06/10/2026
💃🏽Dancing Together: Reducing Social Isolation in Mareeba and Surrounds🕺
On behalf of the Hispanic Club of FNQ and Dance4Life FNQ we would like to extend a huge Thank You to the Australia Post for believing in this program and awarding this grant to help reduce social isolation in Mareeba and surrounds.
Mental health affects all of us to some extent, and feeling isolated is one of the biggest reasons we struggle. Almost one in three Australians report feeling lonely, and people who feel lonely are more likely to experience depression, social anxiety and poorer wellbeing. New University of Sydney research shows social isolation in Australia has nearly doubled over the past two decades.
I'd like to share a little bit of my own journey with mental health, and why I feel so deeply about it.
I lost my mother to Alzheimer's. In the last few years of her life, while I was looking after her, I became very socially isolated, depressed and socially anxious. Watching her decline affected my mental health more than I realised at the time.
For many years I believed dancing was in my past, a book I had closed. My husband had gone back to the cruise ships to make extra money for us, and I was caring for my mum. So I did a lot of reading about mental health. That's when I came across a study that stayed with me. Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine followed almost 500 men and women aged 75 to 85, and those who danced frequently had a 76% lower risk of dementia. That was the greatest reduction of any activity studied, and more than double the 35% for reading and playing brain games like sudoko etc
That knowledge reopened the book. It came full circle.
Moving countries made everything harder. Again and again we packed up and started over: finding friends, integrating, working through visas. My husband is from the UK and I'm from South Africa. We met on the cruise ships, and we have spent years trying to find solid ground together. More than once, the rug was ripped out from under us, and now we have two kids. Even writing this, I get emotional. You don't realise how much it affects you when you're in the middle of it, just trying to keep moving forward. It's only years later, when you finally have time to process, that it hits you.
Sixteen years after we met, we are about to receive the first visa that secures us together on the same soil. It has been a long, hard journey, especially with young children.
After my mum passed and with us now in Australia, the second I arrived, I started looking for places to dance. Four and a half years later, we have grown an extensive network of dance friends, who have become a large part of my social life, my support and my anchor. I don't think they even know that. My dance world has helped me through all of it, and I am so grateful.
This is why I feel so deeply about mental health and partner dancing. Partner dancing is one of the strongest ways to connect with our fellow human beings in a real way. It welcomes everyone, no matter your age, your background, your culture or where you are in life. Partner dancing meets you where you are, takes your hand, and we move forward together. Now we have a real chance to help with social isolation in our town and surrounds, and we invite everyone in the community to come along, take part and see what it's about.
This is only the beginning. Mental health struggles take many forms, and children and teenagers face their own struggles too, especially with the AI revolution that lies ahead. Why should we wait until we're older to look after our mental health? We should start with our children too. For now, our dance4mentalhealth program will focus on social isolation, and we hope it will be the first of many mental health dance programs we can offer our community. Keep an eye on our social pages for more information as we move forward. In the meantime, please join us for the free launch weekend workshops and our year-long program. Details below.
**🎉 Launch Weekend: 6-8 November**
🗓 **Friday:** free dance workshop with dance4life, 5:30-7:30pm
🎤 Short talks on mental health
🎶 Social dancing with our local band Careless 8-10pm
🥤 Free refreshments and water provided
🗓 **Saturday and Sunday:** more free workshops
💃 2 Hour Cuban salsa workshop with Christina Monneron coming all the way from Magnetic Island
🕺 Two-hour Bachata workshop with Jeanfer Salas from Keep On Dancing coming from Port Douglas
Free for our whole community. All ages, all backgrounds, wherever you're from.
**🌱 Then, from 16 January 2027:** a full year of free dance workshops. Mental health isn't about one event. Reducing social isolation is ongoing: regular check-ins, being there for one another, seeing each other, getting good exercise, being fully present, having a few laughs and building real connections. Partner dancing connects us like no other modality.
**🤝 Know someone who could benefit?**
If you're in Mareeba or surrounds and would like to be part of this program, or you know someone who could benefit from it, please register via the **link in our bio**. You're also welcome to contact Ulrike Nicholls or Emma Baker for more information. 💛
Mareeba & Communities Family Healthcare
