{"id":587884,"date":"2026-04-05T22:34:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T22:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/587884\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T22:34:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T22:34:16","slug":"dance-classes-providing-connection-creativity-and-movement-for-older-australians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/587884\/","title":{"rendered":"Dance classes providing connection, creativity and movement for older Australians"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every Thursday morning in the main theatre of a north Queensland dance company, a community gathers.<\/p>\n

Under the guidance of dance teachers, women over the age of 55 come together to move and connect with one another.<\/p>\n

The dance class is designed to promote creativity and movement in ‘experiential’ ways.<\/p>\n

Judy Taylor, 79, has been going to the Still Dancing classes for four years.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Judy Taylor, 79, came to dance five years ago. (Supplied: Aaron Ashley, Dancenorth)<\/p>\n

“At the beginning I had no idea that this would be a thing for me. I didn’t know how to move and in fact I didn’t like the way I moved,” Ms Taylor said.<\/p>\n

“Now I think the amazing thing is that I couldn’t be without it. It is a sense of joy.”<\/p>\n

Andi Gillham, Dancenorth’s community class coordinator, said she has seen the community grow from classes of half a dozen regulars to 30 people.<\/p>\n

“It is basically just a slower-paced class for people that want to revisit dancing, or if they’re injured, or just want a general experience in a dance environment,” she said.<\/p>\n

“We used to do a lot of the class seated, but it has moved into being a little bit more physical.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Dancenorth’s Andi Gillham and Amber Haines say a beautiful community has evolved around the classes. (ABC News: Baz Ruddick)<\/p>\n

Unlike Ms Taylor, 84-year-old Peggy Robertson has been a dancer for most of her life, having studied ballet in her younger years.<\/p>\n

The classes have allowed her to move outside the boundaries of traditional dance.<\/p>\n

“There [in ballet] you have to concentrate very much on all your movements, here you can just follow your body,” Ms Robertson said.<\/p>\n

“Nobody judges you. It just makes you feel so good.”<\/p>\n

‘A joy of being alive’<\/p>\n

Amber Haines, the co-artistic director of the company, described the group as “open and explanatory”.<\/p>\n

“The emphasis is generally experiential as opposed to defined moves,” Ms Haines said.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Peggy Robertson has danced her whole life, but says contemporary classes have given her a new appreciation of movement. \u00a0 (Supplied: Aaron Ashley, Dancenorth)<\/p>\n

She said the class offered something different for those in their older years who wanted to keep moving for exercise, but did not want to do traditional movement.<\/p>\n

“There is a lot of pressure on people in their later years to exercise to remain healthy and biomechanically stable,” she said.<\/p>\n

“But a lot of that exercise can be very linear and regimented and not very inspiring. Dance involves the mind and the imagination.<\/p>\n

“There are so many variables to that experience that it elicits a joy of being alive.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Around 30 dancers, mostly aged over 55, attend the weekly ‘Still Dancing’ classes. (ABC News: Baz Ruddick)<\/p>\n

Ms Taylor said along with the joy of dancing, she valued the community and connection in the class.<\/p>\n

“To know that there’s people here who enjoy the same things and value the same friendships is so important,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I think I really feel that it’s a great gift we are given here \u2014 to have this experience of connection and being together and a community in a sense.”<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Judy Taylor says when she first started dance classes she wasn’t sure if it was for her, but later grew to love it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ms Gillham said she had seen relationships develop alongside the class.<\/p>\n

“People meet people and they hang out on the weekends; there is so much depth of relationship here in the room every week,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Dance is for everybody. Everyone can dance and generally everyone will enjoy dance once they’re exposed to what the possibilities can be.”<\/p>\n

Supporting the brain and the body\"A<\/p>\n

Adelaide University research fellow Dr Maddison Mellow says physical movement can help slow cognitive decline in older people. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

Dr Maddison Mellow, a postdoctoral research fellow at Adelaide University, has done extensive studies around brain health and how lifestyle changes can reduce dementia risk.<\/p>\n

She said physical inactivity is a risk factor for dementia, which as of 2025 is the leading cause of death in Australia according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.<\/p>\n

“The heart and the brain are strongly connected, so what’s good for your heart is good for your brain,” Dr Mellow said.<\/p>\n

“We know that remaining physically active or increasing physical activity has benefits for cerebral blood flow and reducing neuroinflammation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“There is also some evidence that physical activity can increase or maintain the volume of certain brain regions … for example the hippocampus which is important for memory storage and retrieval.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The ‘Still Dancing’ classes focus on gentle movement in a non-traditional expressive way. (ABC News: Baz Ruddick)<\/p>\n

Dr Mellow said studies had also found social contact and social engagement were beneficial in combating social isolation; another risk factor for dementia.<\/p>\n

“People who enjoy the physical activity they’re doing are more likely to stick to it and then more likely to maintain it as a habit rather than just a once off,” she says.<\/p>\n

“That jump from zero to five or ten minutes a day [of exercise] is typically where we see the largest jump in physical and cognitive benefits, and the benefits continue from there.”<\/p>\n

“It’s never too late to get back in to exercise.”<\/p>\n

A passion for movement<\/p>\n

Ms Robertson and Ms Taylor both said the class had had a positive effect on their lives, and they have begun dancing outside the class.<\/p>\n

Ms Taylor said she often found herself moving to music in shops and other public places.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Dancers are encouraged to be present and mindful of their movements during the class. (ABC News: Baz Ruddick)<\/p>\n

“I’m in the shops and I’m lining up and I hear music and I start to do this [dance] much to everybody’s embarrassment,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I move much more than I used to. It’s a need. It’s a good feeling to move.”<\/p>\n

They both plan to continue dancing for as long as they can.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

84-year-old Peggy Robertson says that she will continue dancing for as long as she is physically able to. (ABC News: Baz Ruddick)<\/p>\n

“If I can’t move my legs, I’ll sit on a chair and move. I’ll just keep moving,” Ms Robertson said<\/p>\n

“Life is too short … have fun and move your body \u2014 if you don’t move it you lose it.”<\/p>\n

“I never want to stop. I’ll be doing something as long as I can,” Ms Taylor said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every Thursday morning in the main theatre of a north Queensland dance company, a community gathers. Under the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":587885,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[7736,64,63,17011,26458,287374,134,67473,137,37894,136,9941,287375],"class_list":["post-587884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-ageing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-connection","tag-creativity","tag-dancenorth","tag-entertainment","tag-excercise","tag-health","tag-movement","tag-music","tag-physical-activity","tag-still-dancing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=587884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/587884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=587884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=587884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=587884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}