He maintained that as we age, we needed an activity that stimulated us physically, mentally and socially and that dancing covered all those aspects.

So I took up line-dancing at Tuross Head. (The December edition of News for Seniors, published by the Department of Human Services, has an excellent article called Dance away dementia.)

I could never have predicted how much I would enjoy it.

The other women and one young man are some of the nicest people I have ever met.

They were very supportive of me as a newcomer, as they are of any newcomer.

We have a cuppa and a chat in the middle of the dancing session.

It is an opportunity to get to know everyone a bit better.

We also go away on trips and our trip last year to Yarrangobilly on the Tablelands was outstanding.

I wouldn’t have thought a group of 13 women could have so much fun.

If your experience of line-dancing has been jeans, plaid shirts, boots and cowboy hats and country music and people dancing with their thumbs in their belts, you may be pleasantly surprised.

While there are elements of that, we also dance to rock and pop and Abba and Rod Stewart (among others) and you wear whatever you like.

Line-dancing has stopped for the silly season and starts again for beginners on February 5, at 6.45pm, at Kyla Park Sports Centre, Tuross Head.

Call Beth on 4476 4700 or Rachael, our excellent teacher, on 0438 428 984 for more details.

Come and try it.

What have you got to lose?

Anne Rault, Deua River Valley