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document.write('<h2>Liturgical Dance Aerobics Scores High With Seniors</h2><p><strong><em>by <a target="_blank" href="http://www.parish');
document.write('webmaster.com/services/authors/bio_npopadich.htm"><font color="#000000">Bobby Jo Clifford</font></a></em><br />St. Peter');
document.write('sburg Senior Gazette</strong></p><p>First there was the old Shaker tune, "I Danced in the Morning." Then there was Mich');
document.write('ael Flattley and "The Lord of the Dance." Oh, and we mustn\'t forget that country hit from a few years ago, "I Hope you D');
document.write('ance." It seems everyone wants to shake their groove thing these days. Well, now one area Catholic Church is incorporati');
document.write('ng dance into Sunday liturgy.</p><h3>From Chicken Dinners to Chicken Dance</h3><p>Folks at Our Lady of the Palms paris');
document.write('h, St. Petersburg, Florida, have seen quite a change in their parish this last year. The parish that was made up of most');
document.write('ly retirees, a.k.a. "snowbirds" as we call \'em, has more then doubled in size. Now they have twice the amount of senior ');
document.write('citizens.</p><p>What caused a parish that could barely support itself by selling Knights of Columbus Chicken dinners to');
document.write(' turn into one of the most well known places in all of Jed Bush\'s state? Did they add another Bingo? No. Did they return');
document.write(' to a Latin mass? No. The secret came from a little town close to the Appalachians.</p><h3>Dancing Queen</h3><p>"I\'ve ');
document.write('always known I was meant to do something special," said Glenn Reen, music director at Our Lady of the Palms. "I just did');
document.write('n\'t figure out what it was until after I turned the big 4-0."</p><p>Reen has revolutionized Palms by creating a liturgi');
document.write('cal dance program. Every week during mass, a dancer helps lead in the procession and helps take up the offertory.</p><p');
document.write('>"We always had liturgical dancers at the parish I came from," Reen explained. "When I came here to Palms, I have to adm');
document.write('it, I was shocked they knew nothing about it. We tried some cold run-throughs, but let me just say the seniors, bless th');
document.write('eir hearts, didn\'t pick it up too well. That\'s when I decided to institute the liturgical dancing classes."</p><p>What ');
document.write('started out as simple one-on-one training with only three people has grown into daily classes of nearly forty participan');
document.write('ts.</p><p>"I\'ve always been a big fan of Richard Simmons," said Reen. "It\'s just amazing how that guy can motivate peop');
document.write('le. So I thought to myself, here\'s my chance! I can teach dance, which is something I\'ve been doing since I was a boy in');
document.write(' the mountains, and I can give these seniors a good workout."</p><p>Reen\'s program, "Sweatin\' with the Spirit" has beco');
document.write('me extremely popular.</p><p>"We teach all the basics of liturgical dance," said Reen. "When to stretch, when to extend ');
document.write('your hand out, and when to do a few quick running steps."</p><h3>Last Dance</h3><p>Reen\'s classes have given many seni');
document.write('ors a renewed sense of importance and a profound new lease on life.</p><p>"I was close to entering myself in a nursing ');
document.write('home," said Ted Braski, a retired automotive worker and recent liturgical dancer. "I was sick of hearing my wife\'s voice');
document.write(' nagging me to get off the couch and fix this or go do that. Then I heard about liturgical dancing. I asked Glenn if it ');
document.write('involved a partner. He said no. I said you\'ve got yourself one liturgical dancer!"<br />Another member of Reen\'s dancing');
document.write(' team, Helen Merrow, also enjoys the soothing nature of liturgical dancing. "I like it because it makes me feel like a b');
document.write('allerina. I feel like a ballerina. When I dance for God, I feel like a ballerina."</p><p>Indeed the movements in liturg');
document.write('ical dancing are often graceful and low impact. It is the perfect non-stressful workout. This probably explains Reen\'s s');
document.write('uccess with stroke victims.</p><p>"You should have seen me when I first tried dancing," said William Stanton, a recent ');
document.write('stroke victim. "I could hardly lift one of my hands above my head. But after training with Glenn, I am much more flexibl');
document.write('e and am able to use both hands just fine. I can even lift that bowl of hot spoke over my head now."</p><h3>Do You Love');
document.write(' Me, Now That I Can Dance?</h3><p>With new classes forming nearly every few weeks, there appears to be no end in sight ');
document.write('for the massive popularity of liturgical dance aerobics. However, Reen doesn\'t want people to get the wrong idea.</p><p');
document.write('>"I want everyone to know that liturgical dancing is for Catholics and Protestants alike," said Reen. "I know some Prote');
document.write('stants don\'t believe in dancing, but I also now some Catholics who think that a mass has to be a boring affair. It\'s tim');
document.write('e to spice things up a little bit."</p><p>And for a bunch of snow bird Catholics, that\'s just what Reen has done.</p><');
document.write('p>If you would like Reen\'s liturgical dancing aerobics to come to your parish, you can purchase a video cassette tape of');
document.write(' "Sweatin\' with the Spirit" 367 Lee St., St. Petersburg Florida, 45629 care of Glenn Reen.</p><hr><p>Copyright 2009 <st');
document.write('rong><em>by <a target="_blank" href="http://www.parishwebmaster.com/services/authors/bio_npopadich.htm"><font color="#00');
document.write('0000">Nick Popadich</font></a></em></strong><A HREF="http://www.ParishWebmaster.com/" STYLE="TEXT-DECORATION: NONE"><fon');
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