"We all dance. We tap fingers and feet and move rhythmically when we hear music. Dance is a natural thing that comes from within us. So, dance!" Veronica de Boer invites us. Since a very early age, Veronica has been involved with eastern practices and martial arts. As a student she trained in competitive dance and modern ballet, and later she became acquainted with Oriental and African dances. And she has been passing all this wealth of styles and techniques combined with unique enthusiasm and inexhaustible energy to elderly ladies and gentlemen.

“I have been nourishing this idea for a long time,” Veronica says. “Because I often see how elderly people in Bulgaria just stay at home and when they are outside, they sit on benches and usually talk about illnesses and other trivial things as if life has already ended for them and nothing new is expected. And I wanted to do something to help these people have fun and move more.”

Sessions start with warm-up exercises based on the martial arts of Taijiquan and Qi-Gong - circular movements help warm up the joints and tendons. The exercises also help for better posture, rhythm, and balance between the left and right half of the brain and keeps it in good health. In the second part of the training session, people study and practice a particular dance - Rumba, Cha Cha, Salsa, Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, as well as African and Oriental dances. When it comes to age Veronika says:

“I take into account the capabilities of each individual participant. I have worked with a woman aged 86, as well as another one at the age of 73 with Parkinson's disease. Now I have a 76-year-old student, but most of them are about 60,”Veronica says. “Unfortunately, no gentlemen have come yet, but I have much hope and invite all the gentlemen who want to move to come to our dance classes, as there are lovely and interesting ladies with whom to partner.”

Expecting a baby, Veronica discovered that there was much in common when it came to martial arts, yoga for pregnant women, oriental and African dances. She has developed a complete set of exercises that are at the heart of the other classes she conducts - gymnastics and dances for pregnant women and mothers with babies.

“When babies are with their mothers, they are listening to the music. Each class is dedicated to a specific dance and there is music all the time. That is how babies get acquainted with different kinds of rhythms, music, and while watching their mother moving and having fun, the baby starts to mimic. I have seen babies who first started to crawl during the classes. Music is particularly useful, especially for children up to 1 year of age, because through music and movement, the brain gets stimulated," Veronica says. She also teaches parents in the popular method of Dr. Harvey Karp and is the chair of the Baby and Child Association, active in the sphere of child safety.

What are the benefits for mothers and pregnant women?

“They enjoy pleasurable moments, endorphins, they have fun, but we are also working on restoring the body after birth, which means overall healing and restoration of the muscles, tendons and joints of the woman. In particular, I show many exercises that are good for the waist and spine as they get quite strained during pregnancy,” Veronica de Boer says.

English: Alexander Markov