but why cursive? I think there are a lot more important things that can be taught beyond fancy handwriting.

Develops hand eye coordination in ways that printing and such does not do.

Motor circuits reinforcing what you are seeing/hearing. Activating more parts of the brain at once.

Print works too, but it takes a lot longer to bulk write and I suspect the flourish afforded to someone when developing their handwriting activates some other brain regions.

When I used to teach middle school, you could in my lesson plans when I was thinking granularly versus thinking holistically -- I write in very meticulous print when noting time, format, objectives, etc. When I write narratives, I write with a tight angular cursive (that I am very proud of).

It wasn't until after years of lesson planning that I noticed my brain switches that way.

Thanks for the detailed explanation.

Probably more synapses fire with the greater mechanical requirements - I had never investigated it. I never learned to write cursive despite attempts at teaching it in grade school - curiously, I could draw quite well, but I flunked penmanship repeatedly. I still print/write.