Unique Tap Dance Helps Keep Seniors 'Active for Life'

Senior citizens at Independence Village in Avon Lake, Ohio, are offered a program called Active for Life that incorporates seated tap dance classes as an exercise regimen, reports Spectrum News 1 . Active for Life founder Melissa Renner has brought Active for Life seated dance classes to seniors in more than 40 independent, assisted living, and memory care communities in northeast Ohio. "For a population that was hit so hard during the pandemic, it's just really touching to see them back together and doing an activity that brings them so much joy," Renner notes. Participants receive a cardiovascular workout that benefits their feet, ankles, proprioceptors, and brains. "You're simultaneously working brain and body," Renner explains. "Those neurons are just firing, right? So, it's incredible from brain health and body health." Participants step and shuffle to the music of their youth, while wearing special tap shoe covers Renner designed.