BOUNTIFUL — The only canes the tap dancing and singing grannies of Bountiful use are props.
The group of 17 performers, formally known as the Maxinettes, range in age from 66 to 88 but they hop onto the stage at the Golden Years Senior Center in Bountiful without a second thought.
"Oh I love it," Maxinettes choreographer Rozell Henrie said while watching a recent rehearsal. "The chance to dance when you're 75."
The Maxinettes spend 1 1/2 hours twice a week tapping up a storm at the Golden Years Senior Center.
"It's become a social time for me, and I just love to dance and so just coming and exercising with friends is fun," said Lilian Alder, 83.
The Maxinettes began 14 years ago when Maxine Conk, 74, a retired tap and acrobatics teacher, was asked to teach an aerobics class for seniors at the center.
"I decided there were so many little kids that can't afford to take dance, and so I asked the ladies, 'How would you like to learn how to tap dance?' " Conk said.
Eventually, the exercise class transformed into the tap dancing group. At first the women didn't want to perform because they were too shy, Conk said. But she convinced them to perform at the Island Cove retirement home in Salt Lake City.
"All the little people that were sitting in their wheelchairs were bouncing up and down (because) they loved that old music," Conk said of the group's first performance.
That warm reception gave the grannies confidence, and they have been performing at retirement homes, school reunions, ward parties, civic parties, fairs and parades ever since. In 14 years, they have performed about 260 times.
"Wherever we're asked we're there," said Jessie Steagall, 80.
Some of the women have danced all their lives, while others have only taken a few basic dance classes. Eight of the original members still perform with the group.
The dancers pay $5 a month to the center to tap. They make their own costumes and have several props like umbrellas and canes.
The newest member, Carol Warburton, 71, joined in June.
"I just love to tap dance and I didn't even know there was something like this until I started volunteering at the center," Warburton said.
Edie Keate, 84, suffers from spinal stenosis and said she is always in pain, but she dances with the group because it keeps her going.
"I've tried different things for it, but I love to dance and it's fun to get back to it after 50 years and raising a family," Keate said.
In, 1992, one of the group's original members, Veon Keysor, 76, broke her hip while practicing.
"I saw other people doing a move, and I thought I should try it and I just fell," Keysor said.
After her fall Keysor came back to rehearsals as soon as she could. Conk said nothing can keep the women from tapping.
"They just keep coming and coming and they just won't stop," Conk said. "It has been probably the best thing for them."
Many of the women said tapping is great exercise.
"It keeps you younger; otherwise, your bones are going to go bad," Alder said.
Several year ago, Virginia Erickson, 84, was hit by a car and told that she would never walk again. But she said she was determined to keep dancing.
"I've recovered by coming here and by dancing," Erickson said.
The group also provides a social outlet for the women. Keysor joined after her husband passed away.
"It's a great group of people in here. Most of us are widows so we have a lot in common," Keysor said.
Alder agrees.
"My husband passed away and I thought, 'I'm not going to sit around and do nothing, I'm going to dance,' " Alder said.
The women perform to songs like, "Singing in the Rain" and "Million Dollar Baby." Conk said the audience often sings along with the dancers.
"They do one that the people just love," Conk said. "They do 'Carolina' and when they turn around they pick up their skirts and when they pick up their skirts there's a little girl painted on them."
The dancers have fond memories of performances in Branson, Miss., Pocatello and Malad, Idaho, Bear Lake and across the Wasatch Front.
"I think the funniest thing is when we danced for the blind people, and we didn't know they were blind," Donna Vincent, 76, said.
Henrie said tapping starts with a really great tune.
"Then, I think it's just like any kind of muscle memory, if you do it a lot it just comes easier," Henrie said.
Vincent said the thrill of performing gives the dancers adrenaline and then they are ready to tap.
Alder said the dancers don't ever get winded while performing.
"You don't have time," she said. "You don't get tired because that second wind keeps you going."
E-mail: nclemens@desnews.com