It’s cool here this morning in the gym at Rosehill Community Center in Mukilteo, but the women moving to Josh Turner’s “Firecracker” are hot: an ageless sisterhood of dancing feet, swinging hips and nonstop arms.
Most of them are wearing red tops as a salute to heart-health month, and what they’re doing keeps those hearts — and bodies — in great shape.
That was the idea when Judi Sheppard Missett founded Jazzercise in 1969: dance fitness with elements of cardio, strength and stretching exercises set to music that demands and celebrates movement.
Rea Craig, 77, a regular in the front row at this Jazzercise class, chose this means of staying in shape 30 years ago and has no intentions of stopping. She’s one of five past-70 women who show up three or four mornings a week to dance their way to good health.
“I’ve always loved to dance. When I first saw Jazzercise on TV I said ‘That’s for me.’ I found a class in a local mall near my home in Concord (Calif.). It’s been an essential part of my life ever since. When we moved to Mill Creek I found this class,” Craig said.
“The women here are not just friends, they’re my sisters. … I’m so blessed to have them in my life,” Craig said.
And, in turn, Craig inspires the younger members of this group, Kris Huxford, a 30-something mom with toddler in tow, said, “Look at her. She’s amazing.”
If you took in the Lighthouse Parade in Mukilteo last fall, you’d probably recognize many of these women who danced their way through the parade. “People were applauding and shouting, ‘You go ladies,’ ” Huxford recalled.
And, oh yes, that was Craig in the front row again: a tall, leggy, attractive brunette with a smile that speaks to the joy in her heart.
The session begins with warm-ups and stretches then moves into heart-pounding cardio before ending with cool-down stretching exercises. About the time cool down begins, a stack of damp ice-cold hand towels are passed around. Faces and necks wiped, the women move to mats for floor exercises.
Ardis Steggall, 63, of Coupeville modifies some of these floor movements to meet her own health needs. Usually she is in class after a full day’s work at the University of Washington, but occasionally she picks up a morning class.
“I could not find dance routines like this until I came to Jazzercise. It’s like the old aerobics we did years ago: great music and dance,” Steggall said. And it’s more than just the physical strength she gains. “If I don’t do this I don’t think I’m as sharp mentally,” she said.
Like Steggall, Ginnie Stempf, 72, has been in this class for several years. Stempf went back to school at 55 to study archaeology at the University of Washington. As the class planned for a dig in northern England, she knew she had to get in shape to “keep up with the kids.”
She did just fine on the dig, and she hasn’t stopped the exercise that, she confided, has kept her off all medications.
“It’s addictive,” she said. And, for now, “it takes the place of sex, damn it.”
Tell it like it is, Ginnie. That’s why your sisters of the dance love you.
As the hourlong session ends, many of the women head off for a nearby coffee shop and a little friendly conversation. There will be laughter. There will be sharing.
They will leave confident that in a few days their hearts, minds and bodies will be rejoined in this sisterhood of the dance. A very good thing.
Linda Bryant Smith writes about growing older, surviving and finding a little gold in the golden years. You can reach her at ljbryantsmith@yahoo.com.
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