as they bring the sociology 
of the body work of Bourdieu and Wacquant with, respectively, their 
habitus and cathectic schemata ( Deans & Pini, 2022 , pp. 138–139) - the 
underlying habits and dispositions of human practice. The kinaesthetic 
awareness of the body, refined and honed through practice, is an 
"attunement" within the self and without the self. Traversing this 
interface is more than artistic in that it necessitates a body confidence 
alongside the self-consciousness. The ability to interact constitutes a 
high degree of emotional development in the dance partners according 
to the authors as developmental attunement takes place on the dance 
floor rather like the developmental parenting of an infant through 
repeated expressions and surprising faces and gentle throws in the air 
( Deans & Pini, 2022 , p. 8). This capacity to surrender and let go in the 
adult is a capacity with uncertainty in life. Between dancers, an inter -
personal resonance can develop, an embodied togetherness for Himberg 
et al. (2018) . It translates into a resilience in the face of what the poet 
John Keats referred to as a "negative capability" (cf. Bion, 1970 , p. 125). 
Bion (1970) elaborates that this is effectively - or perhaps affectively - a 
guard against the interminable.
Touch can be both object and subject: being toucher and touched is 
simultaneous in this non-localised of senses. The act of touching and the 
sense of touching take place at the same time. One might refer to touch 
as a rebuttal to the buffetings of social stress upon the individual. 
Following Aristotle, it is, for Paterson, the primary sense: it is the first 
sense developed in the embryo, and it is at the core of our "sensory fa -
cility" ( Paterson, 2007 , p. 7). In detail, this tactile cutaneous sense of 
pressure, of physical resistance, stems from the stimulation of mecha -
noreceptors. It aligns the body-self through a learned perception of po -
sition (proprioception), and in the context of dance betrays an aesthetic 
quality and affective reaction in the dancer/s and audience. If the 
mechanisms are universal, their interpretation and understanding are 
socio-cultural, metaphysical and can be affected by neuro-diversity 
(whether desexualised intimacy of New York "cuddle parties" [ Mayr, 
2023 ], moral stance to prohibitions of Untouchable caste groups in India 
( Guru & Sarukkai, 2018 ), or sensory differences in autistic horse riders 
[ Fitzgerald, 2013 ]). This "haptic aesthetics", Paterson (2007 , p. 9) sug -
gests, has an immediacy about it that is comforting, self-affirming and 
verifying.
With another, the social dancer thus perceives "a mutual co- 
implication" ( Paterson, 2007 , p. 3); this is "indistinction" for Bollen 
( 2001 , p. 291) writing about queer kinaesthesia as dancers’ out them -
selves in the social and dancefloor lives in his study of Mardi Gras in 
Sydney, Australia. On nightclub dancefloors, Garcia (2013) identified a 
"slippery togetherness", a feeling of connection that creates a space of 
belonging and social cohesion while preserving anonymity. In clubs, 
tactile gestures that would be regarded as inappropriate otherwise, offer 
moments of intimacy ( Garcia-Mispireta, 2023 ). Bodies merge and the 
self emerges from the dancing with the other. Anthropology of the senses 
scholar Le Breton (2017 , p. 97) opines similarly that "Touch is the sense 
par excellence of closeness". Touching another orientates the person as 
the boundary between self and other is established and felt. It calms and 
reassures with its "predictable reference points" for Le Breton (2017 , p. 
100). The traces of the touch are tangible and also leave an intangible 
residue. To return to Aristotle (2017 , pp. 41–43; 419a12, 
423b6-424a12), there is a "something in between" about the object 
touch and the flesh organ of the body where it is perceived and how it 
affects us. It is intermediate and both tangible and intangible as a core 
perceptual capacity. Without this, resilience is not even feasible. There is 
no, what Dagnino-Subiabre ( 2022 ) expressed more recently, "social 
buffering": behavioural patterns or abilities to mitigate the dangers of 
the human environment.
5. Movement and physical activity
Above, we reviewed the evidence on the stress regulatory role of 
music and rhythm, and partnering and social contact, as dance often 
involves these characteristics. This might give dance a particularly 
important stress regulatory role. A characteristic that is always present 
in dance is physical movement. We will therefore provide a separate 
albeit brief overview of the evidence on the relationship between dance- 
based movement/physical activity, stress, and outcomes related to 
coping and resilience. Noteworthily, while all types of exercise involve, 
per definition (see footnote 1), physical movement, dance movements 
still differ from other exercise movements: in contrast to most other 
types of exercise (like running or playing football), dance can be 
engaged in as a type of planned and repetitive exercise or sport. Yet, it 
can also be a purely aesthetic and non-utilitarian physical activity/ 
movement without any exercise-related goals (e.g., dancing at a party or 
as part of a cultural practice) ( Christensen et al., 2021 ).
