The late, great vaudeville performer and father of rhythm tap John William “Bubbles” Sublett once said, “Listen to my feet and I will tell the story of my life.”
Sublett delighted audiences for decades and inspired many to experience first hand the benefits that tap dancing can bring to their physical and mental health.
A group of seniors rediscovered those benefits inadvertently when they showed up for a line dance class six years ago and ended up forming a group called The Eden Mills Tappers.
Dance and fitness instructor JIll Simpson leads the group.
“I got asked to teach line dance,” said Simpson. “I had never done it before but I thought if I don’t do it somebody else will. It was so excruciatingly boring around class three I said, ‘Why don’t we go and get some tap shoes?’ Maybe we can make some noise and make this more interesting.”
It didn’t take much convincing for the students to kick off their cowboy boots and slip into tap shoes.
“They all went out and bought tap shoes and by the time we came to class six nobody cared about line dancing anymore,” said Simpson. “They all wanted to tap so we went from that point, which was just a recreational thing to our first performance and it has been growing from there.”
For some it was a tap dance down memory lane.
“I tap danced as a kid but I had to go out and buy new shoes,” said Charlotte Reinhold, 69, of Rockwood. “You have to challenge yourself or you stagnate.”
Uta Strelive is a wood carver from Eden Mills and at 80 is the oldest of the troupe, but you wouldn’t know it watching her dance.
“I have been dancing since I was six years old,” she said. “I get a lot out of it and the popularity of the class is growing like crazy.”
It has been a lot of fun for everyone but it has also been therapeutic and Simpson has adapted some of the exercises and dance routines from a program she directs called the Great Brain Workout.
“This is part of a community wellness initiative to get people up moving and improving their health and well being,” said Simpson, “There’s not much different about that but what is different is how we do it. We apply a lot of the principles of neuroscience and what science tells us about healthy aging and positive aging to what we do in the class, So we are always challenging the brain and body simultaneously.”
Fitness and comradery were two reasons the sole man in the group Rory Fox, 62, from Eden Mills joined
“I was looking for an opportunity to share an exercise class with my wife,” said Fox. “I’m not sure what motivates her.”
He and his wife Marie Henault, 65, operate a bed and breakfast in the village and are very active in the arts community, a trait typical of all the Eden Mills Tappers.
The youngest member, Denise Gismondi, 61, of Fergus is a director with Guelph Little Theatre and Nadia Comeau, 62, from Guelph is a retired teacher who has worked in theatre and volunteers at the River Run.
“I love this class,” said Comeau, “Jill brings everything and everyone to the table. It is such a supportive group.”
Simpson’s goal is not only to help her students improve their overall physical and mental health but to get seniors and society in general to reevaluate stereotypes about aging.
“From a senior’s or older adult’s perspective, my take is that we buy into these arbitrary aging stereotypes,” said Simpson. “I do a lot of public speaking engagements and I am encouraging people to rethink aging stereotypes. Why are we buying into this? How does that affect our lives?”
Tap dancing appears to be having a positive effect on the lives of her students and the word is spreading. They have been featured on CBC radio and in an upcoming documentary on aging. The Eden Mills Tappers have grown to more than 30 dancers and due to growing demand Simpson has started a similar group in Elmira.
“It’s a way of encouraging people to exercise in a social way,” she said. “The part of your brain that perceives rhythm stimulates the production of neurotransmitters and a lot of those neurotransmitters are things like serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin. So, it is a brain changing thing for people. It’s not just physically challenging. There is a chemical rush in your brain when everyone is dancing and making this noise together. It’s like dancing around the fire.”
To learn more about the Eden Mills Tappers visit their web page.
