Soulful Shakers shake, rattle and roll their way to health

By Jean Cole | Living 50 Plus

Watch them practice for only a few minutes and you can see the Soulful Shakers dance troupe is full of women who have always been good dancers. They show off smooth, in-sync and sometimes sexy moves. Every now and again they snap open their hand fans to a beat of some jazzy blues music. They look sharp and they know it.

“It keeps us all in good health, alert and mobile,” Rosie Brown, 74, of Decatur, said just before a recent practice. Brown is the line dancing instructor. She has been line dancing for a decade and teaching for five.

There are a total of about 40 Soulful Shakers but only about 25 come to class at any one time, she said. They practice three times a week — Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays — at 1 p.m. in a very large room at Turner-Surles Community Resource Center in Decatur. They dance five dances, take a quick break and go back at it for five more. There is always room for more Shakers, Brown said.

The Shakers often perform in the community. They recently performed at Ingalls Harbor Pavilion during a luau at the harbor. Just one of their many gigs.

They do a little bit of country and a lot of jazz blues, said Brown, who scours YouTube for dances that she can adapt for use by seniors.

“It’s a challenge to make sure all of them can do the dance without injury so we have to tweak the dances for a lot of people,” she said.

What she loves about Soulful Shakers is the fellowship.

“I love meeting all different people and I love making a difference,” she said. “I love to give them something they love, and I love.”

Kristy Harris, director of Turner-Surles where the Soulful Shakers practice, says the group is “awesome.”

Harris, who is going on her third year as director, says the center itself is like a Boys and Girls Club for seniors. Hot meals are served daily, and activities include line dancing, chair exercises, drum exercises, sewing classes and arts and crafts. You must be age 55 or older to join the Soulful Shakers. The oldest member, Linda Leaks, is 81.

They are a very accomplished dancing group. By heart they know the steps for every dance, and they use black fans when practicing that they loudly snap open to the music.

Soulful Shakers has really grown in the past three years, Harris said. She said sliding and stepping left to right, back and forth, helps improve grace and balance for these ladies. Something to consider when you are aging, she said.

Bertha Webb, 75, of Decatur has been a member for four years and eight months.

“It’s exhilarating; it’s my happy place,” she said. “I never thought I would love line dancing, but I love it. It gives me a chance to socialize with people of different backgrounds and do things together. It’s what I love doing and I like performing.”

She is a retired registered nurse who worked at both Decatur Morgan Hospital and Parkway Hospital.

She recalls going with the group to the Wild Horse Saloon in Nashville and getting her first taste of line dancing.

Aside from all of the fun, it is good exercise with one hour of dance equivalent to walking 4 miles, Webb said. Walking is something she and others do a lot, in addition to dancing.

“We’re not sofa people,” she said.

Mattie Miller, 75, of Decatur says she loves line dancing. A head majorette at Lakeside High School, she has enjoyed dancing since she was in elementary school.

“This gives you more exercise than people give you credit for,” said Miller, a retired quality-assurance reviewer for Decatur Morgan Hospital for 30 years. It was her job to make sure orders were carried out correctly.

“I made sure they didn’t remove the wrong leg on a person in for surgery, things like that,” she said.

She joined the Soulful Shakers for different reasons.

“It helps me stay in shape and not be at the doctor’s office every month,” she said. “This is the best exercise any older person can have.”

Supporvor Goode of Courtland is one of the youngsters in the group. The 63-year-old showed some smart dance moves during practice, and she loved making that fan pop with the music.

Wearing a T-shirt that bore the message LIVE, LOVE LINE DANCING, she said he enjoys the class because it helps keep her fit.

“It’s fun, it’s relaxing, it’s good exercise,” said Goode, who has been an employee of Hexcel Corp. in Decatur for 23 years, where she makes carbon fibers for military planes.

“It’s fun to meet people and I like to go to gatherings,” she said.

Emma Ricks, 61, of Decatur, has been line dancing for about 18 months.

“I love it,” she said. “It’s good exercise for me — it’s a good wearing out.”