Hi, my name is Jan Hepi and after holidaying in beautiful Whangamata for over fifty years, we made the decision to move down here from Auckland to live permanently. We, my husband Chris and myself have two children, nine grandchildren and five greats. 

 I first discovered line dancing probably about thirty or forty years ago coming down here and rushing over to the club on a Friday night to sit and watch the Whangamata linedancing group with visitors from Tairua and Pauanui participating. When I was made redundant in my sixties, I thought “ oh no what am I going to do with myself” to fill in my days. So besides walking the streets I looked up line dancing classes and decided it was time to learn what I’d been watching for years. I have now been dancing for nearly fourteen years. You get hooked and if you miss any classes there’s a slight panic about ‘ getting behind’. Go on holiday and come back and your feet just do the steps before your brain has  caught up to what the dance is. It’s funny. After all these years I have no aspirations to be an ‘ advanced’ dancer. I just love where I am and have been for years. How I feel led me to want to try Salty Steppers when I saw Donna’s ad. 

 I enjoy her classes. She is full of life and energy and we have some great laughs in class. An hours workout, totally different to previous instructors. I have made some wonderful friends. Line dancers are special. One dance that I learnt way back is “ Got no reason “ and have loved it since. Not to be confused with a current song!! It starts off with a heel hook heel flick. I love the older country dances. I am always trying to to get other friends to come along to a class and have a go. I try to encourage newbies and point out to them that it could be ad long as a couple of months then all of a sudden everything just clicks and becomes easier.