By: Hailey Doroteo.
Various theories of intelligence arise when one discusses psychology, one of the most popular theories surrounds Howard Gardner’s theories of multiple intelligence. This theory surrounds eight intelligence types that make up one’s mind, which intertwine to allow cognitive function.
Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence demonstrates physical abilities and movements. This type is defined as the ability to solve issues and be creative using our body and limbs, together forming multiple elements that are used to move, express ourselves, communicate and exercise. This beautiful intelligence is most significant to individuals such as athletes, dancers, yogis, and even painters, and sculptors within art.
Additionally, memory plays a crucial role to allow this intelligence to develop as humans go on to live and grow. Closely along bodily-kinesthetic intelligence lies procedural & motor memory, which allows the brain to store and cement physical activities. While procedural memory functions unconsciously for the long term memory system, it stores such actions including playing an instrument, painting, riding a bike, and even dancing, along with other cognitive abilities. Motor memory specializes in those physical aspects mentioned earlier and any other neuromuscular activities.
Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence and memory allow the human body to do outstanding neuromuscular activities. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always stay the same, as the body ages the brain naturally begins to shrink, however, some aspects and areas, unknowingly stay within us.
Dance
During our early childhood, the brain is growing at an incredible rate, to the degree that learning any subject or topic is significantly easier than learning it at an older age. Especially when considering activities such as sports, dancing, and playing an instrument, these hobbies carry on in life and even create a passion.
Although dance was recognized as a professional sport much later in time in comparison to other sports, it has always been a method of expression and art. As dance researcher and performing artist, Marin-Bucio (2026), has recognized that dance involves thinking through each movement, which develops a “kinetic bodily logos … to affirm that movement is not the product of cognition but a primary mode of cognition itself” (21). See, beyond the beauty of seeing the body bend in ways that symbolize expression in a language that is emotionally collocated, dance becomes a powerful tool when visualized in a scientific lens.
Within Degeneration
Recently, a study done by various doctors was able to find that healthy elders who had an
average history of dancing for 16 years had superior posture and balance, hand-arm functions, hand-arm steadiness, muscle strength, and sensorimotor coordination in comparison to similar healthy elders without a history of dancing. These findings demonstrated that such exercise was able to benefit the elderly in unimaginable ways (Kattenstroth et al., 2010). The long-term implementations and findings are crucial because the elderly are constantly at risk for major injuries and accidents such as falling due to lack of strength or coordination within the muscles and bones (Kattenstroth et al., 2010). Most recently, the activity is being researched to treat those with Parkinson’s disease, a neurological disorder which restrains movement. It was found that the activity stimulates various brain regions, specifically, “the motor cortex, somatosensory cortex, basal ganglia, and cerebellum” (Edwards, S, 2015). These areas are involved in controlling movement, balance, touch and coordination. This gateway may be able to decrease the degeneration rate of motor control and balance. While some may argue that this may possibly be achieved through other physical activities such as exercise, dance is a form of expression and may run through various paces, it can become more than an active routine but also reduce stress, improve the mood of the individual, create a potential social bond and lower anxiety (Edwards, S, 2015). To people of all ages, dance is more than a form of expression or an exercise, it’s an artistic procedure, which helps to heal the brain and the heart. Dance may also go beyond Parkinson’s disease but extend to those with traumatic injuries such as spinal cord fractures, multiple sclerosis and strokes (Basso, et al., 2021). While researchers continue to study the performing movement, it seems to hold a bright and promising future for those with degenerative & restrictive disorders.
One moment in the media that helped to shed light on both the beauty and retention of the body was when a video of an elderly ballerina began to dance to a classic. Despite her diagnosis with Alzheimer’s, it was her intelligence and memory that still permitted her to extract the movements within her past and spark a moment of curiosity onto an overlooked activity. Marta Gonzalez Saldana was a prima ballerina in the 1960s, while she lived in Cuba she was known as Rosamuna, which is derived from Latin to signify “rose of the world”. She taught in Madrid and in New York she was known as Marta Cinta. However, once she began battling with Alzheimer’s, her past began to fade. It was during this period that she was filmed listening to Swan Lake, even while seated in her wheel chair, it was almost automatic once her arms lifted like wings and her neck rose like a swan. Through her beautiful dance movements, this scene symbolized the beauty behind her body and nerves to control a movement that she had always known. It was engraved within her, despite the neurodegenerative disease, her passion for dance never faded. May she, and her video symbolize a greater future for her passion and hope for those struggling through similar situations.
It is in her honor, that I have written this connection amongst dance and the biome we name a body. May she rest in peace.
References
Basso, J. C., Satyal, M. K., & Rugh, R. (2021). Dance on the brain: Enhancing intra- and inter-brain synchrony. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2020.584312
Chan, N. (2020). Ballerina with alzheimer’s revisits swan lake | being patient. In Being Patient. https://beingpatient.com/marta-gonzalez-saldana-prima-ballerina-alzheimers-swan-lake/
Edwards, S. (2015). Dancing and the brain. In hms.harvard.edu. Harvard Medical School. https://hms.harvard.edu/news-events/publications-archive/brain/dancing-brain
https://www.facebook.com/verywell. (2026). What to know about bodily-kinesthetic intelligence and how it shows up in daily life. In Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/bodily-kinesthetic-intelligence-11911864
Kattenstroth, J.-C., Kolankowska, I., Kalisch, T., & Dinse, H. R. (2010). Superior sensory, motor, and cognitive performance in elderly individuals with multi-year dancing activities. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 2. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2010.00031
Kronemer, C. (2026, June 5). Dance fitness: The connection between cognition and movement. National Federation of Professional Trainers. https://nfpt.com/dance-fitness-the-connection-between-cognition-and-movement/?srsltid
Lee, C. (2020). Ballerina with alzheimer’s: The untold story of marta cinta. In The Ballet Herald. https://www.balletherald.com/ballerina-with-alzheimers-marta-cinta/
Marin-Bucio, D., Danielsen, A., Doumbia, N., & Polak, R. (2026). Memory in performance: Kinesthetic and procedural dimensions of skill acquisition in dance improvisation. Frontiers in Psychology, 17. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1751590
Pierette Bartolomei-Torres, Ph.D. (2022, May 19). Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence: Definition, characteristics, and activities for its development. Learningbp. https://www.learningbp.com/bodily-kinesthetic-intelligence-definition-characteristics-acti
Shruthy Thamizhavel. (2025, March 14). Rhythms of the brain: Exploring the intersection of dance and neuroscience – nhsjs. Nhsjs. https://nhsjs.com/2025/rhythms-of-the-brain-exploring-the-intersection-of-dance-and-neu
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