# Dance and movement therapy

Source: https://onco.cc/technologies/dance-movement-therapy/  
OnCo record `dance-movement-therapy` (Technology). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Dance and movement therapy is enjoyable and a form of exercise, and small trials hint at better quality of life and mood in women with breast cancer, but a Cochrane review found too little evidence to judge whether it helps beyond that.

## Summary

Dance and movement therapy uses guided movement with a trained therapist to express emotion and improve body awareness. A 2015 Cochrane review identified only three small randomised trials, all in women with breast cancer, and found insufficient evidence for effects on depression, stress, anxiety, fatigue or body image, with a possible improvement in quality of life of uncertain size. As physical activity, dance shares the general benefits of exercise on fitness and fatigue, which are well established; as a specific therapy its added value is untested. It carries little risk in people cleared for moderate exercise.

## Fields

- Kind: Technology
- Status: phase-2
- Last checked: 2026-09-10
- Tags: complementary; supportive-care; evidence:insufficient
- Principle: Movement to music combines aerobic activity, social contact and creative expression, each of which has its own evidence for wellbeing.
- Strengths: Enjoyable, promotes adherence to activity; No safety concerns beyond those of exercise
- Limitations: Three small trials only; No robust outcome data; Not covered in oncology guidelines

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_therapy
- Cochrane: dance/movement therapy for improving psychological and physical outcomes in cancer patients (2015): https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD007103.pub3

## Connected records

- cancers: [HR-positive / HER2-negative breast cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/breast-hr-positive/)
- fronts: [Supportive Care & Survivorship](https://onco.cc/fronts/supportive-care/)
- technologies: [Evidence-based integrative oncology](https://onco.cc/technologies/integrative-oncology/), [Exercise & lifestyle oncology](https://onco.cc/technologies/exercise-oncology/)
- bottlenecks: [Toxicity and quality of life are undervalued](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-toxicity-qol/)
- key papers: [Dance/movement therapy for improving psychological and physical outcomes in cancer patients](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-bradt-cochrane-database-syst-rev/)

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