Use it or lose it

Twice a month at the Halifax Central Library, older adults gather for Aging Actively, a free dance event that aims to get older people up and moving.

With the unofficial motto of “use it or lose it,” Halifax Dance hosts the event at the Central Library as well as at some retirement homes. They’re hoping to expand the program.

“Every body is a dancing body,” said the director of Halifax Dance, Amy Wttewaall in an interview prior to the Nov. 19 event.

“Aging Actively classes are created to be safe, inclusive, and accessible to all, including varying levels of ability, mobility, and those with any physical or cognitive limitations.” 

Reuben Freed, 76, danced with the program for the first time last week.

“I couldn’t ever say that I’ve been a dancer at all, but I love moving to music,” he said after the class. Freed heard about the program after a neighbour mentioned it during an elevator ride. Freed walks often but says dance is more activity than he would normally do. 

“A great little program,” was his first impression.

Mira Musanovic, a 68-year-old woman from Bosnia, learned the Electric Slide in class, but when the music came on, she “wanted to do my own moves.”

Musanovic appreciates that seniors can take these classes for free. “A lot of our seniors cannot afford programs that cost a lot of money, we are on a limited budget.”

There are different teachers for the class — last week it was Charlie Ramsey’s first turn.

“It’s such a fun way to learn about your body as it gets older,” she said. “And it’s clear that they really value the gathering aspect of it.”

To Dr. Angie Kolen, a human kinetics professor at Saint Francis Xavier University, “use it or lose it” means “as soon as you stop moving or doing a particular movement, you’re not going to be able to. It means things like, if you don’t take the stairs, you’re not going to be able to take the stairs, because they get to be too hard to do.”

According to Kolen, there are valuable physiological benefits to classes like Aging Actively, like maintaining bone density and flexibility.

“They’ll be able to do things longer in their day because their heart’s going to be stronger,” she said to The Signal.

Kolen said the psychological benefits of activity like this may even outweigh the physical. “One of the biggest things for older people is being lonely, and it doesn’t have to be a friend that takes away loneliness. It can be a stranger just having a conversation, I think that (seniors) would have a lot of this in a dance class.”

Anna Keddy, who works at the library, considers this event to be “a hidden gem” when it comes to the library. “I could go on and on about all the fun things that the library has that isn’t just books.”

I could go on and on about all the fun things that the library has that isn’t just books.

Anna Keddy, library worker