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JBSA News
NEWS | Aug. 11, 2016

NMETC Diversity Council promotes health, cultural diversity through dance

Navy Medicine Training Support Center

The Navy Medicine Training Support Center, or NMTSC, Diversity Council at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston started a weekly Latin dance class Aug. 3 at the Medical Education and Training Campus, or METC, promoting health and a culture of inclusion.

 

The lessons include salsa, bachata and merengue and are in preparation for a Hispanic Heritage Festival at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston planned for late September.

 

“We’re trying to submerse the command into a little more of the Latin culture,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Luis Deffit, lead dance instructor. “We’ve been growing as a diversity council at NMTSC, so we wanted to go a little bit bigger this year. We’re not just having the heritage festival, but we’re going ahead and getting started ahead of time to give people the opportunity to learn these dances.”

 

The NMTSC staff are organizing new ways for Navy, Army, and Air Force students to get active and participate in healthy, uplifting events such as runs, talent competitions and dance lessons. The Latin dance class not only provides students the opportunity to socialize in a fun environment and stay active, but also to catch a glimpse into another culture.

 

“People who have only one single vision of who we are, their opportunities are very limited,” said Deffit, who joined the diversity council to help educate and raise awareness. “It’s a part of leadership to submerse yourself in different cultures so you can connect better with your troops around you, not just one ethnic background.”

 

Everyone who attended the first dance class agreed they learned a lot while having fun and would love to return.

 

“I wanted to learn how to dance better. Deffit is a great instructor, so I figured he’d be the best person to learn all of the different dances from,” said Army student Pvt. Charmaine Ibarra. “It was fun. I will definitely be here next week.”

 

“Deffit asked us if we wanted to come out. I’d done salsa dance lessons before so I figured ‘sure, I’d like to see if I remember some of the stuff,’” said Navy student Seaman Christopher Zurcher. “It was a lot of fun. It’s fun to learn something new.”

 

Deffit said he hopes to see more people come out in the weeks to come. The lessons will be held Wednesday nights at the METC Student Activity Center through mid-September. He encourages anyone and everyone to show up, regardless of previous experience.

 

“Every week, we’re going to take about half an hour to warm up and catch everyone up and the second half hour will be for the people who’ve been consistently showing up so they can practice what they’ve already learned and learn some more,” Deffit said.