People – How Jazzercise Saved My Life (Yes, Really)

A hospital bathroom is not the place I ever imagined doing “shimmies,” but when you need to let loose, even a tiled walk-in shower with steel handrails can be a dance floor. Especially if you Jazzercise.

2-4-6-8: Jazzercise! Yes, Jazzercise: the group exercise class you associate with your grandma (if you’re under age 50), your mom (if you’re 50) or maybe just Stranger Things. (Here’s looking at you, Gen Z ‘80s nostalgia fans.) Founded by professional dancer Judi Sheppard Missett in 1969 — an era when women weren’t legally permitted to have credit cards in their own names — Jazzercise is to the fitness industry what leg warmers are to fashion: forever frozen in time, associated with Reaganomics and shopping malls and sky-high bangs.

But what if Jazzercise were more than that? What if, instead of punchlines and kitsch, Jazzercise represented a lifeline for millions of women — especially those often overlooked, in the autumn and winter of life — who desired an outlet for their energy, a hope for their longevity, and a place to move among other women looking to do the same?

Read the full People article here.