Why Partying All Night Could Actually Help You Live Longer

Tasha Nicole SmithThu, April 30, 2026 at 12:00 PM UTC

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Long Live the Party GirlSølve Sundsbø

Maybe you think about it. Maybe you don’t. But the word “longevity” is everywhere, appearing on your skin care bottles, at your gym, and even on the labels for your dog’s food. Welcome to The Long Game, a series exploring longevity today and what it means to live better.

In almost any conversation, there will likely be a moment when I’ll say, “We should go dancing.” Best friend got a new job? Party! It’s 65 degrees outside? Let’s celebrate! It’s Tuesday? The dance floor is calling! Some might say that spending your nights out late in the middle of the week (martinis and a makeout session optional) is borderline irresponsible. Others could argue a night on the dance floor is an act of self-care, a crucial part of a wellness routine, and even a longevity hack—it’s me, I’m “others.” But I’m not alone in my defense of a good dance party.

Dan Buettner, author, National Geographic fellow, and expert on Blue Zones, regions of the world where the population is known to have a longer lifespan, agrees that partying might actually be a key component of longevity. In these areas, social connection is a pillar of wellness, and gatherings are commonplace, providing a high-spirited outlet for community service and fellowship. In a recent TikTok video, Buettner calls parties a way to “rebuild social bonds in the village that last for years.” He adds that it’s also a great way for people to get physical activity and help out others.

One of the primary aspects of partying—dance—has long been recognized as an easy way to incorporate exercise into a daily routine, particularly as it can be done without equipment or structured training. “Some of the benefits of dancing are coordination and cognition through learning different sequencing, improving balance, and strength,” says Sara Plumer-Holzman, P.T., D.P.T., a dancer and physical therapist at NYU Langone Health Harkness Center for Dance Injuries. Cognitively, dancing has also been shown to improve brain function and relieve stress. In a 2003 study published by The New England Journal of Medicine, which tested the effect of leisure activities on dementia, research found that out of 11 activities, including swimming, cycling, tennis, and more, dancing was the only one that lowered the risk of dementia, primarily because of the level of mental effort and social interaction that dance requires.

Other research, like a 2024 study published by the National Institutes of Health, found that the combination of physical activity and emotional expression from dancing triggers the body’s internal reward system, increasing the feel-good hormone serotonin, which is linked to improved mood. Basically, dancing is a gift you give to yourself. “The beautiful thing about dancing is that it’s not something that we have to do. It’s something we do just for the sake of feeling good,” says Ismene Ormonde, writer and author of the Substack newsletter Hot Pursuit of Pleasure. “From a physical perspective, you dance all night and [realize that you] just did 10,000 steps.”

I picked up dance classes at Alvin Ailey Dance Theater in New York in the last year, and was joyfully shocked to see so many people of all ages coming together, even after long days of work and activities. And according to research data collected by IBISWorld in 2025, the desire to dance is growing: Enrollments in in-person dance classes have increased by 10 percent year over year since 2020, a major rebound following pandemic-era lows.

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This shift was also noticeable in pop culture post-COVID. The past five years have seen a boom in house and party music from major mainstream artists like Drake and Beyoncé, whose 2022 album Renaissance was influenced by the music and styling of Black queer club culture. Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, and Ariana Grande have all tapped into dance-inspired beats within the last few years.

“There’s something really special about music that’s intended to make people dance and be in the moment,” says songwriter, music producer, and writer Dani Offline. Charli XCX, who became the face of a modern party-girl movement in the wake of Brat, has even attributed much of the success of her platinum-selling album to the feeling that she gets from partying with other people. “When I go out and I meet people, I get lost in this fantasy world, and for me, it’s a huge source of inspiration for my writing,” she said in an interview with Gwyneth Paltrow on The Goop Podcast. “If I cut that off, it’d be like cutting off a limb. I would be so unhappy if I wasn’t able to absorb all of these different people and feelings and moments.”

Dancing is said to have many health benefits.Archive Photos - Getty Images

Dancing, whether at a club, concert, or a structured dance class, requires a level of presence. “What’s really amazing about dance is it gets you out of your head and into your body,” says Lauren Zucker, co-founder of Sage + Sound wellness clinic in New York. Adds Offline: “Even going to concerts, I feel like I hear more artists saying, ‘Hey, for this song put your phone away. I just want to connect. You can film every other song, but let’s have this moment together.’” Ormonde agrees. “When you’re looking around and there are people you love and even people you don’t know, there’s a pure sense of connection,” she says. “A moment happens when you become fully comfortable with looking a bit silly and being completely yourself.”

Partying feels all the more necessary during a time when intimacy and community seem scarce, particularly among millennials and Gen Zers who are less frequently engaging in face-to-face interaction. In the moments when I ask someone to dance—or even when I feel the urge to dance alone—I’ve found it is something of a plea for closeness. In so few words, I’m saying, “Be here with me this moment. See me and let me see you, unencumbered, uninhibited.”

It’s this sense of vulnerability that opens the door for deep connections, which have proven beneficial for overall health and wellness. In Harvard’s Study of Adult Development, one of the world’s longest studies of adult life, close-knit social connections, like those fostered on the dance floor, were found to be better predictors of long and happy lives than money or social class and even contributed to a delay in mental and physical decline. “People are starting to think about what they actually want their lives to look like,” says Offline. “Do they want to have memories of doomscrolling and comparison, or of divesting and trying to revalue the things that actually matter: people, real life, and experience?” That’s why, while I know I might grow out of my nights at the club, I’ll still always be searching for an opportunity to make any moment one worth dancing for.

You made it to the end of this article? We should go dancing!

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