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5.1. Psychological findings
The manifold stress-regulative effects of movement or physical ac -
tivity in general have been the topic of numerous empirical studies and 
reviews ( Gerber & Colledge, 2023 ; Gerber & Pühse, 2009 ; Klaperski, 
2017 ). Findings for different activity types, like for instance running or 
dance aerobics, are usually not differentiated between when examining 
the stress regulatory effects of physical activity or exercise ( Arvidson 
et al., 2020 ; Klaperski & Fuchs, 2021 ) – a potential shortcoming we have 
highlighted above. In this subsection, we therefore want to review the 
evidence on the specific stress regulatory effects of dance (movements). 
In doing so, it is important to acknowledge that it is very hard to 
distinguish the effects of natural dance movement from other dance 
factors such as music or touch. Reviewing the evidence nonetheless 
provides an important overview of the evidence that looked at the stress 
regulatory effects of dance in general. Previous publications that 
examined the stress regulatory effects of physical activity have used the 
well-known Transactional model of stress to explore how physical ac -
tivity can impact stress regulation ( Fuchs et al., 2020 ; Lazarus & Folk -
man, 1984 ). In line with these publications, we will briefly summarise 
the influence of dance on the four main stress regulatory pathways 
relating to this model: 1) direct reductions of stressors; 2) increases of 
psycho-social resources; 3) reductions of the stress reaction; and 4) 
direct improvements of health and well-being levels ( Fuchs et al., 2020 ).
Much of the evidence reviewed above already shows that stress- 
regulative effects of dance can also be attributed to these four path -
ways. Firstly, the subsection on Partnering and social contact showed that 
dance facilitates social contact and connection. This means that loneli -
ness and social disconnection can be reduced, i.e., stressors that have 
been found to bear greater mortality risk than physical inactivity 
( Holt-Lunstad et al., 2017 ; Liu et al., 2023 ; Nadasen, 2008 ; Wu et al., 
2023 ). Dance is however not expected to affect the extent of individual 
stressful life experience in general. Thus, findings by Bass et al. (2002)
showing that aerobic dance classes did not reduce stressful life experi -
ences are not surprising ( Fong Yan et al., 2024 ). In addition to the 
reduction of certain stressors, dancing can, secondly, improve important 
psycho-social resources and thus appraisal processes. Dance has for 
instance been found to positively impact self-esteem, one ’ s self-concept, 
or social support perceptions, as well as coping strategies ( Burkhardt & 
Brennan, 2012 ; Quiroga Murcia et al., 2010 ). Looking at the third 
pathway, several studies found music listening to reduce the acute stress 
response, making it very likely that regular dancing reduces the acute 
stress response just like it has been found for other types of exercise 
( Gerber & Fuchs, 2020 ; Klaperski et al., 2014 ). However, in contrast to 
studies showing that dance competitions increase acute stress levels ( de 
las Heras-Fern ´andez et al., 2023 ; Rohleder et al., 2007 ) to-date no study 
has examined the effects of non-competitive dance on the acute psy -
chological and physiological stress response. Evidence showing that 
dancing in particular reduces the stress response is thus currently lack -
ing. Fourth, several studies reviewed above showed that dance can help 
to regulate stress by directly improving health and well-being outcomes, 
thus increasing resilience ( Buck & Snook, 2020 ; Fuchs et al., 2020 ). In 
addition to the studies related to music and social contact described 
above, evidence for this health-strengthening pathway also comes from 
a multitude of dance intervention studies that have not yet been 
considered in our synthesis. In the following, we will therefore briefly 
review their main findings.
Direct positive effects on mood, affect, distress, and well-being have 
been found in studies looking at the effects of a single dance session ( Kim 
& Kim, 2007 ; West et al., 2004 ; Zajenkowski et al., 2015 ), as well as in 
studies examining the effects of longer dance programmes or in -
terventions ( Burkhardt & Brennan, 2012 ; Duberg et al., 2020 ; Liu et al., 
2023 ; Pinniger et al., 2013 ; Sheppard & Broughton, 2020 ). In a recent 
review on the topic, Sheppard and Broughton (2020) concluded that 
dance participation contributes positively to individuals ’ health and 
well-being across different cultures and age groups. Interesting results 
from a mixed-methods study with leisure time dancers furthermore 
show that such dance benefits relate to a variety of factors, for example 
to emotions, well-being and meaningfulness, creativity, and physical 
abilities ( Quiroga Murcia et al., 2010 ). The previously mentioned study 
by Bernardi et al. (2018 ; see also the section Music and rhythm ) 
furthermore highlights that rhythmic or groovy moments, as seen in 
dance activities, cause particularly positive effects: participants who 
copied groovy dance moves without music experienced some feelings of 
joy and power, while participants copying non-groovy dance moves 
without music did not report any positive emotional effects ( Bernardi 
et al., 2018 ).
