Think of the most extraordinary human being you’ve ever encountered — brilliant conversationalist, wise beyond measure, magnetic personality, vibrant and driven, overflowing with love, possessing an infectious smile, and on and on. One of these qualities, or perhaps all, could be what defines that person as extraordinary in your book. But Ms. Shellie Fraddin is the closing chapter of extra-ordinary.

Fraddin, an 84-year-old senior citizen, is the oldest Zumba instructor, not only in Ellenville, but in this whole Hudson Valley region. She moved here three years ago from the state of Florida and contacted the local Ellenville library to offer a wellness class, which she has been teaching to clients of various countries. However, due to the pandemic disaster during 2020/2021, Fraddin was asked to teach Zumba via Zoom. Never having done this type of physical movement by this method, she faced a big challenge (with lighting, creating playlists, camera angles, etc.), but she accepted, worked through the obstacles, and braved the unfamiliar. Needless to say, the class became a success and continued virtually until May of this year, when the transition to in-person happened at last.

“Thank God!” This was Fraddin’s initial reaction to the news from the library, feeling both relieved and excited to finally be able to interact with others on a more personal level. The experience of watching her electric energy as she led a diverse class of students in movements to Latin beats and rhythms is truly something to behold. This in-person class started with only two participants. The following week, 10 people showed up. After that, it grew to nearly 20, Fraddin shared. What was supposed to be “sitting Zumba” (movement while seated), has now turned into an effervescent group of seniors on their feet, moving in step to various genres of music from many cultures. The weekly classes, though thinly laced with young adults, primarily cater to the aging population, but all are welcomed.

“This is not just a dance class. I’m a health coach. This is a body, mind, and spirit class because while you exercise your joints, your mind is working following directions and listening to the music… your spirit is tuned in,” Fraddin expressed. The question remains, “what’s so extra-ordinary about this dancing 84-year-old, Shellie Fraddin?” Dancing, being the operative word here and I’ll tell you why. Let’s step back a little to the beat of her past.

A Tough Diagnosis

Fraddin’s childhood of frail health mapped out a grim future at a very early age. She was in and out of doctors’ offices and hospitals for most of her young life due to certain physical maladies, including asthma, weak lungs, deafness in one ear from respiratory trauma, and being born with clubfeet. Not only did Fraddin fight back when doctors wrote her off from ever becoming a healthy, fully functioning adult, but she chose to win! It was more than just a fight. Even when her mother believed she would never be able to walk, Fraddin made a willing determination to not live a reclused life of helplessness and fear, but to venture beyond medical reports and predictions to find the life of hope and wonder worth living.

That young, frail, clubfooted girl appeared on Dick Clark’s bandstand at age 16 and she danced! That same girl evolved to a young woman in her 20s and she danced — from one hotel event to the next, in spiked heels, “the highest stilettos I could find,” she said, with a rich smile. That young woman eventually found love, got married, and had children of her own. It was a home filled with music and dancing. The piano, drums, guitars and other instruments were an important component to the family. A family that is now spread out from New York all the way to Israel.

Fighting the Odds

Today, the young-at-heart Fraddin still dances to every kind of fascinating sound of music her ears can capture, her hips can sway to, and her feet can bring to life. She is a self-motivator, driven to be better, do better, know more, ever-learning, improving, and working on self-development. Yet her greatest joy is to share that same joy with others — to spread her love around and watch it ignite in the hearts of the people she comes to know — to see the changes in a group of aging Zumba students that is tantamount to a “darkness to light” or a “despair to hope transformation.” Her spark, her grit, and her will encourages others.

“You can’t depend on doctors to figure it all out for you. You have to solve your problems. You have to look beyond and find your own cures,” she urged. “Keep looking for something that can improve your life. Don’t be satisfied with mediocrity. I made this commitment to myself a long time ago…you don’t have to quit. Never quit!” she emphasized.

Fraddin, in the sixth decade of her life, went back to school to fulfill her dream of always wanting to be the one in the family with a PhD. She was the oldest student in that class, and the oldest instructor in her Zumba certification class. But she lives what she preaches. She didn’t give up and said she never will.

Community Connection

Fraddin’s students described her as stunning, remarkable, incredible, and amazing. Some consider her to be a great inspiration. Pat Kislowski, a 78-year-old Zumba student, said that she looks forward to this every week. “There’s so much isolation here,” she remarked, referring to Ellenville. Kislowski, who has been attending for about three months, divulged that she was diagnosed with lung cancer, but has been doing amazingly well. “I like the class. I like her energy. It’s like meditation in motion because you have to follow her movements and all of a sudden you forget about everything else…”

Fran Spence, another senior who is two and a half months into the class, sang praises about the experience. “At first, I thought I had missed the class… thought it was a one-time thing… but now I keep coming. It’s remarkable. She’s remarkable. She’s just a stunning, wonderful lady. She shares with everyone.”

Lalenia Cognarel, a newcomer whose mother and daughter had already been attending, came because of how highly they spoke of the class. Cognarel said she enjoyed her first class and planned to return.

Fraddin considers the group a community. “I would ask them when they first come in, on a scale of one to 10, how do you feel?” The answers, she told me, would be two or three at most. Then at the end of the class when she asked again, the numbers would soar to 10. Fraddin said she has watched them come in as individuals and bonded like family. They interact with each other, and help and encourage one another.

Lessons in Longevity

As Zumba instructor/health coach, if she can leave anything with others, it’s this. “Feed yourself daily, physical activity, good healthy foods.” Then she posed a very seemingly trivial question, “Are you laughing?” Not trivial at all. It takes us back to the adage of laughter being the best medicine.

Fraddin ends with this crucial statement. “Keep moving!” She affirmed movement as being the most important thing in sustaining good health. “Keep changing, keep searching, never stop being curious, like a child.”

Fraddin said that her childhood circumstances could have kept her small and locked in a house, “but I didn’t want that. I didn’t want to be run by my circumstances. I wanted to be bigger than that...” She continues to take courses that empower her and add to her continual growth and development, searching for new prospects and expecting amazing outcomes.

For more information on Fraddin’s classes, please contact the Ellenville Public Library.