Dance music puts the groove in exercise

As I dined on crab soup during a recent visit out East, my D.C.-based aunt asked me how people stay motivated to stick with an exercise program. She and her best friend, Sue, are both retired and fall on and off the exercise wagon.

Like a moth digs light, people love to laugh. So socialize -- take a group class that you really enjoy, I suggested to Aunt Sandra and Sue.

"But we are retired. We don't want a schedule," they said. "And we are on a limited income."

"Well, what do you love to do?" I asked them.

Suddenly they were animated. Sue regularly hooks up with friends, but it's always over a meal. (Ah, but fork-to-face aerobics just don't work off the calories the way we wish they did.) Aunt Sandra said she and my Aunt Harriet, and sometimes Sue, will have sleepovers, pop in an exercise tape and go to town working up a sweat. And then, there's dancing. "People in this area just love to line dance," Aunt Sandra said.

Country line dancing?

"No. Electric Slide line dancing," she said. "People love it. Especially since you don't need a partner. Widowed? Divorced? Doesn't matter. You just go on out there and have fun." You listen to the dance leader, who calls out your next move. You just follow. Simple.

Turns out, we can regularly repeat the fun we have at weddings doing the "YMCA," the sassy macarena, Electric Slide and other funky dance gems. The Twin Cities area has lots of calorie-burning, heart-healthy dance options, and nobody has to get hitched.

Fairview Community Center in Roseville (651-604-3770) hosts line-dancing parties on Tuesdays.

"It keeps you motivated because it's so fun. We offer steps of line-dancing in country, pop, rock, rhythm-and-blues and jazz," said Fairview's class coordinator, Cyndi Arneson. "It's such an enjoyable time, you forget you are exercising." Twenty to 45 people, ages 40 plus, come out each Tuesday at 7 p.m. for the hour of instruction, followed by 90 minutes of free line dancing. The next class, from Nov. 3 to Dec. 29, costs $45 for eight sessions and payment schedules are welcome. "We work with people's income," Arneson said.

No matter your income, age or musical taste, there's a dance format that promises to help you burn the night and your belly away.

Conway Recreation Center in St. Paul (651-501-6343) offers free Irish ceili dancing Wednesday nights (no special shoes needed). The YWCA in Minneapolis, various YMCAs and Oxford Community Center/Jimmy Lee Rec Center in St. Paul (651-642-0650) all offer Zumba dance classes set to calypso and island music -- some for as little as $6.50 each. The Martin Luther King Center in St. Paul (651-290-8695) hosts wonderful Chicago-Style Steppin' classes that are a hoot ($40 for six sessions). And beginning Nov. 5, St. Paul's Hillcrest Recreation Center (651-695-3706) will offer Body Conditioning Through Dance ($42 for six Thursday sessions). In December, Northwest Como Rec Center (651-298-5813) starts its Salsa/Latin Dance classes ($20 for four sessions).

For more information on all classes in the St. Paul area, call 651-266-6400 (press 4) or check out www.stpaul.gov/parks. In Minneapolis, check out the December schedule for any of its 49 park and recreation centers. Many offer winter classes in belly dancing, square dancing, salsa, hip-hop or swing. See www.minneapolisparks.org or call 612-230-6400.

For beginners craving to quickly learn the basics of square dancing, Sahlstrom has something for you -- a two-day class Nov. 20-21 at the Arlington Hills United Methodist Church in Maplewood. "On average, any square dancing class is 2 1/2 hours long and you get the equivalent of two to three miles of brisk walking in. It's recommended as a heart-healthy exercise by the American Heart Association," he said.

If that's not enough to motivate a do-si-do, I just don't know what is. As for Aunt Sandra, I can't wait for her to visit. We'll be putting on our dancing shoes and hitting this town.