SOUTHAMPTON — Myrna West has been bringing music and movement into the lives of her line dancing students for decades. Now in her 35th year of teaching, she has a loyal group of “Dancing Queens” who attend her classes at the Southampton Senior Center, and doesn’t plan to stop anytime soon.

“Give yourselves a hand, you did a nice job,” West cheered as the class wrapped up a dance on Tuesday afternoon. Smiling and chatting, the 10 women applauded one another before jumping into their next dance, gliding across the blue-tiled floor in unison while West called out counts and steps.

West’s lifelong loves of music and dancing guided her to where she is today. Growing up, her parents would take her square dancing. Even when she was too young to join in, she was excited just to sit on the sidelines and watch.

After graduating from Springfield College in 1959 with a degree in teacher education, West moved to Westfield with her husband and began her education career teaching second graders in Granby, Connecticut. Soon, they found themselves back in Southampton, where West taught at the Franklin Avenue Elementary School.

She stopped teaching full time after starting a family, wanting to spend time at home with her children, but continued to do substitute work from time to time.

In 1987, her aunt invited her along to a line dancing class in town, and she decided to give it a try. She fell in love with it instantly, and after a few more sessions, she even began helping newcomers learn the steps. Eventually, the class’s instructor was unable to continue teaching, at which point West’s classmates encouraged her to take his place.

“They all just looked to me,” she said. “At first I thought I couldn’t do it. I didn’t have the music or the cues. But I was able to get them and learn.”

West’s passions for dancing and teaching found the perfect meeting point, and she found herself traveling with her group of dancers, initially called the Snappy Steppers, spending whole days dancing and doing demonstrations.

“Once, we went to Canada for about a week. We had a session in the morning, then had one in the afternoon, and danced again at night,” said Connie Norey, who has danced with West since 1995. At 92, Norey dances with the help of a cane, but still moves across the floor like an expert.

“There are two who come here that are over 90, and one uses a cane,” West said, smiling at Norey. “Anything goes.”

For a few years, West taught classes at the Easthampton Community Center, but these came to an end in 2018 due to a lack of interest. In September of that same year, the Southampton Council on Aging reached out asking her to teach in town again, and she wound up back where it all began in 1987.

Every Tuesday, West’s devoted group of Dancing Queens hits the floor at the Southampton Senior Center to laugh, move, and learn together.

“I just love the dancing, and being with the girls,” said Norey.

Mara Lamb, who has been going to West’s class for about a year, enjoys line dancing because “it’s a great way to exercise without feeling like you’re exercising.”

“I’m new to line dancing, relatively, but I like that I don’t need to remember the steps. I just follow along, move to the music, and it works out,” Lamb said.

For some of the Dancing Queens, West’s classes have offered an opportunity for personal growth and healing.

“Line dancing … it’s been such a healing thing for me,” said Darlene Matyoka, who has attended West’s classes for 12 years. Matyoka, a breast cancer survivor, said she found joy in West’s classes, which allow her to both exercise and relax.

“She was my healer,” she said of West.

Toward the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sue Bielmeier had to undergo a knee replacement. Like so many other events during that time, the Southampton classes were being conducted over Zoom. West extended an invitation, encouraging Bielmeier to follow along at her own pace from the comfort of her home.

“That’s just what she’s like,” Bielmeier said. “She’s lovely, she’s always thinking about how to help people.”

Outside of their regular Tuesday classes, West and her Dancing Queens also help people by traveling to local nursing facilities, teaching basic dances like the Hokey Pokey and the Chicken Dance and encouraging the nursing patients to let loose.

West, who is turning 87 in October, sometimes brings to class a hefty scrapbook full of photos, news clippings, and notes from her classes over the years. But with all of the memories she has to look back on, she’s still focused on making new ones.

“I’m gonna do this just as long as I can,” she said.

Line dancing classes are held at the Southampton Senior Center from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. every Tuesday, with a class fee of $3.