By JOHN CLANTON Multimedia Producer on Jan 13, 2013, at 1:28 PM Updated on 1/13 at 1:28 PM
Rita Shisler, age 91, puts on a hip scarf before her first belly dancing class at the Tulsa Jewish Retirement and Health Care Center in Tulsa on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013. "The more you do, the more you can do, she says. "I don't want to sit in the corner and have the cobwebs building over me, so I'm going to keep moving." JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
I got here too early and had to wait for the Tai Chi class to end. As new people start to arrive, the lights flicker on and Mariangel Shadley passes out jingling, shiny hip scarves.
This is the first time any of Mariangel's students have tried belly dancing. They've seen her demonstrate it before, or maybe seen it on television, but they've never tried it. They giggle occasionally as the class begins, but they really get into the spirit of things and follow the instructor's directions.
For Rita Shisler, age 92, a resident of the Tulsa Jewish Retirement and Health Care Center in south Tulsa, it's a matter of keeping busy. "I don't want to sit in the corner and have the cobwebs building over me, so I'm going to keep moving." She takes my hand and starts dancing. She says that if there was music playing right now, she and I would be dancing together.
With her shoes and cane resting under her chair, resident Barbara Johnson takes a break to watch the instructor during a belly dancing class at the Tulsa Jewish Retirement and Health Care Center in Tulsa on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
Eleanor Lutsey participates in a belly dancing class at the Tulsa Jewish Retirement and Health Care Center in Tulsa on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
Staff member Mariangel Shadley (foreground) teaches a belly dancing class to Barbara Dinehart, a staff member, and residents Iris Chandler, Rita Shisler and Eleanor Lutsey at the Tulsa Jewish Retirement and Health Care Center in Tulsa on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
Inge Kahn (center) and other residents at the Tulsa Jewish Retirement and Health Care Center, learn how to belly dance during a class in Tulsa on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013. JOHN CLANTON/Tulsa World
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