Don’t dance? You might want to reconsider. It seems like everyone around us is dancing! Tap, clog, square, ballroom, folk, line, swing, salsa, Cajun, even belly dancing. You can sign up for dance classes, buy the videos and dance at home, and even take dance vacation cruises.

If you don’t want to do it for the fun or socializing, then maybe a little nudge from some health professionals might convince you that it’s simply good for you. Staying active, says the National Institute on Aging, can help you to (1) improve your strength, so you can stay independent; (2) have more energy to do the things you want to do; (3) improve your balance; (4) prevent or delay diseases; and (5) help reduce depression.

Dance is one way to stay active. And, of course, the more you move, the more calories you burn. The Mayo Clinic notes that dancing can burn as many calories as walking, swimming, or biking.

Since you also don’t have to join a gym or buy any equipment, small wonder so many senior dance groups are out there. And they’re not only dancing for their own enjoyment—they’re often kept busy year-round performing for nursing homes, private parties, senior expos, veterans groups, clubs, or community centers.

Like the “B”zz (pronounced Bees). They’re a Minnesota dance troupe composed of retired women whose huge repertoire ranges from country line dancing to the samba and who have been a popular attraction at the annual Seniors Spring Show at Minnesota’s Mystic Lake Casino Hotel. The Happy Hoofers is a Las Vegas troupe composed of female tap dancers aged 60 to 87. You can watch them perform with the Red Hot Flashers, another senior group, by clicking here. The Nevada State Troupers, a senior tap dancing troupe also in Las Vegas, stays busy performing in their community.

The Milwaukee Dancing Grannies is a dance/pompom parade group formed in 1984. Members are required to be grandmothers, and ages range from early 50s to mid-70s. They perform in about 25 parades each year, from Memorial Day to Christmas, and have won many trophies. The Lone Star Steppers of Abilene, Texas, performed line dancing at the city’s annual Senior Jamboree in May.

If you want to take it to the next level, you might compete in something like the Dancing with the Senior Stars competition in Omaha. Or if you’re good enough, you might even get drafted for bigger jobs. Many of the women on the NBA’s New Orleans Hornets’ senior dance squad, called the Used To Bees, were recruited from local groups such as the Dancing Grannies from St. Charles Parish, the Hot Flashes from Slidell, the Ziegfeld Showgirls from New Orleans, and Fever from Metairie.

The Toe Tappers, of Vista, California, started in 1982, and members range in age from 57 to 82. They traveled to Laughlin, Nevada, to perform at the 2008 Winter Break, an annual festival specifically for the 50-plus crowd. The event drew more than 5,000 guests for nonstop activities, including all types of dancing, a sock hop and senior prom, wine tasting, seminars, and a senior talent and variety show. The Toe Tappers performed with women from Arizona, Nevada, and California in the Winter Breakettes Chorus Line, which reportedly made it to the Guinness World Records in 2007 as being the longest chorus line in the world.

Countless more dance groups around the country are made up of only seniors. They’re staying fit, beating their aches and pains, and kicking the quality of their lives up a notch. As Lynda Mattman of the Toe Tappers told the San Diego Union, “We’re just a bunch of old people dancing, but we sure have a good time.”