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May 27, 2010

Senior Focus: Keep fit and make friends

By KATHLEEN GEST Special to the Record-Eagle

From the distant past until now, social dancing has been considered a unique form of exercise; it provides the heart-healthy benefits of an aerobic exercise while also allowing the participant to engage in a social activity.

In fact, Mayo Clinic researchers found that social dancing helps to reduce stress, increase energy and improve strength, muscle tone and coordination. In addition, dancing can develop social connections, which contribute to self-esteem and a positive outlook.

If you waltz around the house when no one is looking, and secretly yearn to get out on the dance floor to perform the tango, foxtrot, rumba, quickstep or polka — especially with a partner — you are in luck. All you have to do is dust off those dancing shoes and join other seniors every week at the Traverse City Senior Center for the Saturday Night Dances.

Not only are the dances an exceptional way to have fun, they are an entertaining way to remain fit.

The Bill Morse Trio, one of two performing bands, provides live music for the dances, featuring Bill Morse on the banjo, Pat Robertson on the organ and Duane D'Arcy on the clarinet.

"We sometimes have the Bill Morse Trio plus two," D'Arcy said. "We have other musicians stop in once and awhile and play with us. Two who often come are Don Grundel, playing the clarinet, and his son Dennis Grundel, playing the tenor saxophone."

When the Bill Morse Trio or Rhythm Tones swing into an adaptation of '30s, '40s or '50s music, the couples take the floor, dancing the years away. They waltz, rumba, foxtrot, polka and even tango their way back to more youthful days.

Dancing also has been found to be especially stimulating to the mind in a 21-year study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, using participants over the age of 75. Dancing was the only physical activity out of 11 in the study that was associated with a lower risk of dementia.

According to Joe Verghese, a neurologist at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and a lead researcher in the study, one of the reasons the lower risk of dementia could occur is because the dance music engages the dancer's mind.

In addition, the study found that not only does the physical aspect of dancing increase blood flow to the brain, but also the social aspect of dancing leads to less stress, depression and loneliness. Further, dancing requires memorizing steps and working with a partner, both providing mental challenges that are essential for brain health.

Therefore, If you want to dance, but are worried about such activity at an older age, the study shows it's never too late to think about the healthy benefits of dancing, the possibility of living longer and the probability of making new friends. Even if you decide dancing isn't for you, some seniors just come to listen to the music and to socialize.

"We had a new couple come to one of our recent Saturday Night Dances and you could tell they really enjoyed the band and the dancing," D'Arcy said. "They came up after the dance to tell us how much fun they had. They were from Sault Ste. Marie, Canada. When asked what prompted them to come in, they told us they saw the sign outside on Front Street."

The dance starts at 8 p.m. and goes until 10:30 p.m. with a break for refreshments. The cost is $3 for members and $5 for non-members and no reservation is necessary. For more information, call the TC Senior Center at 922-4911 or e-mail lwells@tcseniorcenter.com.

Kathleen Bellaw Gest is a local freelance writer. For more about the Traverse City Senior Center, go to www.tcseniorcenter.com.

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