Seniors shake off memory loss with line dancing

For 20 years ballroom dancing was Joe Woodard’s life, a passion he enjoyed until a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease made dancing with a partner increasingly difficult.

But now that he’s discovered line dancing, Woodard is back on the dance floor, determined not to let anything get in the way of his fun.

“After a while it finally sank in on me that line dancing was the way to go because you don’t have to ask anybody, you can do your own thing, if you make a mistake nobody cares and if you fidget a little bit that’s no problem,” Woodard said.

The line dancing classes at the Winter Park Community Center have become quite popular with seniors, providing a fun and creative way to exercise, meet new people and improve memory and coordination.

This isn’t all about country music though, on any given Saturday, dancers are getting down to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” or Meghan Trainor’s hit “All About That Bass” with equal abandon.

The dancers don’t go out to clubs to show off what they’ve learned, but sometimes the latest trends come to them.

The youngest member, 21-year-old line dancer Dusty Szewczyk, joined the Saturday morning group with her mom and often shares things she’s learned while line dancing at Cowboys with the group, bringing new moves back to share as she learns them.

“I just love dancing with these ladies, I’m able to be out there and just be myself and if I mess up we can all just laugh about it and I don’t have anybody my age judging me,” Szewczyk said.

The oldest member of the group, Aline Radcliffe, age 90, has been dancing for as long as Szewczyk has been alive and she’s not about to quit now.

“It’s good for my brain because you have to remember all the dances and it’s just very good for me to keep moving. I just love it, love it,” Radcliffe said.

“We have people coming to class who’ve had knee and hip replacements, some arrive with oxygen tanks, there are cancer survivors, but the key to our success and why everyone keeps coming back is that we are like extended family here,” said line dancer Nancy Shutts. “Everyone cares about each other.”

“We always worry if someone doesn’t show up. We check on each other, because you just never know,” added Janina Brown.

The dancers that gather every Saturday are a diverse crowd, from all different backgrounds. You can tell just by looking at their shoes.

Some sport professional tap or dance shoes, others wear worn out old sneakers or cowboy boots, there are Toms and New Balance and Nikes, but when the dance begins, all those diverse soles line up to the same tune and something magical happens.

Aches and pains are forgotten, mistakes are overlooked and laughter bubbles up from deep inside. Bonds are formed, and so are memories.

On Thursday, March 26, many of the dancers from the Winter Park Community Center will have the opportunity to participate in a line dance workshop, hosted by famed choreographer Ira Weisburd at the First United Methodist Church.

The all-day workshop is for experienced dancers and is expected to draw more than 50 participants. The workshop costs $40. A portion of the proceeds will go to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association.