If you ask Barb Kolenda, it’s all about “moving, moving, moving.”
Kolenda, who turns 80 in March, spreads that message as she teaches morning and afternoon dance fitness classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the Evergreen Park Senior Center, 9547 S. Homan Ave.
“There’s something to be said about getting together with others when you work out,” she said, after a recent class. “Staying fit and healthy is not about a hard workout every day, but being consistent with an exercise program and moving, moving, moving in your daily life.”
Before all that moving starts and after each set of dancing exercises, she instructs class members to take their pulse rates so they can compare
resting with workout rates.
For 10 minutes, she leads the room with light stepping — forward, backwards and sideways. Music ranges from popular Broadway musicals to disco and contemporary, but all tunes share an eight-count beat conducive to dancing and movement.
Kolenda steps up the pace with more rigorous dancing, followed by marching moves and clicking time on drumsticks.
The benefits extend beyond physical.
“The good thing about dancing is that it forces you to take your mind off your cares,” she said. “You have to focus on the steps.”
Next comes stretching, tummy tucks and arm strengthening moves with rubber balls and small weights, then a brief meditation.
Though Kolenda leads the class with vigor and confidence, she never pushes anyone beyond their limits.
“Say we’re doing 16 reps, if you can’t do it, don’t worry, just get back into the routine when you’re ready,” she said. “Of course, everybody wants to be in step and participate. That builds endurance and coordination, but the point is not to worry about it, just keep moving as much as you can.”
That approach seemed to work for Evergreen Park resident Rosemary Reed.
“When I started here a year ago, I couldn’t balance, it was like I had two left feet,” she said. “Now, everything comes together.”
Kolenda started teaching fitness classes at Aerobics in Dance in Beverly in 1980, when her daughter was just a young child. Around that time, she attended an IDEA Health & Fitness Association convention in San Diego, where celebrities such as Jane Fonda were promoting aerobics, then a new concept.
“But unlike Jane,” Kolenda said, “‘I never taught, ‘Feel the burn.’ I’ve never taught pushing ‘til it hurts.”
Kolenda later co-owned a fitness business called The Aerobics Station, but eventually stepped away to focus on leading classes.
A nurse who attended Aerobics Station classes encouraged her to become a fitness presenter and instructor for Little Company of Mary Hospital, where Kolenda ended up leading the hospital’s Women’s Wellness Week activities for 15 years.
Exposure to the healthcare setting may have saved Kolenda’s life. While in her 60s, she awoke one night with severe chest pains. Several of her relatives had died early due to heart disease. “I knew I was vulnerable,” she said.
Fortunately, she knew not to ignore the warning signs, just as she tells class members.
“Because I followed my own advice and sought care quickly, doctors said my heart had no damage,” she said. “That wouldn’t have been the case if I had waited.”
Kolenda is trained in CPR, as required by the Evergreen Park Recreation Department, which took her on as a part-timer eight years ago.
While fitness is Kolenda’s main focus, it’s her knack for promoting emotional well-being that keeps people coming back.
She encourages a sense of celebration. Having performed in community theater, she sometimes wears holiday costumes, including a pilgrim for Thanksgiving, and spooky characters for Halloween.
“We have a lot of fun,” she said. “This is a fun group. I’ve watched people standing by their cars, talking together for a half hour after class. Then they go for coffee. Pretty soon, they start doing fun things together outside of class.”
Opal Easter-Smith attends the morning classes. She recently went with fellow classmates to the Elmhurst History Museum to take in the Lost Chicagoland Department Stores exhibit.
“It’s great,” said Opal Easter-Smith. “It gets me out of the house and keeps my body functioning, which is important. I’m a caregiver for my husband.”
Judy Peterson of Palos Heights said, “I go to the afternoon class, where we go out for wine after.”
Karen Noble sometimes joins the wine group. She started taking dance fitness classes from Kolenda more than 30 years ago in a church community room in Beverly.
“It was great because all the moms could bring their children,” Noble said. “The deal was each mom would volunteer to babysit the kids for one class each month or so, while the rest of us got to exercise.”
Just as back then, several class members regard Kolenda and her classes as a support system.
“Many of us are retired now, and there’s the issue of loneliness.,” Noble said. “These are our same people we see all the time.”
Relating to the group “as family,” Kolenda keeps plenty of get-well and sympathy cards on hand for class members to sign when people experience illness or lose a loved one.
“Twice, I’ve received cards,” said Terry O’Hara. “Once was for a leg injury. It was very uplifting. I don’t even know all the people who signed it, but it made me feel so good!”
Anne Findley has taken Kolenda’s fitness classes on and off for the last five years. “My husband had throat cancer and that was brutal,” she said. “While I was taking care of him, Barb took care of my mind and body. The music she plays is the soundtrack to my life.”
While recovering from her grief, Findley took a six-month course in Chicago architectural history to become a Chicago River tour docent. Kolenda and fellow class members helped to prepare her.
Janet Quinn also has drawn support from the group after losing a husband. “My husband would say, ‘Sometimes the hardest thing is to walk out the door.’ For this class, that’s what I am doing.”
Kolenda lives by the maxim, “The less you do, the less you can do.” Which explains why instead of sitting at home on her birthday, she’ll be on a four-day cruise with girlfriends.
Susan DeGrane is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
