Don't Forget to Dance

One of the reasons that I created this blog was to talk about exercise as a way of life. In the past few years, I have discussed various forms of exercise that I do regularly, used to do, or have tried. If I could only do one exercise, however, it would be dancing. I was excited when I recently read an article about a study that showed dancing to be the best overall exercise that people can do as they age. Apparently, dancing is one of the best ways to improve both balance and mental status. This is a good excuse to dance even more than the 5 times a week that I already do!

I would say that perhaps my favorite kind of dancing is Latin dancing with my husband. I first fell in love with Latin dancing in the 80's when I was doing aerobic dance, and Gloria Estefan was at the height of her popularity.  Later, when I started doing zumba dancing, it was Ricky Martin that made me a salsa dancing fan for life! Salsa, cha cha cha, bachata, merengue, and rumba are all great dances.

Rich and I started doing Latin dancing almost 10 years ago, and since then, have made it our goal to find a Latin club in every city or country that we visit. In the USA, we have danced at Latin clubs in the following: Asheville, Durham, Portland, Santa Monica, New York, Atlanta, Sarasota, St. Armands, and  Puerto Rico. Internationally, our Latin dance experience has included: Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Siem Reap (Cambodia), Santiago (Chile), and Hanoi (Vietnam).

What I have learned in these past 10 years about Latin dancing is that it truly is the universal dance genre. I think it is because Latin music simply makes people happy! Folks in all parts of the world smile when they are enjoying a salsa or bachata. Also, we have found everyone to be friendly and welcoming, no matter where we are. Although many young people frequent Latin dance clubs, (young for me means anyone under 40), there are plenty of folks our age and older who are Latin dancers. At the club that we go to in St. Armands, near Sarasota, there are men and women that have been dancing at the club for the all of the years that we have danced there. There is a nice community feel with Latin dancing.

The skill and enthusiasm of the dancers is inspirational. Speaking of enthusiasm, I would have to say that the two dance clubs that we found in Hanoi had probably the most lively participants of any place we have ever been. Dancers who had been to a club several nights before in one part of town were at another club in another part of town several nights later! As far as my favorite Latin club of all time, I would have to say it would be Club 15 South in St. Armands. Unlike almost all of the other places where we have done Latin dancing, it has live music on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. And it has had some of the best Latin dancers that I have ever seen.

We will continue our Latin dance adventure when we go to Japan several months from now. Until then, I will keep prolonging my life by dancing as much as possible. It is good for my brain, body, and spirit! The Kinks said it well in their song "Don't Forget to Dance":

Don't forget to dance, no, no, no

Don't forget to smile.

Don't forget to dance, no, no, no
Forget it for a while