nyone poking their heads into the Bermuda College cafeteria on a Monday or a Thursday around 11 a.m. might be bemused at the sight: in the midst of the college students, a table full of laughing, coffee-drinking elderly ladies.

And had they peered into the college gym just an hour earlier they might have been even more confused to see those same ladies giggling as they did leg lifts and tangoed around the room.

The ladies are part of the Seniors Learning Centre Keep Fit for "Life" class, a gentle aerobics class designed especially for seniors - music and all. "It's not quick," said instructor Marjorie Duxbury, who took the class over recently after former instructor Vicki Jensen passed on. "It's slow, in keeping with the age group. The marching is quick - that's about it." was fortunate enough to attend a Thursday session of the classes to see what all the fuss was about.

Beginning slightly chaotically, the 20 ladies gossiped and chatted as they marched around the room in their bare feet or slippers, turning their toes inside and out for a warm-up. Then, after more confusion as they found their places in the room, they began a series of exercises: arm-swinging, marching, lunges, twists, squats and side bends.

The music ranged from a slow and sultry jazz to crashing classical, and all the ladies moved at their own pace, some counting along with their instructor as they attempted to keep time, some making up their own time (and moves). Latecomers were greeted with jovial smiles and waves.

The ladies even did some floor exercises, with those who found the floor too uncomfortable perching on chairs instead. They worked their abdominals, did leg lifts, and stretched themselves out: "Carefully," Marjorie reminded them.

Then, suddenly: "Pause for a joke! Pause for a joke!" someone shouted.

The ladies immediately stopped what they were doing and gathered around their classmate Brenda Rowse.

"A man is trying to buy his wife a bra from Macy's," she read from a slip of paper.

"`What type of bra?' the saleslady asks him, as the man looks around at the hundreds of different bras in the store. Seeing his confusion, the saleslady decides to help him out. `Despite what you see,' she says, `there are really only three types of bras: Catholic, Salvation Army and Baptist.'

`What's the difference?' the man asks.

`Well,' she replies, `the Catholic type holds the masses. The Salvation Army lifts the fallen. And the Baptist makes mountains out of molehills.'"

The joke was greeted by shouts of laughter from the ladies. "That's cute," remarked one, as they returned to their places in time to do some ball exercises to the song "Singin' in the Rain".

The ladies even exercised their eyes by looking up, down, blinking, screwing up their faces, and then letting out screams at the end and collapsing into giggles. They moved on to chair exercises, swinging one leg as they balanced on the other holding on to their chairs, all moving at their own pace to the music. Only one of the ladies was in her 60s, while four were in their 80s - "Closer to 90," remarked one.

Finally, the ladies put their chairs away and rolled up their mats in preparation for the grand finale to Keep Fit for Life: the dances.

Officially, the dance was a tango. With some ladies turning one way, some turning another, and even more giggling, there was nevertheless a touch of elegance in the pointed feet and the wave of the hands. As the dance ended the ladies gave themselves a round of applause.

They gathered around after the class before their coffee session in the cafeteria to talk with . "It's all good," they asserted when asked what their favourite parts of the class were. "The camaraderie, the friendship, the music - it's our music, it's fun. We could do it at home, but we don't. It keeps us young," they said. "You don't have to feel old if you're a senior."

And though former instructor Vicki Jensen was remembered fondly by the ladies, they added: "We're very proud of our leader Marjorie".

Keep Fit for "Life" is just one of the 32 classes offered to seniors by the Seniors Learning Centre. "There are other seniors' organisations - but I don't know of any others that do what we do," said Wally Pitman, who is both treasurer for the Seniors Learning Centre and conducts one of the computer classes. "It's basically learning."

While most seniors' organisations in Bermuda focus solely on socialising, with luncheons and occasional trips, the Seniors Learning Centre classes are designed to keep seniors' minds and bodies active. They include everything from papier m?ch? to Spanish, line dancing to computers, yoga to water colours, and even mini-golf.

The most popular class, said Mr. Pitman, is the World and Current Affairs class. Formerly run by Sir John Plowman, the class is now administered by Kit Astwood, and draws close to 70 people to discuss recent happenings both in Bermuda and world-wide.

Another popular class is the Bermuda Forum, which starts at 12 noon and includes a sandwich lunch. "The seniors like the lunch," said Mr. Pitman. "We get a speaker to come in. There's generally around 65 people in it."

The biggest problem the Centre faces is finding enough teachers for the classes, said Mr. Pitman. "But so far we've been good," he added. The Centre will be celebrating its 13th anniversary this month. "We started with 28 members and now we're at 750," said Mr. Pitman. "It's built up very well."

"When I retired ten years ago, I didn't want to just sit around and watch TV," he explained. "I wanted something to keep my mind active.

"I joined the Learning Centre and very quickly got interested in what I'm doing. It's kept my mind active. For the people here, it's a social thing, and they are learning something. You'd be surprised at the number of people who want to take the computer courses, for instance - they want to learn how to use the Internet so they can keep in touch with their grandchildren. I've had people as old as 85 in the computer classes. "It's a combination of things designed to keep the elderly moving and interested. It's social and active - very useful for everybody. Nothing is worse than retiring from a job you've done for eight hours a day and coming home and you can't think of what you want to do."

The Seniors Learning Centre can be contacted by telephone at 239-4029, by email at slcbercol.bm, or at PO Box PG 297, Paget, PGBX.