As physical activity is known to generally promote health and well- 
being ( Gerber & Colledge, 2023 ), studies comparing the 
health-strengthening effects of dance with the effects of other exercise 
activities are of particular interest. A recent meta-analysis on the 
effectiveness of dance interventions on improving psychological and 
cognitive health concluded that while dance was not generally found to 
be more beneficial than other physical activity interventions, there was 
“ preliminary evidence to suggest that dance may be superior to other 
physical activity interventions for the psychological outcomes of moti -
vation [ … ], distress (hostility and somatisation) [ … ], depression [ … ], 
emotional wellbeing [ … ] and cognitive outcomes ” ( Fong Yan et al., 
2024 , p. 20). The authors also highlighted that dance interventions 
tended to have higher retention rates; yet due to a huge methodological 
variability and an overall low-to-moderate quality of the included 
studies the findings need to be interpreted with caution ( Fong Yan et al., 
2024 ). All in all, existing evidence provides support for the assumption 
that movement does not equal movement and that exercise does not 
equal exercise. In particular rhythmical dance movements seem to result 
in more beneficial psychological and health-strengthening effects. 
However, further research in this area is needed to draw more robust 
conclusions.
5.2. Neurobiological and physiological findings
The neurobiological and physiological bases of movement have a 
remarkable presence in the academic literature. There are many 
comprehensive reviews that provide in depth insights in the neural 
mechanisms of exercise playing a role in health and disease, and across 
the life span, for example Nicolini et al. (2021) , Won et al. (2021) , and 
Nowacka-Chmielewska et al. (2022) – a review that is also concerned 
with stress. A recent literature review that focused on changes in stress 
pathways as a possible mechanism of aerobic exercise effects on brain 
health argues that physical activity in the form of aerobic exercise im -
proves neurocognitive health, although no original studies have been 
found in support of the long-term effects of exercise on stress pathways 
implicated in this process ( Molina-Hidalgo et al., 2023 ). To provide a 
similarly comprehensive overview of the role of physical activity as part 
of dance effects is beyond the scope of the present article, instead we will 
briefly summarise the most important neurobiological and physiological 
stress-regulative effects physical activity is known to have.
Physical activity famously boosts endorphins in the brain which 
enhances the perception of well-being (e.g., Veening & Barendregt, 
2015 ). In addition, and as already mentioned above, endorphins are 
closely linked with the HPA axis that is directly implicated in the 
physiological response to stress (e.g., Takai et al., 2007 ). There is also 
ample evidence of dopamine involvement in neurobiological responses 
to physical exercise ( Gorrell et al., 2022 ; Matta Mello Portugal et al., 
2013 ). This neurotransmitter is implicated in movement control within 
the subcortical part of the brain - the basal ganglia - and also the reward 
pathway as already discussed above in the section about music and 
rhythm. Experimental studies in rats show that physical exercise en -
hances dopamine release in both the dorsal striatum as part of the basal 
ganglia, and its ventral part, the nucleus accumbens (NAc) which is an 
important region of the reward system ( Bastioli et al., 2022 ). The brain 
derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) plays a role in exercise-increased 
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dopamine release in the dorsal striatum and NAc ( Bastioli et al., 2022 ; 
Nicolini et al., 2021 ). Dopamine release is also enhanced in patients with 
Parkinson ’ s disease (PD, a movement disorder with drastically reduced 
dopamine availability in the basal ganglia) who exercise ( Mak et al., 
2017 ). The link between physical exercise and dopamine can also help 
interpret the long-term positive effects of dance movement in PD, and 
the clinical benefits observed in PD patients who dance ( de Natale et al., 
2017 ; McGill et al., 2018 ). This is due to the fact that dance incorporates 
physical activity, and movement, and rhythm - all of which together 
improve body movement initiation, and gait and balance that are typi -
cally impaired in PD. Of relevance, reports suggest that the best im -
provements in movement initiation and body balance can be observed in 
patients with PD participating in dance groups when compared with 
those in exercise only groups ( Earhart, 2009 ).
