Shake your groove thing

It's 6:30 p.m. on a Tuesday night at Broadway Recreation Center in Florence. Seconds after the Sunshine Band fills the gym auditorium with '40s Big Band music, couples fill the dance floor.

Their dress is mostly casual - jeans, slacks and the occasional Stetson hat. But gold high heels and long, black sequined skirts also swish back and forth as 16 couples waltz like they were born doing it.

A few wallflowers sit in foldable chairs on one side of the gym watching, waiting for a partner.

The scene could take place at any high school gym, but most of these dancers graduated more than 40 years ago.

Welcome to another kind of senior dance.

Because the Shoals is a destination for retirees, dances for older people have long been a part of the community landscape. Dancers gather at community centers in Florence, Sheffield and Phil Campbell to fox trot, line dance, waltz and square dance.

Dancing is Charlotte Duncan's main form of exercise. The 82-year-old has been doing the Texas Two-Step and Electric Slide for almost 50 years since she managed Phil Campbell Community Center. Widowed, now she attends dances with her friend.

"God's really blessed me," she said. "I've been in good health. People don't think I'm as old as I am."

"It promotes socialization," said Angie Roberts, senior citizens supervisor at Broadway Recreation Center. "They can come and meet new people." That's just what Marie Woodworth did.

"We have fun," said the petite 86-year-old during a break between dances. "I met my husband here four years ago."

She has been dancing at Broadway for 15 years. As a child, she learned the Charleston, and her love of movement stayed with her. It's evident in the high kicks and finesse she brings to the

Electric Slide.

"I believe I'd be in a wheelchair if it weren't for this," she said.

She may be right.

"In order to remain healthy as you age, it's important to have a wide variety of activities you engage in - endurance or resistance training - to build muscle mass," said Dr. Chhandra Dutta, chief of clinical gerontology at the National Institute on Aging (NIA).

She said weight lifting, aerobics and flexibility training help older people retain basic life skills such as feeding and dressing themselves as they age.

The NIA supported numerous studies for older people that concluded finding an enjoyable exercise is key to sticking to it.

Paul Parker and Dot Rose know all about that. The childhood friends have do-si-doed since 1984 when they reunited by taking square dancing classes at Florence State College, now UNA.

As members of the Quad City Square Dance Club, they dance each Thursday at the Royal Avenue Recreation Center.

"You get to meet a lot of (nice) people," Parker said. "I've never met a moody square dancer." But every now and then, a dancer with a diva-like attitude emerges.

"Some people think they're perfect," he said. "When someone messes up, they frown on it. We call them 'sacred

squares.' "

Parker also indulges in buck dancing, which allows people to freestyle and "do your own thing."

He has watched the square dancing scene change so that it now involves a variety of people.

"Younger people are going into it, so the average (age of) members is 60 nationwide. So that tells you something," he said.

Thinking that older people are too frail to regularly exercise needs to be corrected, Dutta said.

"It is an absolute misconception ... There is no literature that (says) exercise is dangerous for older adults. Older adults are doing themselves more harm by being sedentary."

Health conditions such as diabetes and stroke complicate exercise options, she added, and people should check with their physician before beginning a new

program.

Roberts, who ocassionally dances at Broadway herself said a newcomer at Broadway "would see people having fun that probably have more energy than they have, because some of them can absolutely dance circles around me."

Not all able dancers at Broadway are cutting the rug, but they are content in living in the moment.

Wallflowers lean in, whispering to each other, giggling as they gossip. This may not be a high school dance, but the excitement is still here.

Jennifer Crossley can be reached at 740-5743 or jennifer.crossley@timesdaily.com.