Getting elderly people to practise dance moves can improve mobility, balance and quality of life

No one’s roaring “Shake what your mother gave ya” à la the popular Specsavers advert, but a study has found that getting elderly people to practise their dances moves can improve mobility, balance and quality of life.

Research by physiotherapists at Our Lady’s Hospice in Harold’s Cross, Dublin, also found that doing the Macarena, line dancing, Irish dancing and set dancing, had helped reduce the number of falls among those taking part in the dance class.

And the benefits don’t end there — there was a huge satisfaction rating among participants whose average age was 81 years, and who hark back to an era when dancing, not pounding the treadmill, was a popular form of exercise.