More broadly, movement and physical exercise improve one ’ s 
health, mood, and sense of well-being in the longer term, as discussed 
above from the psychology perspective. These effects can increase 
resilience and improve a person ’ s ability to cope with stress. Of note, and 
significance with respect to our socio-cultural findings below, dance/ 
movement training appears to improve cortisol regulation in older 
adults better than aerobic exercise (without dance). Vrinceanu et al. 
(2019) for example showed that after three months of 3hrs training per 
week, a dance movement training group had lower salivary cortisol 
values post-training compared with an aerobic exercise and a waitlist 
group, even though fitness improved only in the aerobic exercise group 
( Vrinceanu et al., 2019 ). Similarly, Ho et al. (2018) found that dance 
movement training led to steeper diurnal cortisol slopes in highly 
stressed breast cancer patients. Such findings that dance could offer a 
preventive measure against negative effects of HPA axis hyperactivity 
( Vrinceanu et al., 2019 ) are important because elevated cortisol levels 
are associated with ageing, and preventive interventions that can 
moderate cortisol levels can potentially limit the adverse impact of HPA 
axis hyperactivity on physiological ageing. These findings that support 
the beneficial link between dance movement training and healthy hor -
monal stress regulation complement earlier research showing a similar 
link with perceived stress both in healthy older adults and in clinical 
populations ( Br ¨auninger, 2012 ; Ho et al., 2018 ; Kluge et al., 2012 ). 
Overall, the evidence suggests that dance movement training can 
beneficially affect the hormonal regulation of stress independently of 
perceived psychological effects - a finding that also aligns with mis -
matches between physiological and psychological stress responses 
reviewed above.
To conclude this aspect, engagement in physical activity that in -
volves music and rhythm, like dancing, can be considered as beneficial 
to health through multiple physiological mechanisms. These mecha -
nisms also include those that reduce stress and increase resilience.
5.3. Socio-cultural findings
Throughout the world, physical movement in the form of social 
dance can be seen to be a powerful source and resource for health and 
healing. Cross-culturally it is a buttress against the buffetings of socio- 
cultural forces acting on or against the individual and community. We 
thus suggest that it is a mechanism for not just resolving external diffi -
culties but for salving internal factors such as stress. Social dance is more 
than an important source of meaning - "meaning in motion" as it is 
coined by dance anthropologist Desmond (1997 , p. 3) in her collection 
examining "the public display of bodily motion". Movement is, in itself, 
transformative as a potent change agent: physical movement is dynamic 
and diverse in its impact, particularly so in a socio-cultural context in the 
fields of sport and physical education, and health. Whilst sport and 
dance are closely related (cf. Dyck & Archetti, 2003 , pp. 10 – 11), these 
disciplined and entrained practices differ in that the dance is less 
competitive but more choreographed and aesthetic. Both can be, 
nevertheless, drivers for energy allocation and intrasexual selection 
( Longman et al., 2020 ), factors that are of particular importance during 
times of insecurity, scarcity and difficulty - each of these being poten -
tially stressogenic.
Energy deficit during times of famine, for example, necessitates a 
response such as migration, but such "energetic stress" can, if prolonged, 
lead to dysfunctional stress responses within the body according to 
Harrell et al. (2016) . In her study of Tamil refugees in Arctic Norway, 
Gr Ø nseth (2010) found that migrants of conflict can become "hyper- -
consumers" of health services in the post-malaise of war trauma and 
physical dissociation. Dance in the Diaspora can hence be considered a 
restorative activity; this is demonstrated by Irish dancing events and the 
annual St Patrick ’ s Day parades and festivals in urban areas of high Irish 
immigration in the US such as Chicago, Boston, and New York (cf. 
Conrad, 2015 ; Nagle, 2012 ).
More sociologically, Gotfrit (1988) presents social dancing in mod -
ern clubs and discos as physical movements that instil a tension between 
resistance and self-regulation as middle-aged women temporarily dance 
back to their youth, to their more liberated times, to their younger 
bodies, to their pre-marital or family independence. Their "boogie night" 
evenings are nights back in time, when ideologies of social reproduction 
are played with, challenged and transgressed before being restored 
when everyone goes back home. This is the pleasure of desire for and 
with the body played with without consummation - a public expression 
of sexuality without the sex. These are feminist contradictions about 
corporeal resistance that serve a cathartic function as "safety valve", as 
partial liberation and temporary de-stressing activity regardless of the 
social dance (cf. Skinner, 2008 ).
