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As part of VicHealth's recently launched Active Arts Strategy to encourage Victorians to get physically active and improve mental wellbeing, the organisation last night (Saturday 21st February) sponsored the I Could Have Danced All Night marathon dance session.

Returning for a third successive year as part of the White Night Melbourne festival, I Could Have Danced All Night involved tens of thousands of people taking part in a marathon 12-hour dance session.

At White Night Melbourne in 2014, more than half a million people flooded Melbourne’s streets, gardens, laneways and buildings for a 12-hour celebration of art, music, film and dance. Featuring 350 performers, costumes and high level production, 100,000 people took part in I Could Have Danced All Night, which this year has been staged at a new location at Lonsdale Street with professional dance artists leading the crowd through a range of different styles.

VicHealth Chief Executive Jerril Rechter believes that mass participation and working with the community are key to long-term arts and physical activity projects that get people moving.

Stating that arts and physical activity are two key components of VicHealth’s Active Arts Strategy, Rechter, a former dancer, explains “dancing is a wonderful way for people to get ... hearts pumping and meet their 30 minutes of daily physical activity, while also having fun and meeting new people.”

In an opinion piece first published on ArtsHub, Rechter added “not everyone is an early bird who can hit the gym at 5am or bike 8 kilometres home from the office.

“But with good music, it’s hard to find anyone who won’t start tapping their feet or nodding their head in beat to the rhythm.

“Getting involved in the arts – whether it’s enjoying a museum exhibition, going to a gig or taking an art class – provides people with an opportunity to gain new skills and express themselves, be inspired, and feel good about life in general.

“And we know that being around and involved with others reduces loneliness and helps people to make new friends.”

For more information on I Could Have Danced All Night and the White Night Melbourne program go to www.whitenightmelbourne.com.au

Click here to visit the VicHealth website.

Click here to view Jerril Rechter’s opinion piece Hate sport? Just dance in ArtsHub.

Image courtesy of White Night Melbourne.

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