Berry Park's over 55 ballet dancers find vitality and strength in Silver Swans classes

A group of ladies at Berry Park Village, aged between 58 and 83, have recently started taking ballet classes as part of a program called Silver Swans.

Delivered by Planet Dance, Telarah principal Prudence Duma, ballet has already made a huge difference in the ladies' lives.

"It gives them a whole new vitality," Ms Duma said.

"They come in dragging their feet because it's early, and they walk out like they've got a bounce in their step and I see the difference."

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Silver Swans is an initiative by the Royal Academy of Dance, aimed at helping the older population improve mobility, posture, coordination and energy levels.

Ms Duma, who grew up dancing under renowned East Maitland dance teacher Daphne Parker, is the only registered Silver Swans teacher in Maitland.

"There's so many benefits to it," she said.

"Dance increases your energy levels, it helps to reduce stress, it supports weight loss, it can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

"Dance helps diminish the symptoms of depression, dance improves balance, and that in turn helps them because it reduces the amount of falls."

Six weeks into dance classes, the ladies are certainly getting the hang of it.

They come from a range of backgrounds, from dancing as a child to never having danced before but always wanting to.

They are currently practicing a routine complete with red sparkly hats and kick lines, set to the dulcet tune of New York, New York by Frank Sinatra.

By the end of the year, the group hopes to show off their moves with a special performance.

"They come into class enjoying it so much, but they're exercising and improving their cardiovascular [health] along the way," Ms Duma said.

"They're connecting the brain with the muscles and muscle memory, and that's really important for this age group."

Ms Duma said while ballet is fairly difficult to learn, the ladies have improved quickly.

"It took them a few weeks to really find their feet with different things, but ballet's also not meant to be easy either so they had to feel their way through and go really slow, but I think that's the beauty of it," she said.

"You can take ballet really slow and you still get so much out of it."

While of course there are differences teaching over 55's compared to teaching pre-school and school aged classes, Ms Duma said there are similarities too.

"I actually think they enjoy it just as much as the little tiny ones, who are smiling the whole time and having so much fun," she said.

"I find these ladies are not much different. They come alive when they are dancing, you can see they're loving every minute of it."