Miami group turns line dancing into therapy for grief and trauma

A group in Miami has found an unconventional way of helping people cope with grief and trauma.

Alessandro DiPolma from the New Zours Journalism Training Program student reporting labs has the story.

I lost my daughter at the age of 32 and last year I lost my husband to lung cancer.

Sharon Johnson is one of the many people working through their trauma with each step of this line dancing class.

I was going through a lot of grief, I didn't know how to deal with it, I didn't know where to put.

The feelings I was feeling, I didn't know how to cope with it.

Some of the things that even my grief counselor suggested was finding a hobby.

Once I found out about the line dancing, I thought that would be some work because I can express myself the things that I can't talk about.

I can express it through dance.

The classes are run by the circle of brotherhood, a nonprofit organization based in Liberty City, Miami, a neighborhood which has historically seen high crime rates.

Their goal is to help people dealing with grief and trauma, including victims of gun violence or those like Sharon, coping with any kind of pain and loss.

I've seen people lying dance going to parties or clubs and seeing them do it.

It was intimidating at first but it turned out to be just without me.

Every Wednesday and Saturday, Coach Darryl Thomas can be seen grooving to the music.

Dance kicking therapy is the community coming to relieve their stresses, their traumas through line dancing.

This room will pack out real quick.

It's going to be a lot of participation from the young to the young at heart.

I think our youngest line dancer is eight and our youngest at heart is 91.

And Thomas says he came here after learning that he was injured.

So I went to the optometrist and found out I had a detached rip.

It happened out of the blue.

They didn't want me doing anything because of the strain, right?

So I said, well, what am I going to do?

I'm an active person. I play pickleball.

I play golf.

I do all these things and I couldn't do those things.

I said, what can I do to continue to move around to be active?

Line dancing.

It started off with 25 people.

Now we're up to almost 60 people per class because the word was spreading through

social media, through our website, the word of mouth.

And the impacts of line dancing are felt in every step.

According to a study this year, line dancing benefits mental health in communities

by bringing people closer together, encouraging dancers to support each other outside of the classroom.

This is a type of therapy that can help you express yourself,

place your grief or whatever it is you're going through.

It may not be grief or whatever you're going through and know how to deal with it.

I've been through a lot and I can tell you life is very short.

So the time that I have here, I want to enjoy it and I'm going to enjoy it through dance.

For PBS News, student reporting lives, I'm Alessandro Le Palma in Liberty City, Miami.