It’s a Monday morning on the outskirts of Sydney. Thirty ladies have gathered in the hall of Rosemeadow Anglican Church. They are twisting, turning and stretching, getting ready for the day’s routines.

Marie Taylor looks around the room and smiles at the group before her – a group of mature women she feels proud to dance with. This is Girls on the Move, a weekly dance group for older women that provides much more than dance lessons. It’s a space for movement and socialisation in a church environment.

“I pray to God to help me do the right thing by the girls,” says Mrs Taylor, who started and teaches the classes at Rosemeadow. “The class is a mix of everything. A lot of people there may not have done any [dance].

“I’ve got a couple of ladies with MS, and one lady with a walker. Some have come back from having an accident and are just getting their mobility back. I’m really proud of the ladies and how hard they work.”

The classes feature moves drawn from ballet, modern and jazz dance styles. Mrs Taylor focuses on helping the ladies develop balance, strength and breathwork, making sure they have fun while they’re doing it.

“Everyone says, ‘I can’t do my arms and legs at the same time!’ This is where it’s good for them,” she says. “Mentally, they really have to work for it. You’ve always got to be challenging your brain as well as trying to improve on what you’re doing. I’m trying to help people stretch themselves, literally as well!”

Mrs Taylor has always loved dancing. As a child, she begged for someone to take her to learn. Her grandmother took her to her first class, where she met the dance teacher who shaped her life.

“I remember my first dance teacher, a Jewish lady who escaped from Germany,” she says. “I did a dance exam, and she came over and took my cheeks between her hands and just smiled at me. Her English wasn’t very good, but she smiled at me and I have never forgotten that moment.

“That teacher turned out to be Madam Bodenweiser, who went on to be one of the most influential dancers in Australian dance history. She knew that I loved dance, that I’d put everything I could into that dance. She knew. I just never gave up.”

From there, Mrs Taylor joined the Sydney Dance Company, where she trained in modern contemporary. She continued to dance, even through marriage, motherhood, looking after her mother when she fell ill, and losing her husband a few years ago.

“You can’t get rid of that love of dancing, even when you get old. I’ve had two hips replaced, and I’m still going.”

Two years ago, with encouragement from a church friend at Rosemeadow and the parish ministry team, Girls on the Move was born.

“My friend Jen Vigar asked, would you be prepared to teach? From there, Jen looks after all of the admin. She loves dancing, however suffers from vertigo. She’s always there though, and she’s so supportive.”

While the classes are open to people of all faiths, Mrs Taylor is not shy about sharing Jesus or Christianity.

“They’re comfortable at the church, and a few ladies have started coming occasionally [on a Sunday]. The ladies get to know our ministry staff well. We pray during the group at the end of term, and on special occasions.

“We’ve also invited people to come to an afternoon tea and ask questions about Christianity, and there’s another lady here who wants to start Christianity Explained [for the girls who are interested].”

Even the Girls on the Move cards feature a quote from Acts 17:28: “For in him we live, move, and have our being”.

“That’s how I feel the strength of God, because you can’t do it by yourself,” Mrs Taylor says. “We can’t get through by ourselves. I pray to God, ‘Please help me do the right thing by these women, giving them the right movements so they’re safe’. I pray for that mental and social interaction – the mental aspect of them having to challenge their mind to work our routine. It gets the endorphins going, there’s a sense of wellbeing.

“One of our girls turned 80 the other day! It’s a close and caring community, and that’s what I want it to be. I also pray for them spiritually, that they will come to know God. I pray for them all.”