Meet the Yorkettes: Seniors shake it up at Short Sands Beach with flash mob dance

Max Sullivan, Portsmouth Herald
·5 min read

YORK, Maine — Locals can be on the lookout for a flash mob of seniors who recently crashed Short Sands Beach dancing to the music of Dua Lipa and Meghan Trainor.

It started with just five dancers on the crosswalk of Ocean Avenue. By the chorus of Lipa’s “Levitating,” there were 21 dancers over the age of 60 converging in the middle of the road to shake it in unison.

The group had permission to close down traffic that afternoon July 8 and show off their moves to hits like Trainor’s “Better When I’m Dancin’” and Christina Aguilera’s “Show Me How You Burlesque.” They stepped, shimmied and snapped their fingers together, led by longtime Latin dance instructor Rhonda DiCarlo, who runs the Center for Active Living’s Shake It Up class.

Tuesday's Shake it Up class at the York Center for Active Living, where the class of ages over 60 practice their dancing to stay active and build community.
Tuesday's Shake it Up class at the York Center for Active Living, where the class of ages over 60 practice their dancing to stay active and build community.

The seniors, who call themselves the “Yorkettes,” are not done yet with their surprise exhibitions and say to look out for more this year. One is set to happen Aug. 5 at the York Days craft fair, according to DiCarlo. The Shake It Up members say the class has helped them stay active while bonding with a new community focused on fun.

“It’s what I like to do,” said Carol Gammon, 72. “Move to the music.”

Longtime instructor brings Zumba-like class to York

Each week the ladies — and one man, DiCarlo’s husband Mark — get together inside the York Center For Active Living and sweat to the rhythm of various danceable tracks. They work on learning new songs and prepare for their next time out as the flash mob. They also enjoy the music of Pitbull, Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, Daddy Yankee and Santana.

DiCarlo, 69, believes her class is unique for seniors in the area. In Florida, where she lived for five years previously, Zumba was popular, and she taught classes there. A lifelong dancer who grew up in Boston, she said she and her husband grew a community around Zumba where they lived that is still flourishing today.

Rhonda DiCarlo leads her Shake It Up class, which she refers to as "age appropriate Zumba" at the Center for Active Living. The group recently performed a flash mob at Short Sands Beach.
Rhonda DiCarlo leads her Shake It Up class, which she refers to as "age appropriate Zumba" at the Center for Active Living. The group recently performed a flash mob at Short Sands Beach.

"If I don't move it, I lose it," DiCarlo said.

When she arrived in York almost two years ago, she said she wanted to bring Zumba to the area but found it was intimidating for some of the people living in southern Maine. Instead, she chose the name Shake It Up, which she describes as “age-appropriate Zumba” and contacted the York Parks and Recreation Department about hosting a class at the Center for Active Living.

The class grew, and those who joined included people who said they never danced in their life. Jo Ann Anderson, 79, has volunteered at the Center for Active Living since before the COVID-19 pandemic. When she tried the class for the first time, she described herself as a “senior citizen who doesn’t know how to dance.”

“I used to do just regular exercise, which is pretty boring,” she said.

Anderson said she found new life as a dancer in DiCarlo’s class where the instructor encourages everyone to do what they can.

“You’re exercising, but you’re enjoying yourself. It’s such a different atmosphere,” Anderson said. “It’s so much fun.”

DiCarlo said getting new dancers to feel confident in themselves is one of the best experiences she has had in class.

“When you see people start at one level, the next thing they keep moving up, it’s a great feeling,” DiCarlo said. “They kind of glow when they dance.”

Flash mobs take shape at Short Sands Beach

DiCarlo had done flash mobs in Florida as part of her classes, and she thought they might work up here as well. She said she “opened it up to the girls,” who were receptive, and so she contacted Nick Darby, special events coordinator at York Parks and Recreation, about coordinating appearances for their new project.

The first flash mob was at a wellness event at the York Beach baseball field, but it was the second one that grabbed the attention of beachgoers and social media in the heart of Short Sands Beach. Their video posted on the Parks and Recreation Facebook Page had 115 comments and more than 600 reactions.

Rhonda DiCarlo (left) has been working with her dance class Shake It Up to perform flash mobs in town, like at Short Sands Beach earlier this month. Her class of performers call themselves the "Yorkettes" and say the group gives them a sense of community and a way to get active.
Rhonda DiCarlo (left) has been working with her dance class Shake It Up to perform flash mobs in town, like at Short Sands Beach earlier this month. Her class of performers call themselves the "Yorkettes" and say the group gives them a sense of community and a way to get active.

At first, the attention caught some of the dancers by surprise as people stopped what they were doing to see the action.

“(People) getting out of their car taking our video, and I’m like, ‘Oh my god, is this for real?” Gammon said.

Part of what makes the flash mob exciting for the Yorkettes is they get a chance to show people what it means to be a senior citizen today. York has seen an influx of older residents like retirees and empty nesters in the last decade, according to a breakdown of demographics in the town’s comprehensive plan. In York, 23% of the population was between ages 65 and 84 in 2019, according to the plan, a higher ratio of seniors than both the county and the state.

Rhonda DiCarlo (left) and the "Yorkettes," who have been taking her Shake It Up Class at the Center for Active Living and recently began putting on flash mobs dance routines.
Rhonda DiCarlo (left) and the "Yorkettes," who have been taking her Shake It Up Class at the Center for Active Living and recently began putting on flash mobs dance routines.

DiCarlo said seniors in town need opportunities to congregate and stay active at places like the Center for Active Living. She and her classmates say they try to redefine what it means to be older by getting out of their shells and moving to the music.

“I think people’s concepts for senior citizens is way off base,” said Pat Nugent, 78, another member of the Yorkettes. “That flash mob just shows them we are not who you think we are.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: York seniors shake it up at Short Sands Beach with flash mob dance