A Bonus Article for Educators

In recent years, dance science and neuroscience have begun to converge in powerful ways. What many teaching artists and creative educators have felt intuitively for decades is now being backed by exciting research: movement is not an add-on—it’s a core learning modality with measurable impact on focus, memory, emotional regulation, and community connection.

Tonight, I’m sharing a deep dive into the most current research and what I found that was energizing and deeply validating. Much of the work my colleagues and I have practiced for years is now being illuminated by brain imaging, developmental research, and motor-learning science. It’s time more educators knew just how transformative movement can be.

Below is an overview of what happens in the brain during different phases of the Stories in Motion workshop. My hope is that this gives you fresh insight and the confidence to weave more embodied learning into your classroom.

---

1. Physical Warm-Up: Preparing the Learning Brain

When the body begins to move rhythmically and intentionally, several major neural systems switch online:

• Motor Cortex initiates and organizes voluntary movement.
• Basal Ganglia refine coordination, rhythm, and automatic motor sequencing.
• Cerebellum calibrates balance, timing, and smooth execution.
• Somatosensory Cortex sharpens proprioception—students grow more aware of where they are in space.
• Vestibular System boosts orientation, equilibrium, and alertness.
• Corpus Callosum increases cross-hemisphere communication during coordinated movement.

Why it matters for learning:
Students become physically aligned, mentally alert, and neurologically primed. Movement activates the systems responsible for focus, readiness, motor planning, and emotional regulation (setting the entire classroom up for clearer thinking and deeper engagement).

---

2. Welcome & Grounding: Regulating the Nervous System

This short, intentional moment at the start of class is more than a ritual; it is a neurological doorway into calm attention.

What activates here:

• Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) supports focus and executive function.
• Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) manages emotional tone and mindfulness.
• Insular Cortex enhances internal body awareness.
• Parasympathetic Nervous System engages via vagal pathways, reducing heart rate and stress.
• Amygdala down-regulates, lowering reactivity.

Why teachers should care:
A grounded beginning settles the nervous system, increases attention, and prepares students to participate with clarity rather than anxiety. A calm brain learns faster and remembers more.

---

3. Memory in Motion: Turning Story Into Lasting Learning

Linking movement with personal storytelling ignites some of the brain’s most powerful memory and meaning-making networks:

• Hippocampus retrieves autobiographical memory and organizes narrative sequences.
• Medial Prefrontal Cortex supports personal meaning and identity-based learning.
• Temporal Lobes process emotional memory and sensory detail.
• Mirror Neuron System interprets gesture, intention, and embodied narrative.
• Default Mode Network (DMN) activates imagination and internal imagery.
• Neuroplasticity increases when memory is paired with embodied action.

Why this changes everything:
When students use their bodies to express and reconstruct memory, they create stronger synaptic connections. Learning becomes personal, expressive, and neurologically sticky.

---

4. Community Sharing: Building Empathy and Collective Presence

When students witness and respond to each other’s movement, the social brain lights up:

• Mirror Neuron Network drives empathy and intuitive understanding.
• Orbitofrontal Cortex processes social reward and connection.
• Superior Temporal Sulcus (STS) interprets relational cues.
• Oxytocin release deepens trust and belonging.
• Dopamine pathways activate through shared creativity.

Why this transforms classroom culture:
Students feel seen. They collaborate more willingly. Creative risks become safer. When classrooms foster belonging, academic learning accelerates.

---

Why Teachers Should Integrate More Movement

Movement isn’t just “fun.” It’s not a break from learning.
It is a form of learning.
A powerful one.

Neuroscience now shows what many dancers and teaching artists have long known:

• Movement strengthens memory.
• Movement regulates emotion.
• Movement deepens focus.
• Movement awakens creativity.
• Movement builds community.
• Movement makes learning more equitable and accessible.

In a world where students are overwhelmed, overstimulated, and often disconnected from their bodies, movement is a path back to presence.

If you’re an educator ready to bring more embodied learning into your classroom, consider this an invitation. You don’t need a dance studio or perfect choreography. You simply need openness, curiosity, and a willingness to let movement become part of your teaching toolkit.

Your students’ brains (and hearts) will thank you.