“I wanted to dance and I always thought I had to have the boyfriend that wanted to dance and that never worked out,” said Tracy Sullivan, a local graphic designer.
But Sullivan did end up dancing.
“I actually fell into it by accident,” she said. “I was volunteering at my local animal shelter and we had a fundraiser at Joy to Dance, which is in Hillsborough. So that was my first introduction to it and I kind of liked it. At the time I was single. So I’m like, ‘You know what? I’m gonna do it!’”
Getting started wasn’t easy.
“I was so nervous. I was there thinking like I’m gonna be so out of place… I just felt very awkward. But as soon as I walked in there, I got hugs from everyone. I mean, they were so warm, so welcoming, they totally put me at ease. And they just became my family.”
Across the Princeton area, social dance events are drawing students, retirees and working professionals onto the same dance floor. At a time when national studies warn of rising loneliness and declining face-to-face interaction, these gatherings have become rare spaces where people from different generations regularly meet in person.
Sergio Sotovando, 46, who has taught salsa with the Princeton Salsa Club since 2012, said, “I have students from the university and from the community. People of all ages come.”
On the dance floor, generational and cultural differences quickly fade.
“You can see a 20-year-old dancing with someone who’s 60, and both enjoying the music,” Sotovando said. “Sometimes you’re dancing with someone from China or Korea and everyone is singing along to Spanish music.”
He also points to the mental challenge of learning choreography.
“I have students in their sixties who remember the steps we practiced the week before,” he said. “It’s great for memory.”
In fact, studies have linked dance to cognitive and mental health benefits.
A 2024 systematic review published in the journal Dance Research found that dancing can improve psychological well-being and cognitive function while strengthening social connections.
Younger adults are seeking more opportunities for face-to-face connection as well. Those who grew up communicating largely online often report higher levels of social anxiety and fewer face-to-face interactions, according to a 2025 report by the Pew Research Center.
Vanessa Romero, 31, owner of VF Dance and Fitness Studio in Princeton and an instructor with the Princeton Bachata Club, said the structure of social dance classes helps make the environment welcoming.
“You don’t need a partner. You can just come,” she said. “Everyone starts somewhere.”
For many participants, the experience gradually expands beyond the dance floor.
Tracy Sullivan now regularly attends Princeton Salsa Club events. She says “It’s like micro-doses of getting to know people. You dance with someone for a short time, have a little moment, and then move on.”
Music also helps build those connections.
“People from many different backgrounds come together through the music and the dance,” said Wioletta Wyszynski, 47, owner of Viva Dance Studio in Lawrenceville.
A recent social featured a Haitian band playing Caribbean and Afro-Latin rhythms while dancers filled the floor.
Studios across the region host regular events. South Street Salsa offers group classes and monthly socials at its Milltown and Marlboro locations.
Princeton University hosts weekly salsa classes on Tuesdays and bachata classes on Thursdays, both open to the public.
Researchers say activities like social dancing can address challenges affecting different generations.
In Princeton, participants say those benefits play out every week on the dance floor.
For many dancers, the sense of connection is what keeps them coming back.
For Andrei Ursu, 22, who moved to Princeton last year, dancing became a way to build community.
“I started dancing so I could improve my social skills and meet other people. That’s the main reason why I joined the Salsa Club in my university down in Florida. And then after that, it sort of paved the way into getting connections and really helped me with where I am in life right now.”
He now attends the Princeton Bachata Club.
At the Center for Modern Aging, the nonprofit Central Jersey Dance organizes the monthly “Salsa Sensation” social on the first Saturday of each month.
Event manager Melissa Michalski said organizers have kept the admission price at $15 to ensure the event remains accessible. Across the region, most socials cost between $15 and $25 and often include an hour of instruction before the dance begins.
Wendy Ford, a retiree who began as a student dancer and now teaches, said the structure of dance classes often makes social interaction easier.
“You start communicating about the steps and helping each other, and the conversation flows much easier,” she said, adding, “Sometimes it’s enjoyable to just quietly dance with somebody because the movements themselves are a conversation.”
