Just Dance

March 2000. That’s when I found it. It being the Clemson Jazzercise Center. My sister had actually introduced me to it. I had gone to visit her, and she made me get up and go with her to a class on a Saturday morning. I begrudgingly liked it—a lot. I left that weekend and had already found out that the Clemson Jazzercise Center was about a mile away from where I was living.

I showed up to my first class at Clemson Jazzercise and was a nervous mess. I was first greeted by a woman who immediately welcomed me and got everything ready for me to join. Her name was Nancy. I was then approached by the instructor for the class that day. I didn’t know it at the time, but this was also the owner. Her name was Verna. I was very young and really had no idea that these ladies would not only be a part of changing my life, but they would still be with me today. But, I’m jumping ahead.

I had always thought of aerobics as dated. This thought was overpowered, though, by all of the fun I was having. When I attended a class, it was like being an In Living Color Fly Girl. I couldn’t be stopped! And no one wanted to stop me! I had just started graduate school and had become engaged. I was very stressed. As the weeks went by, I began to use Jazzercise as my stress release touchstone. I knew I could go to the center and for 60 minutes all would be right again. All was not right with the rest of my life. I was engaged, and I knew from the beginning that it was probably not a good fit. But, I was too scared to ever say anything. As usual, I was determined to just make it work. Didn’t everyone feel like this? Graduate school was so hard. It wasn’t the content so much as the faculty. Again, though, Jazzercise came to the rescue. Just as I was feeling pretty hopeless about making it through graduate school, one of my professors showed up in Jazzercise. I had a connection. It was like a lifeline for me. Jazzercise was the vehicle that let me see my professors were more than just professors. I could talk to them. They wanted me to succeed. And, we had seen each other in spandex. That always lightens the mood!

Years went by. I bought a home. I advanced in my career. I ended up getting a divorce. Through all of this, Jazzercise was there. When I went there, no one cared that there was a major failure on my record well before the age of 30. I came to dance. And, they let me dance. Throughout this time, I had some major adjustments to make. At times, this meant that Jazzercise wasn’t on my list of priorities. I wasn’t forgotten, though. I would receive postcards from the center letting me know that I was missed. This wasn’t just mass-produced. Verna and the other instructors would always write a personal message for me on those cards. I still have them.

I got through those tough times, and I met a man who would become my husband. Life was good. It was going to change. I was diagnosed with cancer. I was scared. I wallowed in uncertainty and fear. I also beat it. The first thing I did when I started to feel like a living person again was go back to the Clemson Jazzercise Center. I showed up with a little bit of hair on my head and just looking a colossal mess. This is how I felt, anyway. Verna and all of the ladies greeted me with literal open arms. They even introduced me to another jazzer who had fought and survived cancer—Sue. She probably has no idea how much I depend on seeing her at class, but I do. Just her presence sets me at ease. Watching Sue lift heavy weights and smile as she bounces around to the music, reminds me that cancer doesn’t have to stop you in your tracks. You can move forward and be strong again.

Going back was not as smooth as I had hoped. I bumped along for a good year. My immune system was shot, plus there were major changes happening in my life…again. Job changes, family obligations, losing loved ones—all of these things were excuses I used to not exercise. Finally, one day, my husband remarked that I was always the happiest and least stressed when I jazzercised. I had been exercising. I would run. I would lift weights. But, it always felt like a chore. He really encouraged me to go back, and I did.

Today, I’m much older than I was in 2000. My body doesn’t look the same, and it doesn’t move the same. Jazzercise doesn’t care. Just show up. All of the women I exercise with have their own stories. They all show up for their own reasons. For 60 minutes each day, I let go of the everyday chaos and stress. I’m part of something so much bigger than an exercise center. Jazzercise and the ladies who make up my center have saved me so many times in my life. They have pushed me forward. They have kept me Marching Fourth. Actually, they have kept me dancing. Thank you, ladies.