It is all about the music, the fun and the friendship for members of the Squamish Seniors Line Dance Troupe.
The 16-member troupe started together last fall and rehearses at The 55 Activity Centre once a week.
The group, whose members are all aged 55-plus, will perform and even teach a dance at special events in Squamish.
The priority is entertaining folks who might not otherwise get out, said instructor Sharon Slater, who started teaching locally about a year ago, but has been teaching dance for 15 years.
This upcoming week, the troupe will perform at Hilltop House and then at the Sea to Sky Hospice Society's Hike for Hospice event on May 27.
(Members also raised close to $700 for hospice.)
"If we're going to a retirement home like Hilltop or Shannon Falls, we also talk with the residents there and mix and mingle," Slater said.
Dancer and long-time Squamish resident Sandra Kilby said though she hadn't danced before, she has quite enjoyed performing.
"I was really nervous, but it's good. It's good fun. And you make lots of friends — new friends," she said.
Jersene Bellavance is new to town, moving from Barrie, Ont., to be closer to relatives.
"This has been really exciting for me; a venue for meeting people and having fun," she said, adding she had never taken dance lessons previously.
She also enjoys performing.
"It's tons of fun to be in the class and also to perform," she said.
The group’s opening song is, fittingly, Come dance with me. Ain't no mountain high enough is another song they dance to and a favourite of Bellavance.
"We have a lot of actions in our dances," said Slater.
And the troupe is learning a new dance to Sisters are doin' it for themselves.
"That's going to be our theme for our troupe," Slater added.
The troupe practises once a week, but members usually take her other classes, too, Slater said.
She currently has about 50 line-dancing students combined in her three public classes.
"We do everything — we do country, we do rock and roll, we do waltzing. I'm going to teach them a tango, eventually," she said, adding she hopes to start a clogging class.
(Clogging, Slater explained, is a type of dance similar to tap, but dancers wear a shoe with a split, or articulated, metal tap. This type of dance emphasizes the musical downbeat.)
While the public classes wrap up this month, the troupe continues through the summer and is still accepting members interested in giving it a whirl.
"It's good exercise. Good fun. Come and join us," said Kilby.
Email Slater for more information or to invite the troupe to perform at your special event: [email protected].
Slater’s fall line dancing classes will also be on the District's registration system once it opens.
