Despite the freezing wind and rain on a recent morning, Alice Norris’ dedicated group of line dancers made the trip and gathered at the YMCA to learn the latest line dances.

“I never thought I’d be doing this at my age,” Norris said, who will turn 80 in July. “I wish I had started earlier in life.”

Norris is not only dancing to the beat with the seniors on the floor, she is leading the pack.

While most of the dancers would know the 1929 Thomas “Fats” Waller song “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” today they were stepping to a 2015 Pentatonix rendition.

Line dancing involves dancers without partners arranged in rows several paces apart. Steps are choreographed to any type of music.

Most of the dances are popular, but Norris added a touch of herself with “Damn You’re Beautiful” by rappers Frankie J. and Pitbull.

“This is the only dance I choreographed myself,” Norris said to the group.

She quickly lists the steps, hits play on the song and begins leading the dance.

“You don’t need a partner, it’s low impact, good exercise,” she said.

Low-impact exercise is especially good for seniors looking to stay active. Norris credits it with improving her health, energy and focus.

She has been teaching line dancing at the YMCA for nearly five years. Before that she taught at a senior center.

“I saw it years ago at my son’s wedding, and I said ‘What is that? I like that’,” Norris said.

Soon after, she overheard some women talking about a line dancing class they were taking.

Fifteen years later, Norris is teaching two YMCA classes on Tuesday, one in Butler at 11 a.m. and the other in Cranberry Township at 1 p.m.

She is involved in The Butler Two-Steppers and she occasionally goes to workshops. The last one was in Ohio.

The YMCA hired Norris in 2012, and she encourages everyone to join.

“I consider it a privilege to be part of such a great organization,” she said.

For Norris and many of her class participants, the social aspect is one of the major draws to line dancing.

“The staff and class members are such a wonderful and supportive group,” she said.

When people come to the class, she explained, “you have no idea who they are or what their past is.”

In Norris’s five years of teaching at the YMCA, she has gotten to know many of the people from all walks of life. They come to learn from her, and she ends up sharing in their celebrations and sorrows.

She said line dancing also provides a mental and emotional benefit.

“It is a great stress reliever,” Norris said, “because you can’t think about anything else but the steps.”

A lot of attendees are regulars, used to the cadence of the dances and can execute the moves.

“It’s like anything else, it takes practice,” she said.

In her time teaching, Norris says she’s seen the culture of line dancing shift.

“It used to be country western. It’s mostly pop, current music now,” she said. “We do everything from Blake Shelton to Pitbull.”

Students can come expecting a great variety of songs from country to disco to pop, even the occasional a cappella ensemble.

While line dancing may not be as popular in the United States, it’s international appeal is staggering, Norris said.

“It’s very popular in England and France. Asia big time!” she said. “Sweden! South Korea!”

Norris frequently checks YouTube to keep tabs on some of latest dances and tutorials. The choreography cuts across the language barriers. Most of these are made by dancers in other parts of the world, she said.

Before she began teaching line dancing classes, Norris had been an elementary school teacher and real estate agent, and all the while a wife and mother.

To teach her class at the YMCA, Norris had to become a certified group exercise instructor.

She encourages anyone at any age who may be interested to attend.

“We’re here to have fun. We’re up and moving, not using the remote,” Norris said.

“All you need is a sense of humor and a right and left foot.”