All the right moves
Dominic isn’t the only guest to see his life improved by dancing. For just over a year, Jeannie has been attending a Movement to Music class. It’s part of Age UK Somerset’s Ageing Well programme, which offers a range of exercise classes – from chair-based sessions to tai chi – that saw around 4,000 attendances last month.
“I had an operation on my foot about nine years ago, and since then I’d struggled to bend it,” says Jeannie. “But when I started going to a Movement to Music class, the lovely instructor, Chris, encouraged me to start standing on my toes and do a bit more every time. Now I can stand on my toes and count to 15 without even thinking about it.
“It’s true what they say – if you don’t use it, you lose it!” continues Jeannie. “People have got a silly idea that when you get old, you can’t do things because of your age. But the fact is, it’s not true. I can do things now that I couldn’t do a few years ago.”
This afternoon, in between the ballroom dancing, Jeannie and 50 of her fellow Ageing Well class members are demonstrating the routines they’ve learned in their sessions. “You feel part of something,” she says. “I don’t get lonely, but other people do, so at the class we all chat to each other. Everyone helps each other and it’s a nice atmosphere – and we do things like this now and then, which is fun.”
Tracey and Andi, who are attending their first Age UK Somerset tea dance today, know better than most that dance can be the first step to creating connections. The pair met at a dance class about 10 years ago and have been friends ever since.
“I’m more into bachata, salsa and street dance, but Andi’s trying to teach me ballroom,” says Tracey. “We haven’t danced together much before today, but it’s been great. I think it’s easy for people to lose a sense of community and get lonely, but if you can bring people together at events like this, that’s the best thing.”
Andi agrees: “You just need to get people out of the door. Dancing’s in my heart – I’m in a different place when I’m dancing. And it keeps you young!”
