Retire and cha-cha-cha!
Dancing in your moonlight years works wonders, says Fred Redwood
EVEN after 15 series, Strictly Come Dancing had an average 11 million viewers tuning in for their weekly fix of sequins and spray-tanned torsos.
And nowhere is the series more keenly followed than in retirement villages.
‘Our Strictly events at Broadfield Court in Prestwich, near Manchester, are extremely popular,’ says Geoff Bates at McCarthy & Stone. ‘ The homeowners invite their friends and families; we have demonstrations from professional dancers, and in the end everyone is on their feet.’
Broadfield Court is fully reserved, but McCarthy & Stone’s Lawson Grange in Wilmslow, Cheshire, has two-bedroom apartments priced from £459,999 ( mccarthyandstone.co.uk).
Strictly appeals to viewers for many reasons. The elderly, in particular, enjoy seeing the dance steps of their courting days performed by experts.
At Durrants Village, West Sussex, where prices start at £510,000 for a two- bedroom cottage, the residents run ballroom dancing classes every Thursday.
‘It makes me come alive,’ says John Spar, 73, who moved to the Renaissance Villages development, with its bar, library, restaurant and leisure complex, two years ago. ‘I have learnt to cha- cha, quick step, waltz and foxtrot. One of the members in our group, Bob Voyce, is 91. Our motto is: if Bob can do it, you can!’ ( renaissancevillages.co.uk). Dancing has enormous physical benefits. John Sparrow, 75, and
his wife, Sharon, run classes at the Richmond Villages development in Northampton, where twobedroom apartments are available for £405,000, and one-bedroom flats for £ 270,000 ( richmondvillages.com).
They believe that a few hours spent on the dance floor every week improves balance and helps with recovery from injuries.
‘We had one regular who broke his hip and it looked as if he’d have to undergo a hip replacement,’ says John, who runs classes throughout the Northampton area. ‘But dancing gave him the confidence to get up and start moving around again. Now he has made a full recovery.’
John’s observations are backed by research. It has been proved dancing can improve cardiovascular health, which in turn decreases the risk of heart disease.
In one study, healthy elderly people who took part in just a sixweek dance programme showed improved posture and quicker reaction times. One research group even found that people who dance experience less pain.
Dancing is also one of the best ways to keep trim. According to a report, you can expend more than 300 calories every half hour. The calorie burn is high because there is a lot of accelerating and decelerating in dancing.
Calories aside, dancing is essentially a social activity. Tea dances at Richmond, Northampton, have been running since 2010 and the village also has dinner-dance supper clubs.
‘It is the most natural way of meeting people,’ says Jean Mayne, 83, who has been attending the dances at Northampton with husband Barrie for the past seven years. ‘Whenever the dance music starts up, we feel young again.’
The group try an eclectic mix of dances, from the tango and the rumba to sequence dances and freestyle. They also mix with people from outside the village.
One local man, a keen amateur musician, holds musical evenings at his house and Richmond Villages’ residents are regular guests. The dances are even popular with those who cannot participate themselves.
‘Residents who need full-time care for degenerative illnesses come to watch,’ says John Brooks. ‘They thoroughly enjoy it — I put it down to the magic of music.’