On June 1, 2018 we had the opportunity of visiting the Palace of Versailles. It was very beautiful and I got to learn a lot about France before the French Revolution. Something I did not know, however, was Louis IV’s love for dance. During the tour, the guide made us do a demonstration of how they danced in the same main hallway we stood in. Louis IV danced ballet his entire life, and as stated by the tour guide: to him ballet was more than an art, it kept his country together. This is important because dance, in general, has an enormous influence on the brain. Studies have found that dancer’s brains have stronger synchronization, stronger emotion and memory processes of self-understanding, better reflexes and more connections in their motor related brain regions (Poikonen, 2018). Without knowing it, Louis IV was influencing its country for the better.
Reference
Poikonen, H. (2018). Dance on Cortex-ERPs and Phase Synchrony in Dancers and Musicians during a Contemporary Dance Piece.