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Any Tuesday or Thursday morning, enter the Clinton Rose Senior Center and follow the music up the stairs to the second-floor dance studio. That's where you’ll find around a dozen or more senior women stepping it out. This is where the Roselette Dancers have been practicing dance routines since 1991.
That’s when Fanny Dunlap started an exercise group. That exercise group went on to become the Roselette Dancers, who’ve been dancing at sporting events, other senior centers, and even birthdays for the past 33 years.
“It started out as an exercise group, but we had so much energy,” says Lucille Cole, 91, one of the original Roselettes. “We did exercise, you know, but not the old folks’ exercise.”
Over the years, the Roselette Dancers have come and gone, but there’s still a dedicated group that comes, and new blood filters in. Here’s what some of them had to say about the longstanding and iconic dance group:
What has this group given to you?
Lois Redic (20 years with the Roselette Dancers): Stardom. I'm a star as a Roselette dancer. I laugh about that but I think people got to know me as a Roselette dancer. And for sure coming in here has helped my health and mental state.
Janet Thompson (14 years with the Roselette Dancers): It keeps you agile. Keeps you moving. Keeps your bones moving. You don't get stiff and I enjoy that. I don't want to get stiff where I can't get up [or] I have to be on a walker or can't move around like I want to. I like to be able to take care of myself for as long as I can.
Vanissa Brice (1 year with the Roselette Dancers): Instead of just staying in the house all day being depressed, you come out and you dance. It's something called enjoyment. And I love it.
Arcola Edwards (President of the Roselette Dancers): I had a heart condition. The doctor told me, he said, you can't dance. And I just broke down in the doctor's office and cried. Now, I didn't tell my husband, but I told Lois [our] dance instructor [about] my situation. So I told her to place me on the end [of the dance line] and I'm just gonna do one dance. And that's how I handle that situation. That problem has been corrected and I've been dancing ever since.
What do the other women mean to you?
Redic: If you live long enough, you have sicknesses and you have deaths. And it's always nice to know people are thinking about you. This time last year, my voice had messed up. I had a thyroid pressing up against my voice box. And I didn't even know whether after surgery I was going to be able to talk. But through it all, I didn't give up. And they didn't give up on me. People helped with the directions, giving the directions of the dances. That's what comes from being with people two times a week, three hours a week. You get to know each other and some love starts to happen.
Edwards: There's another dancer and she and I both went through — I lost my husband and she lost a family member. So we both either lost two or three family members last year and we've been a support to each other. Had my husband lived, we would have been married 50 years this past February. That's a big change in my life. So just having people you could share things with, but not necessarily the entire dance group. All of us have one individual that we're closest to.
Brice: We always try to make sure everybody gets what they need. If you're sick, let us know. We get together and we bring stuff to you, whether it's food, fruit, a card or just a conversation.
What is the legacy of the Roselettes?
Redic: You got some senior women that know how to have a good time. They’re smiling through it all. When we're out in front of people performing, they don't know about our aches and pains. They don't know about even the disagreements that we have had in getting this routine together. They see the final product and the final product we got smiles on our faces, our bodies are moving, our hips are shaking, and we're just having a good time.
Lucille Cole (33 years with the Roselette Dancers): We used to go into the nursing homes and perform and then interact with them as we got through performing. I loved that because … some of them couldn't walk. And it just did my heart good because they enjoyed us so much. They really enjoyed us. And that made me happy.
Edwards: We were founded by Ms. Fanny Dunlap. And I met her in 2010 and she asked me and another dancer, who's since moved out of state, to make sure that the Roselettes stay together. And that's what I've been doing since 2010, keeping this group together.
Redic: When we're out doing things in the community, they're saying to us, ‘Oh, when I grow up, I want to be just like you.’ And we're clapping our hands and saying, ‘We're trying to set a good example.’ So that's the legacy that we want to leave, that when you become a senior, life is just beginning. We're living our best lives right now.
The Roslettes show no sign of slowing down and say they still perform at birthday parties and get-togethers. They call themselves, unsurprisingly, the life of the party.
On the south side of the city, there’s another place for older adult dancing and community. OASIS is on 24th and Mitchell and run by Milwaukee Recreation. Like Clinton Rose, it is more than just a building, more than its programming, although there is a lot of programming, including urban gardening, fine arts classes, a recreation and workout room and ESL classes.
Organization for Active Seniors in Society (OASIS)
Megan Frey is the supervisor for OASIS and active older adults, and she says this programming matters for seniors who want to age gracefully. “Most people that come in here are just trying to make sure their body ages well,” Frey says. “As we get older and the fear of dementia, the fear of cardiovascular disease, the fear of these things that really are common as we get older, especially, that's ultimately, for the most part, why people enter our doors.”
For years, Frey worked with Milwaukee Rec’s adult sports, a considerably younger demographic. She says the late nights and the "moaning and groaning" working with that population burned her out. Then she took this job with Milwaukee Rec and hasn’t looked back.
“I feel like I'm working with my mom and dad every day, which has been really special for me as I get older,” Frey says. “If you ask me what my main goal is, it’s to have people be surrounded by others and have those support systems. And for most people that come in here, they have a friend group, and it's a group that they don't just see here, they see outside of our building, and they have lifelong friendships.”
One of the groups at OASIS where these lifelong friendships are most clear is at Zumba Gold, or senior Zumba, where some class participants have been coming for over 15 years. They come for different reasons, but they all say they’ve gotten healthier since joining.
“I hope I would be an inspiration because I also share [my journey] on my Facebook and other social media,” says Karen Nelson, who joined the group this year. “I literally came to lose my COVID-19 pounds that I gained during the pandemic. And …10 pounds I've already lost since January and I'm certain the next nine are on the way.”
The rest of the group says they take other workout and fitness classes, including strength and core classes. Classes that don’t just keep their mind and body in shape but can also give them a place to process grief collectively.
“I lost my brother; two weeks later, I lost my brother-in-law,” says Judy, who’s been coming to class for five years. “Three months later, I lost my sister-in-law, who was married to my brother. And then, a year later, I lost my precious dog that I had for 16 years and six months, my Rosie. It was the ability to come here and work through that grief and to have that support and that love.”
Zumba Gold classes are included with an annual membership to OASIS, which costs $15 for Milwaukee residents.
