Older women just want to have fun at Perry's Lake

The clubhouse at Perry’s Lake, a 55-and-older living community located in Manahawkin, includes an updated exercise room, a small kitchen for creating snacks, and an open lounge filled with big, comfy chairs and a couple of bookcases, tables and chairs for playing cards or board games. There is even a small, wooden dance floor meant for busting out some serious groove moves, which is mainly occupied by members of the Razzle Dazzle Dancers.

Photo by Jack Reynolds

Older women just want to have fun: That’s the motto of the Razzle Dazzle Dancers, a local tap dancing group that consists of about 20 women between the ages of 65 and 75. Although a number of the women have been dancing their whole lives, many of them are rookies. 

“I always wanted to tap dance, ever since I was a little girl,” said Jeanne Riccardi, an enthusiastic member. “Before this, I’d never tapped a day in my life. When this opportunity came up, I figured I’d grab it,” she said with a laugh. 

“I love the exercise and being on stage because this is something I always wanted to pursue. It’s a good thing for people my age. It keeps you going,” she added, chuckling some more. 

“Shuffle, tap, shuffle, tap, shuffle, tap, tap, tap… Good!” shouted, dance instructor Gerry Marchitto. 

Marchitto began teaching the tap dancing class, open only to women “of age,” at the Waretown Community Center five years ago. But she said the floor there was too slippery to practice on, and she decided instead to hold rehearsals in the clubhouse at Perry’s Lake. Since then, the group has lost a few of its members, but most of the women have stayed with it.

“I’ve had such a great response with the class,” said Marchitto. “It gives girls my age something to do. They like it so much.”

Marchitto began professionally dancing in the 1940s at St. Pius X recreation center in Newark when she was just 6 years old. She started teaching tap, ballet and jazz classes at the center on weekends in high school. When she moved to Forked River in the ’80s, she decided to open her own dance studio, called Gerry’s Dance Center, where she mainly taught classes to young children. Now the age group has matured, but the fun remains intact. 

“I also teach line dancing and dancercise classes in Forked River, Waretown and Manahawkin, but I love this more,” she said, motioning to the class at Perry’s Lake. “Tap (dance) is my first love. I like the challenge a lot. When you get to be my age, it’s hard to focus and remember things. Many of the women here have never tap danced before, but they work their butts off,” she declared.

Razzle Dazzle Dancers is split into two different assemblages, based on dance expertise. The groups practice separately, once a week, at different times during the day. But they all consider themselves one, tight-knit troupe. 

Photo by Jack Reynolds

“We all get along really well, and we have a lot of fun,” said Isabelle Bombolevicz, one of the more elite dancers in the class, who has been dancing on and off since she was 5 years old. “A lot of the women who live at Perry’s Lake meet to practice their routines outside of the class, and they always invite the women who don’t live in the park. They’re very welcoming. 

“There’s no real drama here. Our biggest concerns are the physical disabilities and health issues that arise. We’re older, so that sort of thing happens. We sit, we’re bent over, we can’t get up. When we dance, we’re all fine,” she added, as if springing to life.

The women are also especially fond of the mental exercise that comes with tap dancing. Each group rehearses two different routines and one combined dance number, performed by all of the women together. Every routine consists of about eight different steps and at least 20 different combinations. 

“It’s good for your mind because you have to remember what step goes after what,” explained Carmela Banfield, a novice tap dancer who has been dancing with the group for the past three years. “It’s great physically and mentally, and it’s a lot of fun.

“We get to perform in shows, too, and those are exciting. We get costumes, and we put on makeup. It makes us feel young!” she exclaimed.

The Razzle Dazzle Dancers begin practicing in April for their big performances in December – one at the tree lighting at Fawn Lakes, an adult community located in Manahawkin, and one during the Christmas show at Perry’s Lake. To keep the cost down, costumes are ordered for the group’s combined routine, and black shirts and props suffice for the dancers’ other numbers. 

When the New Year rings in, life starts over again. Tap dancing gets put on the back burner, and many of the women begin to see each other less often. But when spring rolls around again, you can be sure they will be strapping on their tap dancing shoes and gearing up for another six months of great fun and taxing workouts.

Tap dance classes with Marchitto and the rest of the Razzle Dazzle Dancers cost $4.50 per class. For more information, call 609-607-1206.


This article was published in The SandPaper.