Some call it “sexercise” – to the rest of us it’s salsa, but not as we know it. An evening class that combines exercise with dance is taking the country by storm. Sharon Tinkler, founder of Stepping Out Dance Company, says Salsa Slims is consistently their most popular course and this term has seen the biggest ever intake of return customers.

So what’s the appeal? “The difference is we’re here to exercise and have fun,” she says. “The music is fantastic and you are learning proper salsa dancing, but there’s no need to bring a partner.” Participants line out to dance, with each one-hour class specifically designed to give a low-impact cardiovascular workout.

“Every class is very mixed age-wise,” says Tinkler. “We have people from their 20s right up to their 70s… We do have men, but very few. This is nearly like a girls’ night out, rather than an exercise class.”

Tinkler is a champion dancer but she began to focus on the exercise aspect of salsa after listening to customers describe her classes as a great workout. “It’s great for people who don’t like the gym or find the gym lonely,” she adds. “And it’s like a springboard: once they get moving, people start saying to themselves, maybe I’ll go for a walk in the evening too. They start thinking about what they’re eating.”

The 10-week courses cost €120 and include a healthy-eating guide. There is also an optional weight-loss competition, with a cash prize at the end of each term.

If all that sounds like too much hard work, the Macushla Dance Club might be more your cup of tea. Named after the old Foley Street ballroom where many of its members met their husbands and wives, the club started in 2006 providing free weekly dance classes to the over-50s of Dublin’s north-east inner city. Today, classes are open to all.

“It’s free in all meanings of the word,” says founder Ríonach Ní Néill. “People can attend regardless of their physical or financial situation. You can take the class either sitting or standing, stop and start whenever you like, and take a rest. It’s a very open format.”

Ní Néill describes the class as a mix of healthy exercise and dance to all kinds of music. “Céili, ballroom, contemporary, ballet, tap, salsa, tango, even belly dancing, we do everything,” she says.

Members range from their 50s to their 80s, and Ní Néill has taught workshops to students in their 90s.

As a professional dancer, she was conscious of working in an industry that considers you “old” at 35. “I wanted to set up something that would give older people access to dance and to their own creativity and also develop links with the professional dance community in Ireland,” she says.

Professional dancers perform and give workshops to the club. “The younger generation have very little experience of social dance, while the older generation are steeped in social dancing. They learn from each other,” says Ní Néill.

Male participants are very welcome and the social aspect is paramount. “The class is excellent,” says Patrick Kelly. “We make plenty of friends and it gets us out of the house.”

Fellow member Marie Nolan has no doubts. “It’s the best thing I’ve gone to since I retired.”

Some members have also discovered a second chance at a lost career. Last year, members joined professional dancers for a production for the Bealtaine Festival. “One of our performers is in her 60s; she is one of our babies,” jokes Ní Néill. “She always dreamt of being a professional ballerina and never thought at 65 that she could perform professionally in front of an audience.”

As an offshoot of this year’s festival, members will again work with professional choreographers to perform three new dance works in the Project Arts Centre from 13 to 19 December.

What do you think?
Is dance the best way to get fit?
Should these types of classes be Government-funded to help keep the nation fit?