When Debz Zeff moved to Grand Lake Gardens a year ago, she discovered that the Oakland, Calif., community offered several exercise classes. But the former dance teacher thought something was missing.
“None of them had music and I wanted to have that beat,” she says. “I saw these people with walkers, and I thought it would be great if they could sit down and move their feet.”
She floated the idea of a weekly dance class for residents who use walkers, and another resident came up with the name: Happy Feet.
“Happy feet, happy feet, get your body moving to that glorious beat,” Zeff, 82, chants by way of explanation. Up to a dozen residents attend each Wednesday session in the community’s Grand Assembly Room.
“Some come with walkers, some can stand,” she says. “It gets to be like a modern dance class because you have the beat, but you can do as you wish with your body. If someone is sitting down, I’ll go to them, we’ll hold our hands across and we’ll dance together. It’s a big help for people recuperating from accidents and learning to walk again.”
Zeff studied dance at the University of Wisconsin, Madison under several notable teachers, including some who had danced in Martha Graham’s group. After graduation, she taught folk, modern and social dance at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Ill.
Several moves and three children later, she earned a master’s in education at California State University, Northridge and began working as a substitute teacher in Los Angeles. She taught Israeli folk dancing at various synagogues, but that ended many years before she moved to Oakland.
Sharing the joy of dance with her fellow Grand Lake Gardens residents is one sign of the “transformation” Zeff says occurred since she and her husband, Jack, arrived. When moving from Los Angeles, she decided to leave behind both the “stay-at-home” life she had and her old name, Debbie.
“It came to me that I was moving into a whole new aspect of my life,” she says. “The first day I was here, they asked me my name and I said Debz.”
Those who attend Happy Feet are also experiencing transformations. One woman who uses a walker now feels safe dancing without it. A man who had broken his hip moved from a walker to a cane.
“He just loves the class,” says Zeff. “He was a dancer before and his body is starting to pick up the rhythm and he’s dancing.”
Staff members sometimes join the class too, at least for a few minutes. “I leave exhilarated and energized from dancing with the residents or just ‘free dancing’ on my own,” says Scott Sebastian, director of programs and activities. “It really is a pick-me-up for the day.”
Zeff has taught the class the two-step and the waltz and provides a wide selection of music. “Sometimes we go into folk dance mode. We get into a circle and circle around, walking together, coming to the middle and saying ‘Hey.’ People feel secure enough because they’re holding hands.”
Waltzing is particularly popular. “With their walkers, they go down the whole length of the room, one-two-three, one-two-three, and come back. The waltz — they love that because it’s like flying.
“They’re responding to the beat and the energy of the rhythm is very encouraging,” she says. “Class is only supposed to go a half hour, but most of the people want to stay on for an hour. So I keep the music going.”
About ABHOW
Founded in 1949, ABHOW is widely known for its pioneering leadership in senior housing and health care. The company serves more than 5,000 residents in 37 retirement communities in California, Arizona, Nevada and Washington.
To learn more about ABHOW visit www.abhow.com. This article appeared in the January 2011 issue of ABHOW Words.
