AEROBIC TROUBLE
City forces senior instructor and class to leave the Edithvale Community Centre,
In a bright gymnasium in North York, more than 20 seniors lift small weights while Michael Bublé croons “What a Wonderful World” through speakers at the front. Instructor Carol Shapiro, 68, leads the way with a smile, as she’s done for nearly a quarter-century at Edithvale Community Centre.
Shapiro guides the group through their weight training, then switches to a simple dance routine, followed by exercises on chairs and mats.
“Every class is different,” says Shapiro, whose delicate accent hints at her South African roots.
“I’ve been teaching here for 23 years — I’ve never given the same class twice.”
Shapiro, who is also a full-time real estate agent, has touched dozens of lives along the way, including those of Mark and Marsha Turner, who’ve been coming to her classes for almost a decade.
“Carol is the best, especially for seniors, because she makes us think,” says Marsha, 70, after Wednesday’s session. “She’s not allowing our bodies to crumble, or our brains.”
Living in Toronto since 1977, South African-born Shapiro has been teaching aerobics for 50 years in the Margaret Morris Movement style — a dance-based system promoting proper posture and overall well-being — after training in England in the mid-1960s.
She used to teach children and teenagers but now finds working with older groups particularly rewarding and has been teaching aerobics classes for seniors at the centre near Yonge St. and Finch Ave. since 1992.
“I actually give even more difficult classes as a senior,” she says with a smile. “In my 40s, I was nervous that I’d hurt them. Now I know what the body can do.”
Many of Shapiro’s students come back to her twice-weekly aerobics classes year after year. Harvey Hofbauer, 73, lives nearby and has been attending Shapiro’s classes for eight years. He says this is clearly her “passion in life.”
“One of the reasons people stay is they feel she makes everybody feel very comfortable,” he says.
But Hofbauer and other attendees of Shapiro’s classes are worried that her run at Edithvale is in jeopardy. Shapiro says she was given notice from the city that she can’t continue teaching her classes — which are part of the Toronto District School Board’s continuing education pro- gram — at the city-owned facility. She also says the TDSB could move the group to a smaller space at Antibes Community Centre near Bathurst St. and Finch Ave. West.
“The city feels that they don’t want the (TDSB) in the parks and recreation facility and that’s why they’re asking us to leave,” Shapiro says. “The space is wonderful. It’s built for the community and I cannot get 30 people into another small, tiny space.”
A spokesman for the TDSB said the city has indeed notified them that they are not renewing the permit for Shapiro’s class at Edithvale this fall.
“A reason was not provided. We’re now waiting to confirm an alternate location nearby,” said spokesman Ryan Bird.
The Star spoke with Howie Dayton, director of community recreation for the city’s Parks, Forestry and Recreation division, and he expressed their desire to find a “happy medium” for everyone involved.
“There is one gymnasium (at Edithvale) and they’re trying to make the best use of it,” he said.
“We’re happy to sit down with (Shapiro’s) group and find options and a resolution that meets everyone’s needs.”
Shapiro says she’s willing to discuss things, on the condition that another space fits her beloved group of regular attendees.
“It’s become a group of people who really care about each other and keeping in touch,” she says. “And that’s what’s so important for seniors — the socialization and the exercise.” With files from Laura Armstrong