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KINGSTON — The line dancers stepped side to side and pivoted as The Bellamy Brothers’ gentle voices filled their studio. “Dancin’ cowboys, singin’ horses, gypsy music and songs about love …”
They shuffled and kicked to Hank Snow’s “Rhumba Boogie” … “in the South American style.”
And they weaved their feet in a grapevine sequence to the tune of The Andrews Sisters’ hit “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.”
“… So the next day the Cap went out and drafted a band and now the company jumps when he plays reveille … “
At another point in their practice session, leader Toni Weiss changed CDs so her award-winning group of line dancers at the Active Adult Center on Third Avenue could move in time to “The Tennessee Waltz.”
If you knew that the dancers ranged in age from 68 to 85 and that those first three songs were recorded by The Bellamy Brothers in 1980, by Hank Snow in 1951 and by The Andrews Sisters in 1941, you might expect Weiss was about to play Les Paul and Mary Ford’s 1950 rendition of the tinged-with-regret ballad about a friend who stole somebody’s sweetheart “the night they were playing the beautiful Tennessee Waltz.”
But, no, this was Ireen Sheer’s techno-pop 1998 version, and the dancing ladies from the Kingston center sang along with the European artist as she emphasized the refrain, “Ten-ten-ten-essee Wa-aa-aa-ltz.”
“Some of them keep this up for two hours,” center director Sandra Acornley said with admiration.
And some of them sit down for a break during the two-hour, Monday afternoon class — if they need one.
“Don’t think I’m lazy,” 77-year-old Fran Holtzman, of Trucksville, said as she took a breather. “If my hip starts to hurt, I stop for a while.”
After sitting out one song, Holtzman rejoined her friends — some of whom have been line dancing together for 20 to 25 years.
“It keeps me young,” said Sue Mazzocchi, of Pittston.
“I do it because I CAN,” said Carol Elston, of Kingston, explaining the movements help her combat the effects of rheumatoid arthritis.
“It gives me the exercise I need,” said Florence Stella, 85, of Dallas. “And it helps my thinker,” she said, tapping her head.
“It keeps the cobwebs away because you have to think, ‘What do I do next?’ ” said Weiss, the leader, who proudly noted the group won first prize in a 2010 Seniors Got Talent event at the Mohegan Sun Casino.
Their award was $1,000, she said, and she split it nine ways so nine dancers each took home $110.
Sometimes Weiss teaches new routines, but her core group knows many dances by heart. During a recent session, they jumped right in with no new instructions from her.
Midway through their class, they laughed with delight as Weiss carried on a conversation with a singing George Strait.
The lyrics from “You Look So Good in Love” lamented the singer’s loss of his beloved to a new partner, and Weiss interjected her own pithy comments: “That’s too bad” and “That’s your own fault,” never missing a step.
Line dancing is just one of many activities and exercise classes at the Kingston Active Adult Center. For more information see aginglw.org or call 570-287-1102. Members of the line dancing group are available to entertain at nursing homes, Weiss said, and they do not charge a fee.
