Line dancing with soul

On a Saturday night as large speakers blast Kool and the Gang’s “Celebration,” seniors eagerly get up from seats and join different lines to shuffle, shimmy and scoot across the linoleum floor at the Soul Line Dance Party at the Menlo Park Senior Center.

Instructor Juanita Croft shouts out the steps: “Touch back right, back left, in on the right twice, now sashay.”

Most know the steps and joyfully glide and twist across the floor; a few others hang in the back of the room and try to imitate the moves.

As the music switches from R&B to hip-hop and oldies, Ms. Croft leads the group into the electric slide, the cha-cha slide, and numerous other choreographed dances.

For this group of 20 or so dancers, ranging in age from 50 to 90, soul line dancing has become a passionate routine for staying healthy and leading active lives.

Ms. Croft, who noticed her own health benefits from the dancing, decided to share her new exercise regimen with seniors, and motivate them into a fun form of staying fit, she says.

After completing the adaptive fitness technician program at Foothill College in 2004, she started teaching at the East Palo Alto Senior Center.

Today she leads 90-minute classes four times a week throughout the Peninsula, specifically tailored to helping students who sometimes suffer from asthma, arthritis and muscle pain.

She has noticed her students have increased stamina and have lost weight, gained firmer muscles, and feel stronger.

Ruth Cossey, who doesn’t let knee pain stop her, attends the Monday afternoon classes at the Menlo Park Senior Center. “It’s a great form of exercise and it helps you get your 10,000 steps a day,” she says.

The dance classes have become a fun social gathering as well — one that doesn’t require having a partner to dance with.

“I never sit down,” says student Nancy Lindeman. “Who wants to be waiting around for a partner to ask you when you can just get up and dance anytime? It’s very free spirited.”

And Elouise Joseph, who has been dancing for two years, says it’s not just about the exercise, but also the camaraderie among members of the group.

“I try to make it as fun as possible,” says Ms. Croft. “I just love sharing (dancing) with others.”

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