The 15 women filing in to the Education Room of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on this first of fall Thursday afternoon look like any random sampling of Sarasota’s senior demographic. Their hair is gray or white or unnaturally blonde or brunette. They’re dressed in leggings and blousy tops or golf skirts and polos, or patterned bike shorts with a brightly colored t-shirts. Some look fit enough to have just run a 5K; some have grandmotherly curves; one enters with careful steps leaning on a cane.

But look down at their feet and you’ll have a clue as to why they’re here. Pale pink ballet slippers with elastic straps. Tan leather jazz shoes laced tight. Black ballroom shoes with suede bottoms and a two-inch heel. Split soled specialty sneakers in fluorescent red with an impossibly elevated arch.

The closest they may ever have been to a performance stage is front row seats in the audience, but at least for the next hour they’re not whoever they were when they walked in the door.

They’re dancers.

“These classes are made for anyone,” says Deb Lombard, who shares instructor duties for the “Golden Groovers” class with her fellow Van Wezel teaching artist, Eric van Baars. “If you miss a step, fine. If you need to sit down, fine.  We’re just here to have a good time. Just come in and laugh.”

Lombard and van Baars – “Two seniors looking for work with seniors” -- started the “Golden Groovers” series about a year and a half ago; they also work with clients at Parkinson’s Place and teach movement to adults with disabilities. In the fall, as few as a dozen participants may show up, but during the height of the “season,” as many as 30 or more squeeze into the linoleum-floored room that is lined on one side with mirrors.

Carolyn Trombacco, the woman with the cane, has driven down from Parrish with Michelle Polito. They’ve been friends for almost 50 years. They used to take Zumba classes together at the YMCA and they still sometimes go to Woody’s River Roo Pub in Ellenton and dance to live music.

About attending a dance class with a cane, Trombacco says, “You’re never too old, You can’t be afraid to live your life.”

This is Jenny Walter’s first visit to the class, which she heard about on a local television program. She used to dance the Carolina shag during her college years at the University of Georgia and more recently, she fell in love with ballroom dancing. But the $18 per class for the Golden Groovers series is a bit more in line with her finances than ballroom instruction.

“I loved it but I just couldn’t justify the expense,” says Walter, 67, who learned to golf because it’s her husband’s passion, but hasn’t been able to get him to take up dance. “I can come here, learn the choreo and move to music. Bring together body and mind and all that. It’ll be a blast.”

Raji Patel – she of the scarlet dance sneakers – positions herself in the front row. She’s a former aerospace engineer who briefly joined the ballroom dance team when attending MIT. After deciding salsa was more her style, she went to Cuba and became enamored of casino ruedo, the form of salsa danced in a rotating group, but she hasn’t been able to find a local group.

Tall, elegant and dressed all in black, Clolita Vitale looks every bit the professional dancer she once briefly was before becoming a lawyer and teaching ballet for years.

On this day, when someone asks how many in the room have danced before, nearly everyone raises a hand. That’s unusual, Lombard says.

“Sometimes you have people who’ve never danced a step before,” she says, “And sometimes we have men!” A ripple of laughter flows across the room. Many of these woman are here in part because their husbands don’t (or won’t) dance.

Each hour-long class has a different theme and nostalgic music from a familiar performer. Last session it was music from “My Fair Lady.” Today, it’s “Viva Las Vegas” and Elvis (or at least his greatest hits parade) is in the house. Elton John is on deck for next week.

Lombard starts off with a simple warmup, then moves into body isolations -- head, shoulders, ribs (a bit problematic), hips -- and finally into weight shifts with different stepping patterns. Recognizing she has a seasoned group, she moves immediately into some choreography to “Burning Love,” stringing together a “jazz square,” chassés with a rock step and a lasso motion of the arms (“A signature Elvis move.”)

“Oops, this may be a little faster than I said,” she adds when “Jailhouse Rock,” playing from a speaker next to her IPhone, outpaces half the class.

But the true test comes when it’s time to “move across the floor,” a traditional finale in almost any dance class. As is the norm, the confident students make up the first two rows; the insecure hang out in the back to watch before they’re put on the spot. Trombacco sets her cane aside and stands up next to her chair, dancing in place; a woman at the head of the class, boogies freestyle as the music is ending, drawing the applause of others.

“Can you tell I just love to dance?” she says.

After one more round of “Jailhouse Rock” with a grand final flourish (“I’m a musical theater person…it’s all about the end!” Lombard says), the women gather in a big circle for a cool down and a ritualistic bow of acknowledgement from one person to the next. The final woman in the circle ends the gesture with a grandiose curtsy.

After gathering for a quick group photo, the women quickly don their street shoes and head for the door. For Trombacco and Polito, next on the agenda is a nice cup of tea somewhere. But Carol Butera, the former President and CEO of the Selby Foundation, has no time to linger or chat.

“Sorry,” she says, rushing out the door. “I’ve got to get to my tap class at the Senior Friendship Center.”

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Upcoming Golden Groovers Classes, Thursdays 2-3 p.m. at the Van Wezel Education Room (enter through Administrative Office entrance), Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Tickets, $18 per class at vanwezel.org/goldengroovers

Fall Series 2026:  October 8; October 15; October 22; October 29; November 5.

Winter/Spring Series 2027: January 21; January 28; February4; February 11; February 18; February 25; March 4; March 11; March 18; March 25; April 1; April 8.

Free  “All Abilities” Dance Workshops, beginning October 16

In partnership with Azara Ballet, whose company dancers will provide the instruction, the Van Wezel education program begins “all abilities” classes, welcoming trained dancers, dancers with disabilities, senior, teens and those who have always wanted to dance but never had the opportunity. No previous experience is required, but those with extensive experience are also encouraged to participate.

The classes will rotate between a variety of dance genres, from ballet to ballroom. All classes will be held at 5:30 p.m. in the Education Room at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, 777 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. The classes are free of charge, but registration is requested by completing the workshop registration form at vanwezel.org/all-abilities-dance-workshops.

Upcoming “All Inclusive” Series Classes

October 16 – Jazz with Drew Robinson

November 20 – Street/Hip Hop with Drew Robinson

December 11 – Ballet with Rebecca Kimsey

January 15, 2027 – Musical Theatre with Baylie Dockins

February 19, 2027 – Ballroom Dance (instructor TBD)

March 12, 2027 – Contemporary with Baylie Dockins

April 23, 2027 – Jazz with Drew Robinson