I love to dance. I did a lot of dancing in my youth: modern, classical and pointe. Then there was a brief foray at the dance school my daughters went to, in the adult tap/jazz class some years ago; even appeared in the end of year concert for a couple of years! My promising tap dancing career was cut short when cysts developed between the joints in my feet from my autoimmune arthritis. Then about eighteen months ago my daughter Bec told me the dance school where she dances was starting a new class for older people that would be low impact. So I signed up.

Wednesday nights are now my favourite night of the week, as I slip on my dancing shoes and head off to dance with a great bunch of ‘girls’ (aged 50-72 years old!). You’ve heard me mention my penchant for multi-tasking, well dancing provides a triple workout: the first is for the body as we move like we haven’t moved for a while; one for the brain as we try to remember the choreography; then one to boost our mental health as we laugh trying to channel our inner sexy!

My dancing transports me to a world where I’m aware and in control of my body’s movement. It has been remarkable to me that my muscles have been able to resurrect steps I learnt years ago from the lessons learned in my youth. Doing a lesson a week has engaged my core abdominal muscles, decreasing pain in my back, helping me  to move more freely during the week.

As time goes by, the complexity of the steps increase and my ability to remember the choreography improves. Now that I am adding visits to the gym the movement is helping me to further improve my dancing. The best thing is that each new step proves you are never too old to dance!