Been There, Danced That

If someone bursts into tears when entertainer Rose Jubic starts to sing and dance, the 88-year-old has learned not to take offense.

Jubic recalls a performance she gave at a convalescent home two years ago during which someone in the audience did just that. The young woman was moved to tears watching her grandfather, a withdrawn man who suffered a stroke and hadn’t shown any emotion in years. That day, he had tapped his feet and smiled as Jubic and others took center stage.

Credit the magic of the Huff ‘N Puffs, a La Habra dance troupe made of “senior ladies,” as they like to call themselves. They say that while they may be hard of hearing, and not quite as limber as they used to be, they’re not planning on hanging up their dance shoes any time soon.

Jubic and her partners--Kay Bradbury, 87, Augusta Gerardi, 86, Francis Truesdill, 76, Mary Allman, 66, and Joyce Rookerson, 62--say they enjoy doing the cha-cha and a chorus-line kick just because they still can.

For the last 20 years they’ve performed just about everywhere they’re welcome, including hospitals, schools, churches and senior centers. They love performing for others, they say, especially older adults like themselves.

“We have to be so grateful that we’re over here doing the performing rather than someone entertaining us. . . . Lots of times, half of them fall asleep in their wheelchairs,” Bradbury joked about their audiences. “But you’ve gotta perform your heart out ‘cause they’re the ones that need you the most.”

The group began as an exercise class called Kids Over 50 more than 20 years ago and evolved into the current dance troupe. When members started performing outside the classroom, they knew only two numbers.

Now, the group has three shows: a luau in the summer, a Christmas program in December and a variety/chorus-line show in the spring. In 1991, they danced 122 shows.

“That’s not easy,” Gerardi said.

Their Christmas repertoire includes Jingle Bell Rock and a Christmas hoedown to Cotton-Eyed Joe. They count the rhythm in their heads and mouth the lyrics as they step.

During dance practice on Wednesdays, the women wear soft-soled shoes and comfortable sweaters. Their only props are silver glittered top hats that swing with their sways, but they imagine themselves on a Broadway stage.

In costume, they are transformed into Cuban-heeled cops in baby-blue uniforms, red-sequined soldiers and sometimes even beaded cha-cha dancers taking Rio by storm.

Those who can’t wear heels wear black flats.

The troupe is looking to expand.

“We can teach anyone,” said Bradbury, always on the lookout for new members. “If they know their right hand from their left--and sometimes they don’t--we can teach them.”

Sometimes, other obligations--or health complications--get in the way. “I’m not always here,” Truesdill said during a recent practice. “It just depends on how my husband’s feeling.”

Truesdill’s husband, John, has Alzheimer’s. On that day, he sat on the edge of the La Habra Women’s Center stage, watching his wife and the others practice. He pronounced them very good.

They’ve overcome cracked toes and broken hips, and have grieved for fellow dancers who died over the years of various illnesses. Gerardi recently cracked her toe climbing into the shower. Bradbury fell and broke her hip several years ago. Allman has an upcoming exploratory surgery.

Jubic, who at 88 is the oldest, saw her doctor recently. She said, crossing her fingers, that her health is very good and that the doctor thinks she’s getting younger. Rookerson, who calls herself the “baby” of the group, looks at Jubic with admiration.

“I hope I’m still doing this when I’m Rose’s age,” she said, and then quipped: “I hope I’m even alive.”