In a health and healing context, Carapellotti et al. (2023) note how 
because the social dance physical movement has a recursive dimension 
to it - is patterned and repetitive - participants are able to expand and 
grow in confidence from the patterns. This is important in a health 
setting where diagnoses sometimes feature movement limiting, 
confining conditions. For Carapellotti et al. (2023) , sufferers of multiple 
sclerosis or Parkinson ’ s Disease are able to develop confidence in the 
predictability of dance steps and the freedom of access to space around 
them. Their worlds open outwards and expand through their experi -
ences on the social dance floor. Nadasen (2008) makes a similar point 
writing about elderly female line dancers in Cape Town, South Africa: 
her research revealed that physical activity serves as a buffer against 
stress and trauma. It prevented social isolation and depression for 
dancers who had lost their life partners. Yet, the physical movement 
promotes more than an individual self-expression. This support struc -
ture fostered a new social consciousness and engagement in the com -
munity, even, in the dancers. This cuts across racial divides in a 
post-apartheid environment, just as salsa dancing could breach the 
ethno-national in Northern Ireland ( Skinner, 2007 ) and, for the dancers, 
was considered to be "better than [pharmacological] medication" 
( Nadasen, 2008 , p. 338) in the sense that the moving together had 
become a panacea for many of their ills, "a buffer for trauma and stress" 
( Nadasen, 2008 , p. 331).
Finally, in a comprehensive review of cultural dance and physical 
education, Olvera (2008) associates ethnic world dances with the po -
tential to promote the health of young and old beyond quality of life 
measures. Folklorico, salsa, African dance programmes can contribute to 
weight loss, improved resting heart rates, cortisol reduction, the man -
agement of hypertension ( Guidetti et al., 2015 ). Olvera cites the work of 
Harris (2007) in Sierra Leone: significantly, post-traumatic stress was 
blunted in former child-soldiers interacting with each other and 
engaging with their stories of atrocities - flash dances to resolve painful 
flashbacks. The dancing promotes a locus of control within the body; 
self-reliance that chips away at the distress of violence. It involves deep 
engaged breathing that dampens the erratic arousal of the nervous 
system; yawning and shrugging to relax and recover a new assertiveness; 
and balance experiments with a partner to re-calibrate posture contra 
repression and helplessness ( Harris, 2007 ). While not being the focus of 
this review, these examples highlight how dancing solo or in partnership 
or in groups, social in orientation or psychologically and emotionally 
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## Page 12
driven can all help healing by integrating the senses: learning how to 
regulate breathing whilst moving directly influences the vagal system 
and hence its regulation of emotions. This self-awareness, or inter -
oception, is as much about stress prevention as it is stress management 
(see Kiepe et al., 2012 ). Alpert (2011 , p. 156) makes similar points about 
dancing "in the moment" as a counter to stress and high blood pressure 
and how this can impact at a more fundamental level through the 
autonomic nervous system.
6. Discussion
This review presents multidisciplinary insights into the core ele -
ments of dance that include music and rhythm, partnering and social 
contact, as well as movement and physical activity (see also Fig. 1 ). It is 
the first of its kind to simultaneously review neurobiological, psycho -
logical, and anthropological findings. The evidence we summarised is 
diverse and in places the reasoning is new to the field of sport and ex -
ercise psychology. We thus want to highlight and integrate the main 
conclusions that can be drawn from each of the three sections above.
Music and rhythm: Although very few studies looked at the effects 
that music exerts when dancing, the existing evidence suggests that 
certain positive effects, like the feeling of flow (a state deep absorption 
and focused attention), only emerge when movement and music are 
combined while dancing ( Bernardi et al., 2018 ). This finding is also in 
line with exercise psychological evidence highlighting that music which 
accompanies dance can result in a more positive activity experience and 
a longer engagement in the activity ( Patania et al., 2020 ).
In comparison with evidence on dance and music, much more is 
known about the effects of sole music listening that has been found to 
promote coping and resilience in different ways. We summarised evi -
dence showing that music stimulates the brain ’ s reward system and that 
the same neural mediators, like β -endorphins, are involved in both 
music perception and stress responses ( Salimpoor et al., 2011 ; Veening 
& Barendregt, 2015 ). Furthermore, music listening has been found to be 
linked to increases in oxytocin levels and decreases in cortisol levels 
( Ooishi et al., 2017 ). These neurobiological mechanisms can explain 
why psychological studies find that music listening firstly reduces 
negative psychological states caused by acute stressors, and secondly, 
why it increases general health and well-being factors ( de Witte et al., 
2020 ; Labb ´e et al., 2007 ; Pelletier, 2004 ). That such effects were 
observed in particular for music that individuals experience as relaxing 
( Ghaderi et al., 2009 ; Linnemann et al., 2015 , 2016 ) is in line with the 
empirical finding that this type of music increases electrical brain waves 
that are associated with the state of relaxation ( Yehuda, 2011 ). 
