By Linda Wiggins

Betty Tarifa has a beautifully framed mantra decorated with pictures of herself in various dance costumes. It reads, “I get up. I walk. I fall down. Meanwhile, I keep dancing.”

It’s a way of life she teaches her grandchildren. They love to pile in on her at her Rockledge home, pore through her costumes and jewelry, and play dancing dress-up.

“It’s one of our favorite things to do together. There is always music and lots and lots of dancing,” said Tarifa, a resident of Americana Resorts Co-op. She’s the hit of the annual talent show held there each year.

Tarifa also takes her show on the road. Boom-box and costume kit in tow, the petite blonde travels to nursing homes, assisted-living facilities and senior centers entertaining shut-ins with music and dance, no charge.

Her favorite performance was one she gave at the request of her grandson.

“I wasn’t sure if he was teasing me, but I went ahead and showed up at his school and put on a show for him and his friends,” Tarifa said. “One boy told me I had nice legs. My grandson just smirked and egged them on. I think I showed him.”

Tarifa didn’t always dance her way through life.

Her mother surprised her as a child with dance lessons, and she danced competitively until she married and had children, then returned to work until near retirement. A terrible setback, when one of her daughters was lost at sea, plunged her into a four-year depression. She didn’t want to go on living, and then a friend grabbed her by the shoulders and slapped her across the face.

“It woke me up. I decided nothing was going to stand in the way of me living my dreams,” Tarifa said. At 65, she danced her way out of depression and has not stopped in the 16 years since.

“I love my life. I come and go as I please. Men chase me but I don’t stop because I don’t want anyone telling me what to do,” Tarifa said. “I’m going to dance till my last day, and then I’m going to dance on into heaven.”