Dance Date Folks Socialize And Exercise Every Monday Night At Dances In The Corbin Senior Center
Marie Simpson’s silver sequined blouse matched the glittering strobe that spun over the dance floor.
Simpson, 75, and her dance partner, Charles Armstrong, slid across the Corbin Senior Center floor with ease.
Dodie and the Sunshine Boys played the Tennessee Waltz, and Simpson and Armstrong stayed in time with the tiny band. When the song ended, the couple returned to their seats.
“You know, I always hated that song,” Simpson said. “The part of the song that goes, ‘My friend stole my sweetheart from me’ … well, that’s a bunch of bull. If your friend steals your sweetheart, well, your sweetheart was just nothing but a playboy anyway.”
Simpson, Armstrong and 38 other seniors make it a habit to dance the night away every Monday at 827 W. Cleveland.
Seniors say it’s a great way to stay active and meet new people. In fact, Simpson couldn’t stay away from the Corbin Senior Center even though she was scheduled to undergo a battery of tests the next morning for a brain tumor her doctor just discovered.
“I’d rather be here than be at home feeling sorry for myself,” Simpson said. “Whatever happens will happen.”
Later, Simpson dragged Armstrong, 63, back out on the floor.
“I had to get myself a young man to be able to keep up with me,” Simpson said with a wry grin.
Off and on for the last 30 years, the senior center has been a place for older residents to get down and groove a little.
Dance coordinator Jeannine Frazier said the center caters to people age 55 and older though most of those in attendance are between 60- to 80-years-old.
Frazier said the center is always looking for new dancers, especially men.
Because women usually outlive men, and because a lot of men either can’t dance or don’t like to, the women always outnumber them at the dances 2-to-1, Frazier said.
“We’re always hunting for men,” she said. “We always end up wearing out the ones we have.”
Which was fine as far as one unidentified man was concerned.
“We (the men) get along great because there are more women here,” the man said. “If there were more men than women, we’d be slitting each other’s throats.”
“Look at her,” the unidentified man said to his friend. “I wish I didn’t have this bad foot, I’d go out there and dance with her,” he said. “She’s got the body of a 20-year-old. Hey, that part doesn’t change just because you get a little older.”
In order to compensate for a lack of men, the group holds what are called chair dances.
Every man dances with a woman, and those women without a partner wait in line for the next available man. The object is to give every woman a chance to dance.
The event isn’t limited to residents from the North Side. People from the South Hill and a few from the Valley also participate.
Frazier said all the senior centers around Spokane have their own dance nights, making it possible to find live dancing seven nights a week.
Herman Sleizer and Violet Garbarino said they dance every night of the week at various centers around town.
Sleizer, a retired Rogers High School teacher, said he often finds himself dancing with women who used to be his students.
John Milton, 70, said he started attending the dances in February after he and his wife of 44 years recently separated.
“It was very hard to get back out,” Milton said. “I was just sitting around looking at the walls of my apartment night after night and feeling really down. But life goes on.
“This is fun,” Milton said. “This takes my mind off some of my problems. The chair dances are nice because they give you a chance to meet new people.”
In addition to waltzing and chair dancing, these silver foxes do the drag, fox trot and the rhumba.
On the night of July 28, Simpson and Armstrong left before the dance ended at 10 p.m. She complained of a loud ringing in her head. She thought it may be due to her tumor.
But her early departure wasn’t enough to spoil a fun evening.
“I have so much fun with my life,” Simpson said. “And dancing is a big part of that.”
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