Furthermore, studies demonstrating particularly positive psychological 
effects for certain types of rhythmic music ( Bernardi et al., 2018 ; Kim 
et al., 2018 ) are in line with the unique and innate importance of beat 
perception and synchronisation shown in neurobiological studies as well 
as anthropological considerations ( Blacking, 1973 ; Ito et al., 2022 ). 
Hominids are considered to have a propensity and predisposition for 
sound pattern recognition and production, and music might cause 
distinct positive psychological and social effects due to an important 
societal and evolutionary function music bears ( Blacking, 1973 ; Cohen 
et al., 2014 ; Ravignani & Madison, 2017 ). Anthropological scholars 
argue that, especially in times of stress, music and acting in synchrony 
might play fundamental roles in expressing and reinforcing innate 
characteristics that predispose humans towards cooperation and social 
interaction ( Ravignani, 2019 ; Wiltermuth & Heath, 2009 ). Music and 
dance are regarded as aesthetic, non-utilitarian communication systems 
that allow for group bonding as well as for self-expression ( Bond, 2008 ; 
Hagen & Bryant, 2003 ).
These interdisciplinary considerations show that, for the field of 
sport and exercise psychology, it is key to not regard music purely as a 
form of exercise bi-product, entertainment, or cultural phenomenon, but 
to understand that music is deeply ingrained in human biology and 
psychology and can thus trigger manifold beneficial neurobiological, 
physiological, psychological, and social responses.
Partnering and social contact: Several sport and exercise psycho -
logical studies found that dancing with a partner as well as exercising 
with a partner resulted in even more positive psychological effects than 
doing these activities alone ( Kanamori et al., 2016 ; Murcia et al., 2009 ; 
Sackett-Fox et al., 2021 ). Likewise, listening to music in the presence of 
others also seems to have beneficial stress regulatory effects ( Linnemann 
et al., 2016 ). Considering that humans evolved as social and highly 
affiliative species, these findings do not come as a surprise; corre -
spondingly, the ability to demonstrate attunement within the self and 
between the self and the other in dance has been characterised as a 
pathway to de-stressing ( Deans & Pini, 2022 ). Still, the role of social 
factors has up to the present received surprisingly little attention in 
psychological studies examining dance or the stress regulatory effects of 
exercise in general.
When turning towards the field of stress research for further insights, 
it becomes apparent that social support by a partner and/or stranger can 
decrease acute physiological stress responses to an artificial stressor 
( Ditzen et al., 2007 ; Kirschbaum et al., 1995 ). That this effect seems to 
be in particular linked to physical contact ( Ditzen et al., 2007 ) aligns 
with the conclusion that social touch acts as a stress buffer through 
engaging the brain pathways and networks that regulate social attach -
ment via oxytocin and endorphin signalling ( Morrison, 2016 ). Review -
ing the socio-cultural meaning of touch, it becomes clear that touch is 
intermediate and both tangible and intangible as a core perceptual ca -
pacity - it can be seen as a rebuttal to the buffetings of social stress upon 
the individual ( Le Breton, 2017 ; Paterson, 2007 ). The social dancer thus 
connects with the other, bodies merge, and the self emerges from 
dancing with another. Facilitating spontaneous somatic rhythmical and 
interpersonal synchronisation, dance is regarded to support emotional 
release and social or cultural synchronisation ( Bollen, 2001 ; Samaritter, 
2019 ). In line with these and previously summarised socio-cultural 
considerations relating to music, psychological studies have shown 
that the synchronisation with somebody else, especially when moving to 
music, can give rise to positive feelings and social bonding ( Demos et al., 
2012 ; Tarr et al., 2015 ). Interestingly, neurobiological investigations 
furthermore showed that oxytocin increased movement synchrony in 
dancing pairs, highlighting the importance of oxytocin as the prosocial 
hormone in social dance and corroborating the importance of social/ -
partner dance for resilience and coping ( Josef et al., 2019 ).
