By Raffaela Kenny-Cincotta, News Staff

There’s a great James Brown quote that reads: “The one thing that can solve most of our problems is dancing.” The quote is so great not only because the almighty James Brown said it, but because it is so damn true.

Growing up, I wasn’t much of a dancer. It wasn’t because I was shy, in fact I grew up searching for the attention of my peers. I was always the class clown, the comedian, and most of the so-called popular kids liked me because I could make them laugh. But for some reason, when it came time to go to those traditional first dances in middle school, I instantly felt clumsy and embarrassed. Even later in high school I just couldn’t find a way to dance to Usher’s “Yeah” without being plagued with the fear that my moves weren’t hip enough. Needless to say, it was a dark time for me.

Everything changed during my first year of college. On a chilly October evening, my older brother took me to see a dubstep duo called Zeds Dead at a dingy club in Cambridge. The music boomed through the venue with such volume and authority that it raised my heartbeat, and for the first time in my life I wanted to dance for the sake of dancing. I didn’t want to dance because it was a top 40 song, I didn’t want to dance because I thought it would get a laugh, I wanted to dance because I wanted to express how I was feeling. I realized then how dancing wasn’t about conformity, it was about letting go.

Since then, dancing has become a major part of my life. I go to over a dozen concerts in any given year, and most of them are dance-oriented. Dancing acts as my main form of exercise and recreation, as well as an essential form of emotional catharsis. It is honestly the best therapy money can buy. Whenever I feel stressed or depressed I can go to a show, and whether I am in a crowd of ten or 10,000, I’m able to dance and feel how beautiful life can be. Although it sounds almost too pretentious to say, I stand firm in the belief that live music in tandem with dance is one of the purest forms of human expression.

The purpose of this column isn’t  to tell you to ‘dance like nobody is watching,’ because I’m not 14 and this isn’t a Facebook status, but I want to tell you how nourishing dance is for the soul.  Take some time to find music you love and move to it.  Dance for nobody but yourself, and see how free it will make you feel.

Spotlight Playlist: Songs That Never Fail to Get Me Moving

1. “D.A.N.C.E.” by Justice

2. “Sugar” by Moon Boots

3. “Pop Culture” by Madeon

4. “Earthquakey People (Dillon Francis Remix)” by Steve Aoki

5. “Lose Yourself to Dance” by Daft Punk