Doctors says...
Tango Therapy or Psycho Tango is system integrated by tango dance, its music and special exercises with psychology to promote motivational vivencial dances allowing us diagnostic, therapeutic and investigative works.
Tango Therapy has been proven to improve aerobic capacity and coordination. It is a therapy very helpful in the treatment of some cardiac diseases, also Alzheimer’s and Parkinsons.
If you like to dance and you are a fan of the sensual tango you must know that to dance it has real, sound benefits for your health and that it is very good as a therapeutic application in some diseases.
The people who go often to the “Milongas” say that the rhythm of tango helps them improve some illnesses. For this reason some dance venues in Argentina are not only in leisure centres, they are also in places for professional treatment related to Parkinsons and Alzheimer’s.
According to studies made in Washington University (EUA), to dance the tango improves balance more than other exercises. This is because in order to make the marvellous steps a lot of balance and coordination is necessary. In this study the Parkinson’s patients were separated into two groups, one made some exercises with chairs and the other group danced the tango. Even if the exercises with the chairs were good, the group who danced tango improved their balance considerably more.
The Argentinian doctor Roberto Peidro, pioneer researcher of the therapeutic benefits and applications of tango put emphasis on the fact that the rhythms of Tango require a lot of coordination, it is precisely for this reason that enormous benefits are produced in patients with Parkinson’s disease
For people with Alzheimer’s disease Tango Therapy is very helpful as it requires coordination and memory to learn the steps
Also, the director of ”Centro de Vida” (Life centre) from the Favaloro Foundation made the first research about “Tango and health with sedentary people and those with cardiac diseases” The conclusion was that to dance tango for half an hour every day improves the aerobic capacity of the human being
As he said, this is a characteristic that you can find in other activities like walking, but the coordination that the tango needs to work increases the benefits in sedentary people.
Piedro emphasises that “ Tango is not better than other exercises, but it is more beneficial than other Traditional exercises and dances because they do not improve the coordination in the same way.
But, tango it is not only better for the body, it is also good for the mind and the spirit!
Federico Trossero, psychiatrist and MD author of the book “Tango Terapia” suggests and utilizes tango workshops as a treatment for depression, social phobias and also schizophrenia.
He says:
“Watching the way that the people dance, embrace the other and the attitude to their partners, the professionals can obtain information that helps them to understand better the patient’s psyche”
Dr Trossero started to investigate the clinical application of tango when he noticed that his friends, who danced, felt much better after the “Milongas” , where also their headaches disappeared. “Tango itself is a therapy”
The application of tango as a therapy was increased after the publication of the results from the Favaloro Foundation and now we are delighted to bring this here to the UK
It is much better to dance tango than to do a lot of other exercises, including walking. The music of Carlos Gardel’s tangos not only put happiness into your heart they also awaken your mind and your body.!!