Movement and physical activity: Just like many other exercise ac -
tivities, engaging in dance movement has been found to impact stress 
regulation in different ways, namely by reducing stressors and their 
perceptions, by improving psycho-social resources, and by increasing 
health and well-being levels (e.g., Burkhardt & Brennan, 2012 ; Holt- -
Lunstad et al., 2017 ; Liu et al., 2023 ; Zajenkowski et al., 2015 ). These 
psychological findings align with neuro-biological and physiological 
evidence showing that physical exercise enhances endorphins and 
dopamine release, modulating the activity of reward-related neural 
networks and the HPA axis ( Gorrell et al., 2022 ; Molina-Hidalgo et al., 
2023 ; Takai et al., 2007 ; Veening & Barendregt, 2015 ). Benefits related 
to engagement in dance have been found to relate to a variety of factors, 
e.g., meaningfulness, creativity, and physical abilities ( Quiroga Murcia 
et al., 2010 ); looking at the importance of movement from a 
socio-cultural perspective, it becomes likewise clear that social dance is 
a powerful resource for health and healing. Dance movement is trans -
formative and restorative as it allows for self-expression as well as for 
confidence-building when movement patterns are repetitive and pre -
dictable ( Carapellotti et al., 2023 ; Desmond, 1997 ; Nadasen, 2008 ). 
Dancing enables the dancer to self-regulate, to connect with their past 
and cultural roots, and to foster social connection, even across social 
divides, by moving together ( Gotfrit, 1988 ; McGoldrick, 2018 ; Nadasen, 
2008 ; Skinner, 2007 ).
In sport and exercise psychological studies, this broader, socio- 
cultural meaning of movement has received only very little attention. 
Considering that several studies show that stress regulatory effects differ 
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## Page 13
for different types of movements and exercise ( Bernardi et al., 2018 ; 
Gerber et al., 2014 ), and that beneficial changes are not automatically 
linked to changes in fitness levels ( Vrinceanu et al., 2019 ), a narrow 
focus on typical exercise characteristics, such as the intensity level, 
might hinder new insights. Current meta-analyses on the superior effects 
of dance as well as research comparing effects of exercise and dance 
interventions in patients with Parkinson’s disease highlight the impor -
tance of rhythmical dance movements for stress regulation ( Earhart, 
2009 ; Fong Yan et al., 2024 ). Yet when drawing this conclusion, it needs 
to be acknowledged that many of the reviewed studies that investigated 
the stress regulatory role of dance movement also involved musi -
c/rhythm and/or partnering/social contact.
6.1. Future research recommendations
At the beginning of this review, we emphasised the importance of 
gaining better insights into the stress-regulative effects of specific types of 
exercise, especially given the significance of exercise and resilience and 
coping for health. The sport and exercise psychological evidence in the 
field of stress regulation is generally limited by a shortage of studies that 
compare dance activities with other types of physical activities; and by a 
mostly undifferentiated, generalised use of the term “exercise”. Most 
studies examine specific aerobic activities like running, or use exercise 
categories like aerobic vs anaerobic or moderate vs. vigorous physical 
activity ( Klaperski & Fuchs, 2021 ; Meyer et al., 2021 ). Other charac -
teristics, e.g., whether activities have a social component, involve touch, 
or whether they involve music, are being neglected. This narrow focus 
on the characteristics relevant for movement science, e.g., the intensity 
of an activity, likely hinders researchers in understanding what char -
acteristics of an activity cause an observed effect.
Our review on the specific stress-regulative effects of dance has 
highlighted numerous insights that provide support for dance as a 
unique stress regulatory activity. However, it also revealed points for 
which currently only limited evidence regarding the effects of dance on 
resilience and coping is available. The theme of resilience, as spanning 
across the fields of psychology and neuroscience, is clearly among the 
areas warranting further original research to build a body of data and 
evidence available for translation into interventions in healthcare (the 
aspect exceeding the remit of this review but systematically dealt with 
by Fong Yan et al., 2024 ). Other areas that call for further investigations 
include the exploration of the role of music within the realm of dance, 
with a focus on its enduring impacts over time. Furthermore, delving 
into the intricacies of rhythm and its relationship with dance, inde -
pendent of musical accompaniment, presents a promising avenue for 
future scholarly inquiry. Generally, a more specific investigation of 
stress-regulative effects of different movement types, if possible also 
dissecting movement from other characteristics like music or social 
contact, is very warranted to gain more meaningful insights.
There is likewise a need for more emphasis on the gender effects on 
stress responses in the context of social dance, and for better under -
standing the influence of dance on individual characteristics, like for 
example pessimism/a sense of helplessness and optimism/proficiency in 
adaptive coping. Lastly, we agree with Fong Yan et al. (2024) who 
highlighted several methodological issues, such as the short follow up 
periods and low quality of study designs. Those limitations also apply to 
many of the studies that were reviewed in the present paper.
