Dancing Away an Anxious Mind. A Memoir about Overcoming Panic Disorder (review)

The revelations described by Robert Rand, a journalist, writer and radio producer who suffered from panic attacks will be familiar to those dance artists who work in the areas of education and/or community. The physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual benefits which dance activity can generate have frequently been referred to by community dance artists and have been documented through ethnographic methodology. Other areas of dance research, such as dance science, are now drawing upon disciplines such as physiology, bio-mechanics and psychology, to investigate and verify the advantages of dancing. The benefit which Rand describes is gained from participating in cajun and zydeco dancing: the social context, the teaching mode, the music and the other dancers with whom he eventually comes into contact, all contribute to the author's eventual feeling of well being.

Robert Rand is a journalist, writer and radio producer who suffered from panic attacks caused by anxiety. His book is not an academic, scholarly tomebut an autobiographical account which reads almost as a novel. Through descriptions of his participation as a social dancer and of sessions with his psychiatrist, Rand narrates his journey from illness to health.

Of interest to dance scholars are the elements of the learning to dance experience that Rand found particularly useful. It was certainly not all styles of dance or, indeed, all dance teachers that facilitated his recovery. The formalised style of the dances with steps, positions and counts provided him with something to master. Moreover, the role, personal qualities and communication skills of the dance teacher, whom he identifies as a 'giver and healer' (p. 37) were paramount in his return to health. Rand's psychiatrist concluded that the dance floor offered a combination of social activity and exercise (pp. 213–14) that enabled his patient to recover.

The book is organised into thirteen chapters, plus postscript and discography. The citation of names, places and dates make this book an historical record of a particular dance activity in North America in the late twentieth century. Visual images of the dancing would assist the reader's understanding but, nonetheless, the book is easy and enjoyable to read. It provides insight into one individual's experience of learning to dance, a testimony to the very process by which he was able to overcome his psychological problems.