Whether it's ballroom, the two-step or even country line dancing, seniors in Butler County are trading in their slippers for dancing shoes.

For both new students and seasoned veterans, dance is not only a social event, but a mental challenge.

Lucy Sack of Grove City, a retired Slippery Rock University dance professor and dance department chairwoman, is one seasoned dancer who found she missed dancing after her retirement in 1999.

Now an instructor for the ballroom dance class at SRU's Institute for Leaning in Retirement, Sack is teaching many seniors to dance for the first time.

"They're all young at heart," said Sack of her students, who begin the class at with various levels of dance skill.

"They all still want to keep moving."

Sack, who adjusts her teaching according to her students' skills and requests, has found most of her students take ballroom dancing in search of a challenge.

She noted many students have trouble with the idea of leading and following, noting some women try to help their male partners to lead.

After time, however, the steps become more fluid and natural.

"They get to a point where they're not just learning a skill, they're actually dancing," she said.

Though her students are much younger than those in Sack's class, Dotty McGill of Grove City is another longtime teacher who continues to work with willing learners.

At age 84, the dance studio owner has taught countless students in the region, including many, like Sack, who have gone on to instruct their own classes.

"It seems like this is what I was supposed to do," said McGill, who began dancing at a young age as a sort of physical therapy for her legs, uneven in length due to polio.

Now walking with the aid of a cane, personalized with painted purple flowers, the former president of the Dance Masters national dance instructor organization is still active in teaching - instructing young dancers while observing from a chair.

Climbing the dimly lit staircase to her third-floor studio every day, McGill is reminded of a doctor's comment that the daily climb was like a gift to her heart.

Though over the years the ascent has become harder, her goal is the same, to keep teaching.

"I still think it keeps me going," she said of her lifelong career.

Dance also keeps Herb and Barbara Horner going, always on their way to the next dance.

"I don't know what we'd do if we didn't dance," said Barbara,

of Bruin

, who dances with her husband three to five nights a week.

Though they are not yet retired, the Horners, both in their 50s, always make time for dancing and the many friends they have made through the pastime.

"Every place we go is like family," said Barbara.

Members of several dance organizations, including the Clarion Boot 'n' Scoots, the Rimersburg Country Steppers and the Butler Two Steppers, the couple estimates they have learned more than 500 line dances and 150 couples dances over the years.

"It's good exercise, good mental exercise," said Herb.

Hoping to get youth more involved in dance, the couple has even given informal lessons to their church's youth group.

"We'd like to see more kids and older people get out and dance," said Herb.

Though the couple is interested in other types of dancing, such as ballroom, they both agree their dance card is full.

"There's just no time to learn," said Herb.

Aside from the skills and sense of accomplishment gained from dancing, Dr. Devashis Mitra, a specialist in rheumatology and osteoporosis in Butler, deems dance a valuable form of exercise.

"It would be an extremely good sport to pick up," said Mitra in reference to patients with limited arthritis.

Mitra advises seniors suffering from arthritis in the lower half of the body to see their doctor before taking up a new activity to avoid putting further stress or pain on joints.

"If there's a lot of stomping involved, maybe it's not (advisable); if there's a lot of gliding and twirling, perhaps you could get away with it," he said.

Mitra also encourages dance as an activity to lift the spirits.

"With pain comes depression," he said, "so the social aspect of meeting people would lessen the depression and the negative mood effects."

Sack's students warm up before each class and are encouraged to take breaks if they are feeling tired.

While she has not heard of many students choosing to dance for health reasons, Sack does recall one student whose cholesterol level dropped after taking the class.

"They feel better when they're doing something," said Sack.