by Tina Woo
The recent NSC Newsletter in August featured an article by Sandy Kiyomura about her Wednesday afternoon ballroom dancing class held at the Alameda Mastick Senior Center. There was information on how dancing benefits us physically by getting us up and moving, cognitively by helping the brain in remembering steps and variations, not to mention, socially, where we meet new people. 
On a beautiful Wednesday afternoon, Margaret Wong and I decided to visit Alameda and Sandy’s dance class. When we arrived at the Mastick Center. We were pleasantly surprised by the welcoming atmosphere. There was a costume jewelry sale and an ice cream social. Margaret found some nice pieces of jewelry to add to her collection. The facility has several classrooms in addition to two bocce ball courts, a pool room and an exercise area. There are dozens of classes such as computer classes, foreign language classes, stained glass making, line dancing, hula and bridge club.
Sandy is an excellent resource and has been teaching as her “retirement job” for 8 years. Her beginning waltz class covered the basic box step, quarter turns, the underarm turn variation, in addition to a progressive step enabling you to move around the ballroom. Highlights included the all- important frame, posture, and heel-toe, toe, toe heel footwork. Sandy works with an excellent assistant, Jim Kawasaki, and provides both leader and follower instructions. The class was divided accordingly, and we practiced with a variety of partners. Sandy provided feedback to all. This was a very fun, welcoming, non-threatening experience, with great music to boot! And all of this was reviewed in an hour (for $5).
So, whether you’re a newbie or experienced dancer, this is a great opportunity to learn the basics or get a valuable refresher! Margaret and I thoroughly enjoyed the class and plan to return. Want to join us?
