Parache danced in a country-western ensemble for a while, but it wasn’t until he signed up for a social dance class that things really began to take shape. He started out doing the country-western dancing and experimented with a number of other dance forms before discovering his passion, ballroom dancing, and in particular, Latin ballroom. “My social life blossomed. I was taking classes three days a week, meeting new people, and going out dancing.” Now Parache is a professional dancer and ballroom instructor with a studio in Stockton, California. “I’ve seen people grow in so many ways through dance. Partner dancing is really about learning to build relationships.”

Most instructors can tell stories about the friendships and romances that they’ve watched develop on the dance floor. Miguel Mendez, founder of The Dance Academy of Salsa in Chicago, says he’s seen it happen over and over again. “You don’t know how many people have met in my classes and then gone on to date or even get married,” says the salsa instructor, who has been teaching Latin dance for more than 12 years. Mendez also points out that many struggling relationships have been healed through dance. “By becoming good together on the dance floor, couples become good together in other areas of their lives as well.” Part of the reason dance can help resolve conflicts between couples may have to do with the intimate contact inherent in dances like salsa, merengue, mambo, and tango, among others. “In partner dancing you’re actually embracing the other person while you dance, communicating with them through your body,” explains Juan Parache.

Dance can be a good way to make new friends, lift your spirits, and release tension

Research continues to show that human contact, and in particular hugs, are vital to our health and well-being. Interaction with others seems to lower the body’s production of the stress hormone cortisol. According to Tiffany Field, Ph.D., of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami Medical School, “Lowering stress hormones makes you feel more relaxed and calm.” Human contact has also been shown to strengthen the immune system, thus lowering your risk of illness. For older people who are feeling isolated, dance could be one way to get the positive health benefits that come from intimate contact.

Even if you’re not looking to meet your perfect partner or improve your current relationship, dance can be a good way to make new friends, lift your spirits and release tension. Un Corazon Saludable, a Latina health initiative sponsored by The Women’s Center of Congreso de Latinos Unidos and the Einstein Center for Urban Health in Philadelphia, revolves around thrice-weekly salsa aerobics classes. The aerobics classes are half of the program. Participants also attend educational sessions on health and well-being.Many of the women who completed the program lost weight and felt healthier, but more surprising were the reported social and emotional benefits. “We didn’t realize that so many of these women were depressed and lonely,” says Tina Harralson, senior research scientist at the Einstein Center for Urban Health, who headed up the health initiative.

After just 16 weeks, the number of women who said they felt depressed dropped from 46 percent to 27 percent, the number of participants who felt lonely dropped from 35 percent to 19 percent, and those who reported restless sleep dropped from 35 percent to 21 percent.

Evelyn de Jesus, 49, participated in Un Corazon Saludable two years ago and is still taking dance classes, now three or four times a week. “When I started out, I was very depressed. I had gained a lot of weight and my situation just felt more and more hopeless,” explains de Jesus. “Taking dance classes and meeting other women helped me see that there was a way out.”

‘They promoted dance as exercise and as a way to prevent diabetes and that’s how they got Hispanics to take the classes’

De Jesus’s experience is not uncommon. “Many of the women felt more social support as a result of the program,” says Harralson, “They didn’t want the classes to end.” Luckily, their teacher, Peter Watts, didn’t either. So he opened Watts Fitness, a fitness studio, dance studio and Latino community center all rolled into one. “I still see a lot of the women who started taking classes with me through Corazon Saludable,” says Watts. “It was really their growth and enthusiasm that led to me to open this place.” Evelyn de Jesus says she feels healthier and happier than ever, and it all started with a dance class.

Of course, in order to reap the benefits you have to participate. And there are a few factors that can keep Hispanics out of dance studios. “Latinos are proud. They feel they already know how to dance, so why go to a class?” explains dance instructor and performer Edwin Salazar of SalaZartS, who teaches dance in a community of mostly retirees in Port Charlotte, Florida.

Before this, Salazar taught for Reach Detroit, a health initiative targeting African Americans and Latinos at high risk for diabetes. “They promoted dance as exercise and as a way to prevent diabetes and that’s how they got Hispanics to take the classes,” says Salazar. “They’ll do it for their health, but not to learn dance.” Once Hispanics got into the classes, they discovered there were new moves and steps to learn. “They realized there were other benefits besides just the exercise,” says Salazar.

Another obstacle is accessibility. Jane L. Delgado, Ph.D., president and CEO of the National Alliance for Hispanic Health and author of ¡Salud!: A Latina's Guide to Total Health–Body, Mind and Spirit, says convenience is an important factor when it comes to any kind of physical activity. “After you’ve worked hard all day, you don’t want to go out of your way to be able to exercise.” Delgado points out that dance can be done anywhere. “Instead of watching the commercials you can put on a song and dance for 5 minutes,” she explains. Delgado advises starting out slowly and building up to at least half an hour of sustained activity. “Dance is great because it can help us see exercise as a replenishing activity, not something that makes us even more tired. For some people dance is a release, and that’s fine too.”

Whether you dance for your mind, body, or spirit (or all of the above), just make sure it doesn’t become another task on your to-do list. “That just adds to the stress that you’re supposed to be reducing,” says Delgado.