At Arbor Terrace Basking Ridge, great senior living is about community, connection, and the people who bring it to life. In the latest episode of The Golden Gang Podcast, host Brinley sits down with Lily Mae, a newer member of our engagement team who is already transforming the way our residents move, laugh, and connect.
Dance has been part of Lily Mae's life since age three—a legacy passed down from a grandmother who danced with the Toledo Ballet and a grandfather who was a tap dancer and choreographer. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and Choreography from Towson University, spent two years as a semi-professional cheerleader with the Baltimore Blast, and built a career as a certified Pilates instructor and personal trainer.
Throughout that journey, she kept gravitating toward the same clients: people in their 70s, 80s, and beyond. Helping older adults move through daily life with more ease—what she calls "functional movement"—became her calling. When she found a posting for an engagement coordinator at Arbor Terrace Basking Ridge, she thought it sounded like the most fun job she'd ever heard of.
Since joining our team, Lily Mae has revamped our fitness programming and co-created Golden Groovers, a seated dance fitness class open to all levels and abilities. She choreographs five to seven songs per class, leads every session herself, and regularly draws 10 or more residents. By the end of the 40-minute class, pretty much everyone is dancing.
"I think dance is beneficial for so many reasons," she says. "It's good for your soul—and sometimes people hear 'fitness' and get scared. But dancing? It's fun. And by the end, you've still broken a great sweat."
Tune in to the latest episode of The Golden Gang Podcast to hear Lily Mae's full story.