[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ specialty=”off” next_background_color=”#ffffff” _builder_version=”3.6″ background_image=”https:\/\/austin2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2018\/08\/Cat-Animation-FInal-800wide.gif”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.6″][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_audio _builder_version=”3.6″ title=”Finding family through dance” artist_name=”Cat Cardenas | Next Generation Radio” album_name=”KUT Austin 2018″ audio=”https:\/\/austin2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2018\/08\/Cat_LineDance.mp3″ background_color=”rgba(69,123,151,0.71)” custom_margin=”275px||250px|” \/][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ next_background_color=”#000000″ prev_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.48″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.6″]<\/p>\n
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Every Tuesday afternoon at the Lamar Senior Activity Center, you can hear the gentle sound of feet shuffling and tapping across the floor as the line dance class begins. In a simple, fluorescent-lit classroom at the back of the center, students aged 50 through 91 are navigating the transition from a grapevine into a twinkle step. The dancers are not in perfect sync, but there\u2019s a smile on everyone\u2019s face. <\/span><\/p>\n At the front of the class is Linda Fugate, 62, the substitute instructor who has been line dancing for four years. As she teaches a class of fellow seniors, she keeps the energy up, encouraging everyone to pick up the pace as \u201cWaltz Across Texas\u201d begins to play.<\/span><\/p>\n When Fugate moved to Austin in 1985, she was leaving behind her family and her home in Tennessee. She studied physics at the University of Texas, and after retiring from her job in industrial research, she\u2019s found a new community through dance. Whether it\u2019s freestyle dancing among the crowds at the popular lakeside restaurant The Oasis or in the middle of a line dance at a Texas jamboree, Fugate discovered people who were just as passionate as she was. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLine dance is a wonderful way to socialize with people,\u201d Fugate says. \u201cSome of my best friends are line dancers. I don\u2019t have any family in Texas, so the line dance community is part of my local Texas family.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n George Weinberger, 71, is a class regular. He has been dancing for decades and met Fugate when they both got into line dancing. For the two of them, dancing was a lifelong hobby, but it was also a way to stay active in the local community. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201c[Our dance group] would put on performances at nursing homes and it\u2019s very rewarding to see some people who would hardly move at all–possibly in their wheelchairs–dance,\u201d Weinberger says. \u201cYou could see the music break through to them and actually see movement and interest.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n At the senior center, site supervisor Jerilyn Rainosek says they\u2019re currently experiencing their highest enrollment over the past few years. About 900 to 1,000 seniors participate in programs at the center \u2014 from art to Zumba. But Rainosek says the programs geared toward physical activity are typically the most popular. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt [provides] a lot of socialization and just a lot of camaraderie, which leads to more health benefits all around.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Ever since the senior center opened in 1978, the line dancing class has been a staple. But four years ago, after the original instructor could no longer teach the class, the center was determined to find a replacement. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI think this was some people\u2019s home base and that\u2019s what they wanted, so we just kept at it,\u201d Rainosek says. \u201cThey would travel to the other centers and try them out and then still come and tell me, \u2018I need to get a line dance class.\u2019 They wouldn\u2019t let up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Eventually, local dance instructor Connie Shell volunteered her services in 2014 and quickly recruited her friend Fugate to assist her. Since then, Fugate has acted as substitute teacher whenever Shell is out of town. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhen I came here I thought, \u2018Maybe someday I\u2019ll teach,\u2019 but no big hurry about that,\u201d Fugate says. \u201cBut after I thought about it, I said \u2018Well, okay. Why not? You never know until you get in there and try it.\u2019\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n As part of the line dance community, Fugatean gets her music from a list voted on by fellow teachers. She\u2019s always finding new dances to bring to class from local choreographers or YouTube. <\/span><\/p>\n Fugate gently pushes her students with each song, encouraging them to try slightly harder steps. It\u2019s all part of their preparation for their next big event: The Texas Line Dance Jamboree in Waco in October. <\/span><\/p>\n For Fugate and many of her students, a love of dance is what got them here, but the friends they\u2019ve made while dancing has kept them coming back. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI have a lot of great memories of dancing both here and going to the out-of-town events,\u201d Fugate says. \u201cI\u2019ve met a lot of wonderful people and I really enjoy the social aspect just as much as I do the dancing. There\u2019s just a whole bunch of people that you see in line dance and they\u2019re happy and they have common interests, so it\u2019s a wonderful community of dancers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″][et_pb_video src=”https:\/\/youtu.be\/sB-qVWz6F0U” _builder_version=”3.6″]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_video][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/austin2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2018\/08\/LineDance-7-of-11.jpg” _builder_version=”3.6″]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.6″ custom_margin=”-20px|||”]<\/p>\n Dance instructor Linda Fugate demonstrates a grapevine dance move after class. <\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/austin2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2018\/08\/LineDance-3-of-11.jpg” _builder_version=”3.6″]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.6″ custom_margin=”-20px|||”]<\/p>\n The line dance class has been one of the most popular classes since the Lamar Senior Activity Center opened in 1978.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.6″ src=”https:\/\/austin2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2018\/08\/LineDance-1-of-11.jpg” \/][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.6″]<\/p>\n Students run through steps during a line dancing class at the Lamar Senior Activity Center. <\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_video _builder_version=”3.6″ src=”https:\/\/austin2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2018\/08\/Untitled-Project-Made-by-Headliner.mp4″ \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"