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Jessie Steagall, of Bountiful, needed a hobby.
"All my life I wanted to tap dance and when I turned 80, I decided I just couldn't wait any more," the 86-year-old said. So she joined the Tap Dancing Grannies.
The majority of the group did not start dancing until they were in their 70s or 80s.
The Grannies, with members from Bountiful and Centerville, recently performed at the Friendly Neighborhood House, a senior day care center in Salt Lake City. They started their performance by tapping their way through the "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," then followed with "Hello Dolly!" and "Putting on the Ritz." Eight dancers performed, of the 12-member group. One was in the hospital after suffering a broken arm during the final tap step of a previous performance. One was ill and two others were on vacation.
This group of women from their 70s to late 80s practices tap dance two hours a day, five days a week, in addition to performances. They perform at a variety of functions and go wherever they are asked to perform.
Some of their bigger audiences have included the county and state fairs. One of their more memorable performances, said group leader Janice Dixon, 70, was when the Grannies came on stage before a large audience only to discover they were expected to perform on a rubber mat. "Have you ever tap danced on a rubber matt?" laughed Dixon.
With a flurry of costume changes, they went from uniforms, to cowboy hats decorated with flowers and black gloves to tuxedos, followed by sequins. Bonita Fackrell, 80, is the creative mind behind the seemingly endless array of costumes.
The group's choreographer, Rozell Henrie, was in the audience during the performance, taking notes, tapping her feet and occasionally gesturing the motions of the dance. Henrie has choreographed 62 dances for the Grannies in the last 14 years, and worked as a dance instructor in the 1960s and 1970s in Brigham City.
"When we moved away, I got bored. I went down to the Senior Center to take lessons and got a chance to teach," she said. And she has been teaching ever since. Seniors are welcome to take lessons at the Bountiful Golden Years Senior Activity Center where the Grannies practice, she said.
"Its great exercise for the mind and the body," Dixon said. "We have to remember the steps with our minds and perform them with our bodies." She went on a three-week vacation recently but couldn't wait to get back to dancing. "Seeing the sites isn't as much fun as dancing and performing," she said.
Those in attendance at the Grannies' Friendly Neighborhood House performance tapped their feet, clapped their hands and some sang along with the music.
"I love it when they come. They are great," said certified nurse Aide Losi Bryant.
"We all mingle together and have something in common. We are friendly and help one another" Steagall said.
The grannies do not get paid for their performances. After performing they mingle with audiences, shaking hands and speaking with everyone they can.
Tap Dancing Grannies
Gloria Barraclough, 87
Dorothea Denton, 76
Janice Dixon, 70
Bonita Fackrell, 80
Joy Jones, 86
Carole Litz, 76
Berdine Morley, 76
Laura Mortensen, 72
Shirley Palmquist, 82
Jessie Steagall, 86
Donna Vincent, 82
Betty Wight, 86
To find out when and where the Grannies perform, call the Golden Years Senior Activity Center at 801-295-3479.