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At almost 70-years-old, Marie Louw continues to give the same level of enthusiasm during each of her weekly exercise and line dancing classes at the NG Gemeente Kerk and Bowling Club in Jeffreys Bay, where women of all ages wait eagerly for her arrival.
Louw, who celebrates her 70th birthday in February next year, initially began exercising at the age of 32 and has not stopped since.
She worked at Brandwag High School as the school’s secretary, while living in Kariega, but knew she wanted to retire in the beautiful town of Jeffreys Bay.
Louw then transferred to Stulting Primary School in 2004, where she worked as the school’s secretary until her retirement in 2009.
While working at Stulting Primary, for the first three years in Jeffreys Bay, Louw said that she did not exercise as frequently as previously.
Once settled in her new town, she received requests to provide aerobics instructions and since she is a qualified aerobics instructor, this was her motivation to get back to regular exercising.
Retired at 55, she finally had more time on her hands to do what she enjoyed most, and this inspired her to start offering exercise and line dancing lessons to women in the community.
To her surprise, women of all ages have joined both her Gym Divas and Happy Feet Line Dancing classes, with the oldest in the group being 85.
To ensure that she had the necessary qualifications to offer line dance lessons, Louw qualified as a United Kingdom Dance Council (UKDC) National Dance Teacher through the UKDC in association with the Classic Western Dance South Africa (CWDSA) in 2014.
According to Louw, many elderly members are widows, and her classes do not focus on attendees having a slender body; instead they put a lot of emphasis on mental health.
She said that her line dancing classes encourage the women to count and remember specific sequences, which can help with Alzheimer’s.
“While the women are at my classes I encourage them to not think about anything else, but instead focus on either exercising or line dancing, depending on which class they are doing for the day,” said Louw.
She said that during their exercise classes they do a lot of stretching, which helps the elderly strengthen their ankles.
Louw further said that the stretching helps to improve the women’s reaction time, so that they can prevent any accidental falls which could badly injure them.
Both the exercise classes and line dancing are offered at the NG Gemeente Kerk on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.
Due to her age, Louw said that on some days she does not always feel like getting out of bed and attending her multiple classes.
However, she said that when she arrives at her class in the morning to see her members waiting patiently with a smile on their faces, she feels energised to do the class.
Louw said that to be a great instructor it is important for her to be present in class and remain enthusiastic to encourage her members.
Thankfully, she has one instructor helping her during her gym classes, and two qualified instructors helping with line dance classes.
“When I see all the women so excited to attend my class, I know that I am in the right place,” said Louw.
To continue to give back to the community, she said that the members of both the Gym Divas and Happy Feet Line Dancing raise funds, which they then hand over throughout the year to various charities.
Louw said that each year they donate to the Ladies’ Lighthouse, a Jeffreys Bay-based non-profit organisation which assists single mothers in need.
In addition, they alternate between various other charities each year, such as the Cancer Association of South Africa and SPCA Assisi in Humansdorp.
“Last year we handed over 96 presents to the children at the Ladies’ Lighthouse, but this year we want to focus on the essentials like food and disposable diapers. We will therefore be donating R7 000 to the organisation,” said Louw.
On November 30 she said that they plan to hand over the funds to the Ladies’ Lighthouse.
Louw said that she also plans to host a Christmas party for her exercise group and line dancers, where all members will receive a present.
Thankfully, her hard work as an exercise and line dance instructor has not gone unnoticed.
In August this year Louw won the Kouga Power(ful) Woman competition in the sports category.
She said that one of her highlights in life was when she was chosen to represent South Africa in the World Gymnaestrada in Berlin in 1995, which she believed would always remain at the top of her list.
However, Louw said that winning the Kouga Power(ful) Woman competition is now a close second on her list of highlights.
“I thought that participating in the World Gymnaestrada would be my biggest achievement, but now I can add the Kouga Power(ful) Woman competition to my list,” said Louw.
She further said that she has worked hard for many years, and to receive the Kouga Power(ful) Woman award was a great achievement.
Looking towards the future, Louw said that she hopes her daughter, Adele Kent (50), who currently resides in Pretoria, will consider retiring in Jeffreys Bay as well and take over her line dancing and gym classes in a few years’ time.
“My daughter is a lot like me; she loves exercising and dancing. I know that she would love to take over my classes and bring the same enthusiasm that I bring to all my classes,” said Louw.
