Forget clubbing. Dancing an intense bachata with a partner makes a far better social life for Dr. Ford Ben-Okoli, a primary care doctor at UTMB Health.
“Dancing is probably one of the best things I ever did in my life because I'm getting older now,” the 32-year-old physician said. “I can't keep going clubbing every weekend.”
A Latin dance competition on public television demanded Ben-Okoli’s full attention when he was a student at Baylor University in 2008.
“Man, I would love to learn that,” he thought.
A week later, he found himself outside a dance class being held near his dorm. He had no idea what the class involved. It turned out to be a salsa class in need of men.
The doors at the dance lesson opened to dancers who gladly pulled the shy student inside, although those beautiful women intimidated him, he said.
“I had told myself if I came across the opportunity to learn to dance then I would take it,” he said. “So, I took that class that day. I did well enough that they offered me a position with the performance team.”
The team explained if he joined, he would be able to accelerate his learning. Now he can cha-cha, merengue and tango. His favorite dance of the moment is the bachata.
(Bachata is a genre of music that originated in the Dominican Republic in the 20th century—a fusion of southwestern European influences, mainly Spanish guitar music, with indigenous Taino and Sub Saharan African musical elements, representative of the cultural diversity of the Dominican population.)
In January, he attended the annual Salsa Congress in Houston and danced with international professionals.
“It’s like Salsa State of the Union,” he said.
People from all over the world attended, participating
in workshops and watching showcases.
“Despite people telling you that you dance well, there's always a self-doubt,” he said. “This event had a lot of major dancers, and I danced with a few of them.”
And then he received some compliments from those pros.
“That definitely put a smile on my face,” he said.
Finding balance
Ben-Okoli was born in Houston but raised in Nigeria. He began his education at Houston Community College at 16 before transferring to Baylor University, then began medical school at UTMB in 2012. He’s been a faculty member here since 2020.
Being a fulltime medical doctor and an active dancer takes sacrifice and intentional planning. Finding the balance is important.
“It's about prioritizing your mental health,” he said. “I know that if I have a stressful week but then I went dancing, I'd come home relaxed, happy, engaged and I would have met new people. Dancing is always guaranteed fun. And that helped me balance. If I have a stressful day, I need guaranteed fun.”
To encourage some of his male friends to go dancing more often and have that guaranteed fun, he will offer a quick class on basic dance moves.
“For whatever reason, guys aren't usually as excited about dancing as the ladies are,” he said.
While dramatic and colorful costumes are part of Latin dancing, they aren’t part of Ben-Okoli’s typical routine. He doesn’t dance so he can dress in elaborate outfits, he said, adding that he often dances dressed in all black.
“When I go dancing, I'm pretty much dressing as comfortably and as casually as I can,” he said. “It truly ends up being a workout, and you get sweaty. You don't want to be uncomfortable trying to look very colorful and nice.”
He’s dancing to enhance his social life. Often that takes him to Houston restaurants that open their floors to Latin dancers, many of whom are beginners who just want to have fun and play after their dinner.
But he mainly attends social dances hosted by dance companies. Those settings offer him more skilled dance partners.
When he would go to a club, he didn’t have fun just standing around and spending money on drinks. Now he spends much less money—maybe $15 for the whole night—and has pure fun.
“You can have actual, active fun dancing and meeting new people, making new relationships and new friends,” he said.
“You'll see 70-year-old people, 80-year-old people who are still moving and dancing and having fun. It'd be nice to know that when I'm 65, I'm still out there dancing with young people and not missing a beat.”