Ballarat residents Steffi Tello and Victor Barrantes are using their love of salsa to share their culture, help others get active and have fun.
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The couple, who are co-founders of health and wellness business Elemento One, launched weekly social salsa dance classes on Wednesday.
Ms Tello and Mr Barrantes are from Colombia, where salsa is a part of everyday life, and met in Brisbane.
They moved to Ballarat three years ago and have worked in the hospitality and fitness industry.
Ms Tello works for multicultural women's social enterprise A Pot of Courage and said their decision to start salsa classes came from the group's Latinoamerican experience event in January.
They performed salsa for the diners on the night and were overwhelmed by their requests to attend classes.
Mr Barrantes said dance was a fun way for people to get involved in exercise.
"You get to move, it works with coordination and it is fun," he said.
"That is one of the main things we want to share with everyone.
"Sometimes in daily life you get stressed and anxiety or bad feelings. When you are dancing you forget about it and you relieve some of that stress or anxiety or depression."
Ms Tello said she grew up in the city of Cali in Colombia, which is known as the salsa capital of the world.
She said the dance was taught in many schools and she had danced since a child with her family.
"I have a really big family. Almost every weekend we would meet in one of our houses and we would do a party at home, eating and dancing," Ms Tello said.
"In the city you can find many places to go to dance."
Mr Barrantes said he and Ms Tello had been dancing since they met and they were a good match.
"You can dance with anyone of course, but sometimes you find that person you complement well," he said.
"That happened to me with Stefi. I feel like we dance well when we are together. Sometimes you get that connection with one person."
Elemento One's social salsa nights will run on Wednesdays from 7pm at Eastwood Leisure Complex over an eight week term.
People can join for the term or for a casual class. Visit linktr.ee/Elementoone to book.
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Rochelle Kirkham
Rochelle covers court and has a particular interest in social issues including homelessness, food security and family violence.
Rochelle covers court and has a particular interest in social issues including homelessness, food security and family violence.
