Written by Susan Schwartz, Montreal Gazette, August 14, 2026
It’s exercise in disguise, and “when we get tapping, you hear one sound: That’s how together we are.”
Their tap shoes clacked in a percussive rhythm as participants stepped, brushed and stamped their way through a tap dance class at the Cummings Centre, a community organization serving older Montrealers. Ranging in age from their 60s through to 90, most had been dancing together for two years and obviously knew what they were doing. And it was abundantly clear that they were having really a lot of fun.
Over the accompanying music — numbers included the timeless 1954 jazz standard Fly Me to the Moon and the classic 1954 doo-wop song widely known as Life Could Be a Dream — instructor Sarah Johnston smiled as she guided them through the moves and routines she had taught them and provided feedback during this final class of the summer session.
A musical theatre artist involved in dance, singing and acting, Johnston, 28, has been teaching for a decade and has students of all ages. Her older students “are so dedicated and so wanting to be there,” she said. Some are rekindling a love for dance they had earlier in life, and “they bring such commitment and passion to it.”