Dancers discover fountain of youth

SANDPOINT — Conversations buzz around the room, as groups of ladies gather in threes and fours to catch their breath and catch up on one another. One woman — looking sharp in dark clothing and a pair of black cowgirl boots — busies herself at a table near the entrance.

She thumbs through a folio of cassette tapes, selects one, and slides it into her player.

“Achy Breaky!” she announces as the tape rewinds. The other women break off their chats and coalesce in the middle of the large room. There is a soft click as a button is pressed down, followed by the chunky sounds of rhythm guitar adorned by a signature lead riff and the insistent backbeat of a snare drum.

Lines form, thumbs are hooked into belts or waistbands and smiles steal across faces as every person moves as one to the music. The steps are small and precise, performed facing first one wall, then the next as the dancers execute crisp quarter turns with each new musical phrase.

This is Lily Whitney’s Monday afternoon line dance class at the Sandpoint Senior Center. And judging by the giggles and good-time atmosphere that accompanies the infectious country music, it’s no wonder the activity draws a crowd.

“She’s in our age group and she knows what it’s like to be there,” said Carolyn Whaley, who has taken classes since Lily began offering them more than a year ago. “Most of us have been involved with some kind of dance since we were little folk. We were jitterbuggers when we were in high school and college. Now we’re all in our late 60s, 70s or 80s.”

Stir in equal amounts of exercise, healthy laughter and companionship and you come up with a potion that makes dance one of the most powerful anti-aging supplements around, according to the instructor.

“Dancing keeps you young,” she said. “And it keeps you limber. I’m 78, going on 79, and when I feel myself getting stiff, I get up there and dance to limber up.”

Lily, who grew up dancing polkas and waltzes in Minnesota, has been teaching since 1995, when she started her first “Boot Scooters” group at the senior center in Monroe, Wash. She formed a local dance class in Clark Fork in 2000 and moved it to the Sandpoint center about 18 months ago. Since that time, her class size has averaged between 16-18 dancers — mostly women.

“Men are welcome,” she said. “But when the men get older, I think they might want to sit at home with a baseball game and a can of beer.”

That might be even truer for the group’s Saturday dances — an event that Lily and her friends are concerned might be put at risk without the infusion of what she calls “young blood.”

“There must be some more people in their 60s and early 70s who are interested in dancing,” she said. “The ones we have in our group are getting into their 80s. We’ve got one guy who’s 94, and he’s a good dancer.”

Betty Overland sits through every dance, but without her presence, they just wouldn’t be the same. She plays piano with the four-piece group Country Plus, which includes her husband, Harold, on rhythm guitar and vocals, and Joanne and Bob Brown on bass and lead guitar. The band alternates Saturdays with the Golden Eagles, playing selections that include country standards, waltzes, schottisches, fox trots and rumbas, the pianist said.

“It’s wonderful to see people enjoying themselves and it makes Harold just so happy when he gets to sing for a group of dancers,” she added. “Dancing enhances your life. You get out and visit with people and you get exercise.

“We all love to play, but we thought we might have to stop due to non-attendance. Lily wrote a letter to the paper, though, and lately we’ve been having a nice group of dancers again,” she continued. “We just hope people won’t be dying off — when you have 80- and 90-year-old people, that’s one of the hazards.”

Lily Whitney faces the challenge by encouraging her growing troupe of line dancers to take their Monday moves and join the fun on Saturday afternoons, as well. It’s an environment where couples and singles mix and mingle and everyone gets time on the dance floor.

“Those of us who don’t come with a partner get up and line dance together,” the instructor said. “You can line dance to just about anything — fox trots, two-steps, polkas. “I’m trying to get my girls to do the cha-cha, but they can’t seem to get that one yet.”

Earlier this year, the Senior Center warned that it would have to pull the plug on the Saturday dances unless attendance picked up. In recent weeks, however, new faces have walked through the door. And according to the musicians and dancers, their arrival is just the thing that will keep this fountain of youth flowing for the friends who gather here.

“In spite of all our aches and pains, we’re pleased with ourselves because we can still get up there and dance,” Carolyn Whaley said. “We’re not young kids anymore, but we like rhythm — and we love to move.”

Saturday potluck dances take place from 12:30-3:30 p.m. at the Sandpoint Senior Center, located at 820 Main St. Lines dance classes are held Mondays at 1:30 p.m. Both events are open to the public. Information: (208) 263-6860