6.2. Strengths and limitations of the current review
The present review has strengths as well as limitations. Its main 
strengths are its interdisciplinarity and its sole focus on dance as a 
specific form of exercise. This allowed us to, for the first time, explore 
several characteristics of dance and their links to stress regulation in 
depth, leading to new insights. At the same time, we must acknowledge 
that it was not possible to review all relevant dance characteristics 
( Christensen et al., 2021 ) considering the length of the present review. 
Themes that this review has not dealt with in depth are for example: 
communication ( Hanna, 2006 ), the role of body awareness and somatic 
practice ( Deans & Pini, 2022 ), creative learning and inner personal 
change ( Buck & Snook, 2020 ; Horwitz et al., 2022 ), the development of 
emotional competencies ( Borowski, 2023 ), the role of posture, and the 
expression of emotions that have been positively or negatively modified 
by recreational dance ( Alfredsson Olsson & Heikkinen, 2019 ).
Another important limitation regards the methodology of the review. 
We initially aimed to use a systematic literature search strategy, yet, 
most of the identified publications were not of direct relevance (see 
Method above and the Supplementary Online Material). At the same time 
the systematic review criteria and a sole focus on “dance” as keyword led 
us to missing many discipline-specific literature sources. We resolved 
this problem by using an iterative and purposeful subjective literature 
search approach; however, its breadth meant that a systematic exami -
nation of all sources was not viable. Using this iterative search process 
and the author team’s existing literature collections allowed us to pro -
vide a rich and meaningful summary of the evidence. It is however 
important to acknowledge that no comprehensive literature screening 
and review was conducted and that the search cannot easily be repli -
cated. This means that the current narrative review bears a risk for bias, 
as relevant publications might have not been included and other re -
searchers might have considered other sources and interpretations, 
coming to different conclusions
5
( Sukhera, 2022 ).
7. Conclusion
In conclusion, this multidisciplinary narrative review of the benefi -
cial effects of dance on coping, resilience, and stress offers unique in -
sights from a psychological, neurobiological, and anthropological 
perspective. We hope our interdisciplinary approach has not only 
enhanced the understanding of the beneficial effects of dance but also 
underscored the richness of integrating diverse perspectives to explore 
complex phenomena in the realm of human health and well-being. By 
examining the intricate interplay between mind, body and brain, and 
culture, this narrative review widened disciplinary horizons and shed 
light on the diverse mechanisms through which dance positively impacts 
individuals’ abilities to cope with stress. Various empirical psychologi -
cal studies showed that dance and music can promote coping and foster 
resilience. Neurobiological research highlighted the rewarding and 
stress-reducing effects of dance and its unique characteristics, demon -
strating its ability to modulate brain regions involved in the stress 
response. Anthropological insights underscored the cultural significance 
of dance as a universal form of human expression, offering a communal 
space for bonding, healing, and collective coping strategies. Together, 
these perspectives emphasise the profound potential of dance as an 
embodied practice that addresses coping, resilience, and stress at mul -
tiple levels of the human experience. So get up and dance your stress 
away.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Sandra Klaperski-van der Wal (Psychology): Writing – review & 
editing, Writ ing – original draft, Project administration, Methodology, 
Investigation, Conceptualization. Jonathan Skinner (Social 
5
Considering the flagged risk for bias and the collaboration as an interdis -
ciplinary team, it would have been beneficial to, notwithstanding the adoption 
of an iterative, purposeful review approach, create notes of all searches and to 
keep short discussion records; regrettably, we have not made use of this op -
portunity that was brought to our attention in the peer review process. 
Following recommendations for narrative reviews, we did however describe all 
key components of our review as transparently as possible, hoping that this 
enables the reader to critically appraise the overall quality of our review 
( Baethge et al., 2019 ; Sukhera, 2022 ).
S. Klaperski-van der Wal et al.                                                                                                                                                                                                              Psychology of Sport & Exercise 78 (2025) 102823 
13 
## Page 14
Anthropology): Writing – review & edit- ing, Writing – original draft, 
Methodology, Investigation, Conceptual- ization. Jolanta Opacka-Juf -
fry (Neuroscience/Physiology): Writing – review & editing, Writing – 
original draft, Methodology, Investigation, Conceptualization. Kristina 
Pfeffer: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft, Resources, 
Methodology, Investigation.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial 
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence 
the work reported in this paper.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi. 
org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2025.102823 .
Data availability
No data was used for the research described in the article.
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