Clickety-clack, clickety-clack, clickety-clack. That’s the noise you may hear coming from a room downstairs near the stage at Malibu City Hall on Thursday mornings. The rhythmic and sometimes arrhythmic sounds will go on for about an hour as a group of Malibu senior citizens take tap dancing lessons sponsored by the Malibu Senior Center.
Right now, it’s just women — sometimes as many as eight in the class, although men are encouraged to take class as well — who are learning what has been described in song as “the tappin’ toes art.” Inspired by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, most of the ladies dancing on a recent Thursday were newbies to tap, but they were all enthusiastic about learning to dance and getting a little exercise, not just for their bodies, but their minds as well.
A study published by the Harvard Medical School Department of Neurobiology claims that dance has such beneficial effects on the brain that it is now being used to treat people with Parkinson’s disease, a progressive neurological movement disorder.
“There’s no question anecdotally at least, that music has a very stimulating effect on physical activity,” Dr. Daniel Tarsy, quoted in the study, said. The study went on to investigate the complex mental coordination that dance requires and went on to posit that synchronizing music and movement has a two-fold effect — music stimulates the brain’s reward centers and activates its sensory and motor circuits.
But these benefits are not why these Malibu women are tap dancing. They say it’s fun and they enjoy the camaraderie.
“I love coming to tap dance classes,” Shelley Kramer told The Malibu Times. “It’s exercise. It moves every bone in my body. It makes me smile. I love the music that our teacher, Ann, plays. She does show tunes that I can sing along with.
“The people in our class are exceptionally nice,” Kramer continued. “We all help each other. We’ve all come a long way. Ann made costumes for our program in December. They were adorable. She’s a wonderful teacher. She has a great attitude and I hope I’m dancing when I’m her age.”
That age is 79, and you’d never know it looking at the class’s teacher, Ann Monahan.
She’s been dancing since age three, but only learned to tap in 1976 when she and her husband ran performance theaters. For the America’s bicentennial, the couple was to produce the tap musical “George M.” They both took tap classes. Monahan’s been teaching tap ever since. She started teaching in Malibu in the Fall after being recruited by Theresa Odello, the Senior Center’s former coordinator.
Speaking of Odello, Monahan explained, “We miss her already. Someone mentioned to Theresa that I teach packed classes in Calabasas. She got word there was a request to teach senior aerobics in Malibu. Theresa joined us with cowboy boots and then I realized I could teach tap and got an enthusiastic response. They said, ‘If you teach it, we’ll do it.’ And that’s how it started, with Theresa and her cowboy boots.”
Monahan also sang the praises of tap dance.
“Tapping is good for balance and rhythm and it’s bloody fun. You can tap forever. It can be easy, too,” she said. “It helps your balance tremendously. It helps your mind. You have to think all the time about what you’re doing. You can’t think about things like your shopping list. You’ve got to think about the steps, shuffle-ball-change or whatever you’re doing. It’s good for your memory. It’s great for seniors. The students are wonderful girls. We cheer when someone walks into the room. Everyone quickly came to love each other in no time. It’s amazing. Doing the show helped.”
After only a month of lessons, the Malibu Senior Tappers performed at the city’s Winter Showcase in December. Monahan has an idea for a Spring show that has two male parts. “It would be great to have some men join us,” she added.
Her students are also enthusiastic about the class.
“I love the tap class. I look forward to it every week,” Glenna Colton, who recently started tapping, said. “It’s a combination of not just physical exercise, but a lot of mental exercise in trying to get what your brain knows down to your feet. The teacher is wonderful, the music is great and all the participants are great. I just started tapping, but I really enjoy it. The dancers who know how to tap are supportive and help us newbies.”
Darlene Dubray, another new dancer, said she wanted a challenge.
“I liked Shirley Temple and it’s fun to be youthful and to make sounds,” she said. “I’m happy to share the enthusiasm and bring out the youth in all of us.”
