WEST HARTFORD -- February is Heart Health Month.
It also holds that special holiday: Valentine's Day.
Fox CT had a chance to visit the Fred Astaire Dancing Studio in West Hartford and we found that for some couples nothing quite keeps their heart beating emotionally and physically like ballroom dancing.
"I brought it up to my wife and she was like dancing? Sure," said Dave Ewertowski.
They found a coupon online and soon Sarah and Dave Ewertowski began dancing. It's now been about a year since they began. Their favorite dances as a couple are the Foxtrot and the Cha-Cha.
"You see romance and dancing in the movies and it's like why go to the movies when you can just learn it on the dance floor."
"I have to learn to be a follower and he has to be a leader and that's kind of the opposite at home," said Sarah.
The contact you get in ballroom dancing is what makes it unique according to instructor Clemens Lengenfelder. Lengenfelder teaches at the West Hartford studio and also serves as the owner.
"The physical contact, the mental contact, your eye contact, there's very little activities, that's what makes ballroom dancing so unique."
It's that closeness that continues to draw another couple, Cathy Gobes and Al Masciocchi.
They twist and turn to tango wishing they'd tried it sooner, so now they encourage other couples to take the plunge, especially as a Valentine's Day gift.
"One of the most important things for couples is to have time together and to be able to enjoy each others company and it's such a different way of doing that," said Gobes.
"It's given us more time together which is great," said Masciocchi.
February is American Hearh Month and heart disease is the number one cause of death for American men and women.
Many doctors say that exercises, like dancing, build healthy hearts in unique ways.
For instance, Sarah said she's lost 20 pounds since she began dancing.
"We lost so much weight since we started dancing, it's great," said Dave.
Dr. Paul Thompson a Cardiologist at Hartford Hospital is also a ballroom dancing student.
He's been dancing to the beat of music for more than 25 years.
He blames his wife for getting him involved but he said he enjoys it and that it's a good exercise for others to pick up.
"We know that people who have a lot of social support, who have people they are friendly with, who are married, do better from a heart risk point of view."
While flowers wither away and chocolate lasts but for a couple days, many say the physical touch of dance, the words of affirmation, are gifts that last a lifetime.
"Dancing is a whole other level of gifting," said Lengenfelder.
And if you're looking for love, don't worry, Lengenfelder said that taking dancing lessons is a great way to meet other signals.
For more information about lessons, click here.