They come for the exercise and learn to dance from a state champion in country western dancing. They are in their 70s and 80s and are dancing to Shaboozey and Beyoncé.
Mike Bendavid, who has been teaching line dancing since the 1970s and knows 300 dances, spends an hour each week with seniors teaching them everything from the Cowboy Charleston to The Bar Song and the Waltz Across Texas and even the Electric Slide at ONEgeneration Senior Enrichment Center in Reseda.
Wearing cowboy boots he calls out each step to those wearing tennis shoes and loafers and moves around the room making sure his students learn the steps before turning on the music.
Bendavid, who teaches 15 classes a week, has been teaching at the senior center for over 30 years and says the seniors predominantly come for exercise. “I enjoy having people learn what they want to learn.”
“We are trying to get all our friends to come because it’s good exercise,” says Judy Grossman, 81, of West Hills, a retired third grade teacher. Grossman also takes Bendavid’s class with friends at the Cowboy Palace Saloon in Chatsworth and recently followed him to the Autry Museum where he taught a class. Grossman says line dancing is great for those who are single.
Donna Hansen says she takes the class for the exercise, relaxation and the mental challenge of trying to remember the steps to each dance.
If you want to learn to dance from a “real cowboy” Bendavid teaches his class at ONEgeneration in Reseda on Fridays from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.