The lady AT THE BACK

Julie could see the young teacher frowning at her, but she really was doing her best to maintain her balance. It wasn’t so easy when you reached your late 50s to do a hop, shuffle, ball change and stay upright.

Julie was beginning to feel her choice of exercise class – Adult Tap – may have been a mistake. She had thought it would be OK. After all, she had been quite good at ballet and tap when she was a youngster. But that was many years ago. Now she felt ungainly and ill at ease in her old leggings and loose top.

The teacher, Sian, had been friendly when Julie had rung to enquire about the class. She had emphasised that a lot of her students were ‘mature ladies’, and had assured Julie she would have no difficulty coping with the dance routines if she had some previous experience.

‘Just come in comfy loose clothing,’ she had said. ‘You can borrow some shoes for the first session. I always