Seniors taking balance class think presidential candidates should join them

Janie Williams took her place in the front row at the weekly Balance Challenge class at her local senior center.

Nearly an hour later, after twisting and turning along with two dozen other workout warriors, Williams sidled over to me and explained what she was smiling about.

“I want to tell you that I’m 94 years old, and we can still do that,” she said, justifiably proud that she and her classmates — including an 83-year-old woman with a Parkinson’s-related disorder — had nimbly limbered every joint and muscle in their bodies.

It was impressive, as was the adrenaline-pumping soundtrack, which included “Mambo Italiano” and “Love Potion No. 9.”

But my question was this:

Could President Joe Biden, 81, and former President Donald Trump, 78, have done what this group had just done?

“Well, I know my candidate absolutely needs to be in here,” Judith Kendall said.

She was talking about Biden, whose step has stiffened a bit. And where better to go for advice on how to negotiate advancing age than a senior center?

I doubt Biden or Trump are doing much cooking, but if they happen to get hungry in the middle of the night, they could learn a thing or two from balance class instructor Teri Lemoine. She would be headed to Paris if fall-prevention moves were an Olympic event. At one point, in blue tights and sneakers, she led her class through a sort of kitchen foxtrot.

“I go to the sink. I go to the stove,” Lemoine said, teaching her charges how to properly step, turn and shift weight to avoid ending up dialing 911 while sprawled on the floor. There was lots of instruction on safely rising out of a chair and sitting back down, swinging the arms and using tucks and bends to leverage weight.

“I was falling down before I started this class,” said Laura Clines, who recently traveled to London and France and put much of what she’s learned to good use. “I was pulling my little suitcase, climbing up and getting on trains ... and it was fabulous.”

And no tumbles.

Carolynn Middleton said Biden “needs to be doing something like what we are doing.”

“Some of us,” she went on, “we know we’re getting old. But until we get smacked upside the head, we don’t realize the vulnerability of what that is. Now, I took a fall a month ago. My son said, ‘This is the third fall you’ve taken in two years.’ After that last fall ... I got up off the floor and said, ‘I’m not gonna lay here for four hours.’ ”

Middleton didn’t just get up off the floor. She started going to balance class, and “I feel myself getting more agile.”

Sally Schlosstein told me that physical and mental health are connected, so it wouldn’t hurt an aging politician to get in a good workout now and again.

“We’re all dealing with our minds and our bodies,” said Schlosstein. “You can’t manage one without the other.”

Phyllis Juster moved slowly in class but kept working.

“I can’t keep up with everything, but I do the best I can and I’m very mindful of not falling down,” said Juster, who told me she first knew something was wrong when she had trouble getting her key into a door lock. She took numerous falls, too, and was diagnosed with Parkinsonism, a brain condition that can cause slow movement, stiffness and tremors.

She said she voted for Trump before and probably will again, though she’s not thrilled with him, and said he seems to be suffering what she called “mania” and “narcissism.”

As soon as balance class ended, Juster walked down the hall and ducked into an improv class. I peeked in and watched as two dozen students created a story from scratch, beginning with a line about someone coming upon a box of fireworks. Each student had to come up with a line to keep the story moving, followed by a next, and a next, ad-libbing on the spot.

Note to the candidates: If you’re in the neighborhood, it wouldn’t hurt to come talk to Juster and some of the others. But be aware that they’re inclined, as older people often are, to offer blunt, unfiltered critiques.

Take Shiela Dean, 86, who wasn’t in the balance class but moderates a Saturday current events session with nearly 30 regular attendees. The topic of presidential politics, as you might have suspected, has been popping up lately.

“All of the group loves Biden,” Dean said. “But almost 90% feel that he isn’t capable of continuing another four years.”

And what do people say about the other guy?

“Not very complimentary things,” said Dean. “They think he’s mentally, ummm, off.”

That’s as good a diagnosis as any.

Dean said she couldn’t recall a sadder presidential election, and she wishes the next generation would rise up and take the reins.

Back in balance class, Kendall seconded the motion.

If Biden drops out, or wins reelection but then steps down, “I trust Kamala,” Kendall said of Vice President Harris. “We just cannot vote for a felon.”

Steve Lopez is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times.