When Jack and Shelley Kenworthy signed up for a session of ballroom dancing lessons, they just wanted to dance well enough for an upcoming family wedding.

That was 18 months ago and the couple is still hand in hand, dancing rhumbas and cha-chas.

“It’s good couple time,” says Shelley, flush from 45 minutes of dancing. “You’re close and you’re working together to learn the steps.”

The Kenworthys take classes at Kat’s Performing Arts Studio in Bedford along with three other couples from their neighborhood.

Dancing with other couples makes class more fun and learning a new routine is less intimidating with friends.

“It’s been excellent friendship bonding time,” says Shelley. “It’s given us a chance to know each other.”

She and neighbor, Shannon Ross, admit that being fans of ABC’s popular “Dancing with the Stars” also led to a desire to dance.

While all the wives were in step with the idea, Joey Ross was less than enthusiastic.

“I was against it,” he says. “I didn’t think I’d like it. But Shannon really wanted to do it.”

After one lesson, Ross had changed his mind.

“I liked it immediately. We went home and practiced that night.”

Men carry the load in ballroom, which can make those early lessons a struggle.

Shelley says she had to let go of her inner control freak and learn to let Jack lead.

Dancing, and knowing your role, can be just as difficult for men when starting.

“It’s tough for guys,” says Brian Thompson, who helps his wife Kathy in the studio. “The guy has to know his steps and the lady’s steps and he has to think ahead of what steps are next.”

Thompson says it’s not uncommon among beginning dancers for a woman to lead if she picks up the steps before her partner.

“Now, when one of us messes up, we just laugh and start over,” Shelley says.

Laughter is not only good for the soul, but so is all that sole-moving. Precise footwork requires proper holds and good posture, flexible limbs and high endurance. Ballroom dancing also stimulates the brain.

“There’s a lot of mind over body,” says ballroom teacher Kathy Thompson. “You’re really using your brain to learn the patterns of a dance.”

A 2003 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that dancing can diminish the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s because it is both a physical and social activity that requires a degree of memorization. Dancing also helps strengthen muscles and build bone mass which can help prevent osteoporosis.

“I didn’t realize how much you have to think when learning ballroom,” says Shelley Kenworthy. “You’re memorizing steps and thinking about where to put your foot or your hand.”

Leading the way for Shelley and the gang is teacher Thompson.

Their feet are in good hands.

Thompson, trained in ballet, tap and jazz, has taught dance for more than 25 years. She took her first ballroom lesson 16 years ago.

Once Thompson felt she had enough training, she started teaching ballroom at her studio about 11 years ago.

Her students learn the waltz, fox trot, swing, cha-cha, rhumba and tango.

She says with a base of those six dances, her students should be able to dance anywhere there is a band playing ballroom-style music.

Finding a place to practice those ballroom skills is probably the only drawback.

For those who want the ultimate ballroom experience, Thompson suggests the Indiana Roof in Indianapolis.

Nothing beats it, she says.

A little closer to home, Thompson hosts a practice party every Friday at 8:45 p.m. at her Lincoln Avenue studio. She throws a bigger party the third Friday of every month.

Thompson is both a student and teacher.

She takes lessons at Panache in Bloomington from a world champion exhibition dancer.

And before that, she took lessons in Indianapolis for about 2 1⁄2 years and served as an adviser to the Indiana University Swing Club. “That was one style of dance I had never explored,” Thompson says. “Once I got started, I loved it so much, I didn’t want to stop.”

She shares her passion with about 45 ballroom students. They fall into a range of ages, but most of her students are in their mid-40s.

“They love it for the physicality and the mental use as well,” says Thompson. “They get their pulse up and their lungs are really working. It’s a really good aerobic exercise.”

With all its starts and stops, ballroom sessions aren’t typically as aerobic as other classes. But an average adult can expect to burn between 200 and 500 calories during an hour of dance, depending on the intensity of the workout—not to mention all the fun during the footwork.

Dance Steps For Waltz

The basic step for the waltz is a box step. It is named after the pattern it creates on the floor (box or square) and forms the foundation of the dance.

A box step can be divided into two parts—a forward half box and a backward half box. Each half box has three steps: a step forward or backward, a step to the side, and a step to close the feet together.

The leader, the man, starts with the left foot and executes a forward half box, followed by a backward half box. The follower performs the opposite; she starts with the right foot and executes a backward half box, followed by a forward half box.

The basic box step pattern uses three counts (slow, quick, quick) which is repeated twice to create the box step.

Basic Waltz Steps

Men’s Steps for Waltz:

• Step forward with the left foot

• Right foot step sideways to the right

• Bring your left foot next to your right foot

• Step back with the right foot

• Step back sideways with the left foot

• Bring your right foot next to your left foot

Woman’s Steps for Waltz:

• Step back with the right foot

• Left foot step sideways to

the left

• Bring your right foot next to your left foot

• Step forward with the left foot

• Step forward sideways with the right foot

• Bring your left foot next to your right foot

Source: dancing4beginners.com