Silver Steppers keep bustin’ moves

Published 11:19 pm Wednesday, February 24, 2010

EVERETT — Every Friday morning, Pam Shinsato counts aloud as her students’ footsteps echo across the gym floor at the Mill Creek Family YMCA.

Looks of concentration cross her students’ faces as they match each count with a movement of their feet, a turn, a shuffle or even a do-si-do.

The latest routine the Silver Steppers, a dance group of women and men ages 60 and older, isn’t the most difficult of the dances they already know but Shinsato is well aware that it takes practice to get each step right. A dancer since the age of 9, the group’s volunteer director’s mission is to help each of her students learn and enjoy dance.

“Dance is for everyone,” said Shinsato, 44. “Everyone can move; we all have it in us, and if we don’t feel like we can do it at least we can appreciate it. That’s my goal. You don’t have to be good to enjoy it.”

The Silver Steppers started dancing together nearly five years ago. That’s when group member Tom Kometani, 75, and his wife, Janet, taught a dance routine choreographed to the song “New York, New York” to members of Shinsato’s senior exercise class. Shinsato helped to tweak the routine so the group could give a performance at the YMCA Healthy Kids Day. The routine was a hit and Shinsato and the group decided to choreograph more dance routines, even after Shinsato stopped working as an instructor at the YMCA.

“We had been going for about a year and a half when I left as an employee, and that’s when we had to re-evaluate and think if we still wanted to do this,” Shinsato said. “We said we’d volunteer our time and come back extra. I decided to continue as a volunteer because I love these guys and I love dancing.”

A substitute school teacher and dance instructor at Applause Studio in Mill Creek, Shinsato started her business, A Step Ahead, in April 2008 to teach dance in schools. She said she enjoys teaching dance to different generations and has liked seeing The Silver Steppers dance for the past four years among other groups in performances hosted by Applause Studio.

“Who wouldn’t want to see 70-year-olds dancing and then the next number is 3-year-olds?” she said. “That shows how extensive dancing can be and how if you just have the right frame of mind you can do it.”

The Silver Steppers pay for their own costumes for each dance and routinely volunteer to perform at YMCA-hosted events, community centers, churches and nursing homes. Shinsato hopes one day soon the Silver Steppers will perform during elementary school assemblies.

The group appreciates Shinsato’s dancing expertise and guidance, said Elodie Ragan, 71, of Mill Creek.

“She’s a beautiful dancer,” she said. “She always considers our feelings and our wishes, and if we want to work hard or if we want to work soft that day. It’s the kind of the instructor she is. She’s our buddy.”

Each of the 14 Silver Steppers has a job to keep the group functioning, Ragan added, and they never forget former group members who stop practicing because of health issues.

“There’s camaraderie between dancers, friendships that developed that weren’t there before, and a real caring for those who have fallen on hard times with health,” she said. “We have one member going through cancer right now. She comes and will critique us and tell us to smile and do those sorts of things we forget to do when we’re concentrating so hard.”

She’s the group’s leader, but Shinsato likes to check in with every member to make sure each is having fun and that she’s leading them in a direction they all want to follow. She asks them to reflect on the things they did well during challenging practices to keep members encouraged.

The group’s manager, Tom Haller, 76, said one of the best parts of dancing is “when the feet and music all line up.” But the group also feels motivated to continue dancing when the people they dance for show their appreciation, he said.

“Basically what we do is try to show people in our age group that dancing is great exercise and it’s a lot of fun,” he said.

Amy Daybert: 425-339-3491, adaybert@heraldnet.com.