The Cosmo Senior Centre’s Line Dance Workshop is resuming classes, and line dancers in the group are preparing for an upcoming event you don’t want to miss.
Line dance is a choreographed dance where a group of people dance together in a repeating series of steps. During the dance, participants are arranged in lines that usually face the same direction and act in unison on the dance floor.
The workshop is scheduled for Sept. 23 at the Cosmo Centre and serves as a fundraiser to help support the centre and all they do for the community.
The classes are led by three local dance instructors, and the group has around 16 ladies who have been faithfully attending for the last three years, along with others who attend whenever they can.
Classes at the Cosmo Centre are meant to instruct at an advanced-beginner level. “We’re the advanced-beginner class,” assistant line dance instructor Brenda Winter explained.
Beginners should start at either the Timothy Eaton’s Centre or South Lake, where Winter teaches beginner-level classes. Classes at the Timothy Eaton’s Centre are held at 10 a.m. on Tuesdays, and introductory classes are held on Wednesdays at 11 a.m.
For details on classes at the Sun Valley Community Association, visit SouthLakeResort.ca.
The ladies who instruct the classes at the Cosmo Centre are Vel Smith, Brenda Winter, and Cheryl Chow covers lessons during the winter months.
Dancers who graduate from the beginner-level courses can attend increasingly more difficult lessons. “Once you know your steps, you’re good,” Smith explained.
Levels range from absolute beginner to confident beginner, to improver, and then to more advanced levels.
For confident beginners, Smith and Winter host classes every Thursday morning from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. An intermediate-level class is also available between 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. on those days. The fee is $5.00, and this covers two-and-a-half hours with free parking available.
During the summer, Smith and Winter volunteer their spare time to teach, and in the case of Winter, she divides her time between life on the farm and at dance.
“I’m a busy person, and I live on the farm. This is my social (life),” Winter said.
“We actually host two jamborees… at our Country Roads Resort in Yuma… plus we attend another line dance class down there,” Smith said. Smith will sometimes dance up to 14 hours a week, and that’s how she met Winter.
Line dance is a growing trend south of the border. “Line dance is very big down south. It’s all coming back,” Smith said. The ladies are hoping to see a similar resurgence back home in Saskatchewan.
The ladies don’t volunteer their time for the accolades, but because it’s what they love to do. “We do it because we love it,” Smith said. They both agreed that the best part of instructing classes is seeing a newly choreographed routine carried out to perfection. “When it comes out it’s beautiful,” Winter said.
The group is currently practicing for an upcoming line dance workshop.
“What this is all about is just a fundraiser and to get more people involved with line dance,” Smith said.
“We went to a line dance party in Regina and decided that maybe we can do a fundraiser for (the Cosmo Centre),” Smith added.
Line dancers from across the province are invited to attend, and the show will feature 19 different dances.
Winter also said line dance is a great physical activity with many health benefits, from mental health to improving balance and coordination.
Individual dance routines are typically tailored toward a given song that serves as inspiration.
“It’s really good for memory because you’re counting all the time. Line dances will go from 32 up to 72 (steps) that you have to remember,” Smith explained.
These steps are usually recalled in groupings of eight moves, and it’s all about remembering the pattern.
The Line Dance Workshop consists of volunteers who donate their time in support of the Cosmo Centre. As an example of their back-and-forth relationship, a free lunch was provided to the dancers courtesy of the Cosmo Centre on September 13.
The line dancers are also volunteering at the Cosmo Centre’s upcoming foul supper on Oct. 1, and want to extend their invitation to anyone who is interested.
Advance tickets cost $25 each and can be purchased by calling the centre at 306-692-6072.
The upcoming Line Dance Workshop on Sept. 23 will run between 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. at the Cosmo Centre. The cost to participate is $10 per person; observers are welcome to also attend and see if line dancing is something they may wish to pursue. The cost for observing is $5 to attend.
There will be lunch at intermission and snacks. Smith noted that the ladies in the group will each bring something to eat and there will be good eating from brownies to butter tarts to fruit and vegetable trays.
The Cosmo Seniors Centre is located at 235 Third Avenue Northeast.
For more information on dance classes, call or text Brenda Winter at 306-642-0015.
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