Ballroom dancers gather every week at the Durango/La Plata Senior Center to learn new steps and exercise their bodies and minds.
Enthusiastic instructor Connie Kintner welcomes all skill levels, but her hourlong classes are intended for beginning dancers. They focus on the waltz and fox-trot, with some East Coast swing and cha-cha thrown in to mix things up.
“Ballroom dancing is not only physically active for people who are entering old age, but the mental work is huge for aging-related problems,” Kintner said.
Dancing has many health benefits, a 2003 report published in The New England Journal of Medicine found, including reducing stress, increasing serotonin levels and bringing an added sense of well-being to people’s lives.
Frequent dancing can stimulate the mind to prevent Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, while keeping the body fit.
In fact, dancing increases cognitive acuity for all ages, according to a 2002 Trends in Neurosciences article.
Studies aside, dancing just feels good and has historically been a source of fun for human beings – which is always the focus of Kintner’s classes. She completed her first six-week session in March and will teach the final class of the second session April 24.
During a class in February, Kintner instructed the “guys and ladies” to make one basic box with an eight-step dance, follow each other and synchronize as a team. She said that she approaches teaching with “the look of love” and makes jokes during the dance class so people feel comfortable.
“This isn’t high school,” she announced to participants, who included Todd Rodas, Joe and Mary Colgan, Judy Hurley, Steve Jausequi, Candi Gurule, Leo Meegan and Susan Dahl. Their proficiency varied, some more familiar with ballroom dancing than others.
“We loved the teacher. She would always say, ‘How you kids doing?’ to us during the class,” Mary Colgan said. “She had a way with words.”
The largest class so far included six couples and two single dancers, which Kintner said is an appropriate size and allows her to give everyone the attention they need. Participants asked questions when they needed clarification about steps, and Kintner answered them thoroughly and patiently.
One couple who joined during the second session chose to attend so they can dance together for their 50th wedding anniversary.
“It’s heartwarming to see that in the community,” Kintner said.
Kintner, who is 66 years old, moved to Durango last year from Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, where she taught ballroom dancing to high school students. Like in her hometown, she tries to make a positive impact whenever and wherever she can. She started helping at the senior center shortly after moving to Durango. When she’s not teaching dance classes, she is a volunteer for the center’s “super agers” programs.
Kintner said she just wants to be friends with everyone and has an extensive track record of philanthropic community work and fundraising efforts in her hometown.
“I just keep having these visions for the community. I wish they would stop, but it doesn’t seem like they ever will,” she said.
For instance, she organized a local “Dancing with the Stars” competition in Tunkhannock and would like to do something similar in Durango.
Dance class participants, more than anything, expressed a motivation to have fun during class and were focused on getting the steps right.
“We would do those basic steps, but we would also improve on what we already knew,” said Joe Colgan, a two-time Durango mayor and former city councilor. “It was just great fun. We would recommend it to anyone.”
Kintner holds a dance party at the end of each session, and she expects the usual group of six couples to attend the April 24 party.
The first one was a hit, she said.
“The party was good. I got all dressed up, with my shoes and pearls,” she said. “The fact that the same couples came back for another six weeks is amazing.”
Sheila Casey, director at the senior center, said the ballroom dancing class, like other programs, is offered at an affordable cost to allow seniors easy access to fun activities. Each session is offered for $20. It’s undecided whether there will be a third six-week installment.
The mission of the senior center, next to Durango High School at 2424 Main Ave., is to build a healthier community for senior residents and enhance the quality of life for adults 60 years and older, helping them age with dignity and purpose.
The center offers numerous activities and services, including tai chi, zumba, line and square dancing, Watch Your Step fall-prevention exercise, card games, bingo, billiards, table tennis, crafts, transportation, home-chore services, support groups and more.
“We really appreciate what the senior center does for the community and all the activities they offer to us,” Mary Colgan said. “It is a much-needed service, and we’re all very grateful to have it.”
fstone@durangoherald.com
NE Journal of Medicine 2003 (PDF)
For more information
For more information about services and activities at the Durango/La Plata County Senior Center, call 382-6445 or visit
https://bit.ly/2oUloKg
.
