After teaching ballet to younger children, Woods said she quickly saw her students’ enjoyment and wondered who else could benefit from the same type of musical movement.

Woods said the benefits for seniors are twofold: It’s fun, for starters, but it is also good for improving balance and engaging the brain.

“Part of the creativity of it is, how do we make ballet — which people associate with turns and jumps and leaps — how do we make that authentically available to our older adult population?” Wood said. “As we get older, we can get a little bit hesitant to push ourselves in new ways and learn new things. It’s almost like breaking down barriers.”

There are hopes to expand the program

Thelma Greenberg, a resident at Meadowbrook Senior Living in Prairie Village, called the classes there “absolute fun.”

She said the appeal is not just in the dancing itself, but in being able to motivate each other by doing it as a group.

“We want to move, and how many of us do it in our apartment?” She said. “I’ve got to have a group to get the motivation going. It’s free physical therapy.”

Meanwhile, Woods said Vitality in Motion wants to keep growing in Johnson County and says they are talking to other local senior car facilities about possibly adding classes.

Go deeper: Find more information about the program here.