A couple of years ago, after her favorite exercise spa closed, Helen Burg was starting to feel a little sluggish. So the now 86-year-old great-grandmother from Golden signed up for tap-dancing classes at Little Theater Culture Center in Lakewood and got mixed up with a group of senior hoofers called The Colorado Raisins. The dancers meet a couple of times a week to practice, and they hire out as entertainment to places ranging from nursing homes and churches to CD launch parties, including a performance last fall at the Oriental Theater with the indie-folk collective Pee Pee. – Dana Coffield
What was it like to dance with an indie band? That was an experience. I hadn’t been in that theater for umpteen years. It was kind of a variety show. I hadn’t been to anything like that for a number of years. It was real interesting.
Before you picked up tap at age 84, had you ever danced before? I used to tap when I was a youngster. I’ve always liked to dance. Always liked music. I have good rhythm – or at least that’s what my husband told me. After we were married, I put good music on the radio or record player and danced around the kitchen. My husband was an entertainer, so he always worked nights and we got to do very little dancing, the two of us. So I would dance around the kitchen.
Is tapping helping your health? My doctor says keep moving! I have poor circulation in my legs and this helps it. And I’m having a ball.
Who does the Raisins’ choreography? Our teacher, Jan Sherman. She’s such a nice lady. She also dances with us.
Are all of the Raisins in your age group? Oh no. There are two in my group who are in their 70s. All the rest are younger. I just happen to be an old fogey. I don’t have enough sense to act my age. It’s a challenge at my age to remember the steps, but after you do it for a while, it just becomes automatic. I’m probably not the most limber Raisin in the group, but I’m there.
Do people seem to like the show? As long as the people enjoy it, that’s the whole purpose of the thing. Either that, or they can be funny at us.
Are you just going to keep tapping until you can’t tap anymore? That’s right. I’m gonna keep going.
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RAISINS ON YOUTUBE
Catch The Colorado Raisins performing on YouTube.com (youtube.com/watch?v=gm-ctPZtCkY) or head to the local celebration of Day of Dance, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday at the Cable Center on the University of Denver campus, 2000 Buchtel Blvd., Denver. The free event is to raise awareness about women’s health issues, especially cardiac health at its center.
The Raisins will perform at noon, and there will also be hip-hop, hula, tango and Irish step dancers giving demonstrations and teaching the audience how dance can improve heart health.
Exempla Healthcare will also have about a dozen health- screening booths, offering free cholesterol screenings, body fat analysis, diabetes checks, cardiac risk assessment, bone density screenings, and information about pregnancy, acupuncture and the hospital system’s sleep center. Visit dayofdance.org.
