Five people, all in their 60s and 70s, stood in the middle of a room, swinging their arms and rolling their shoulders as Oriental music played on an iPod.
They were here on a Monday afternoon to improve their balance and learn more ways to prevent falls, among the leading health concerns for senior citizens.
For 45 minutes, they practice a series of movements known as tai chi at Balance Studio in Mason Plaza.
Watching group members perform an exercise designed to increase mobility in their hips, Whitnye Lolley said, "The Chinese say joints are the pearls of the body, and we condition the joints by moving."
Balance Studio is owned and operated by Jon Lolley and his wife, Whitnye. The Lolleys, both long-time fitness professionals in Louisiana, needed a home after Hurricane Katrina.
Their choices were Huntsville, where one of Whitnye's cousins lived, or Tampa, where her uncle lived. They chose Huntsville, in part, because neither of them wanted to evacuate again after a hurricane.
Here, the Lolleys found work in corporate fitness, mostly at NASA, Teledyne-Brown and other companies in Cummings Research Park. When Zaheer Khan opened the Center for Aging last year, he contacted the Lolleys about teaching fall prevention and balance.
The Center for Aging opened last July 4; the Balance Studio opened about two months later.
The Lolleys cite a list of statistics about falling - the No.1 cause of injuries leading to death and immobility for seniors, about $20 billion in annual health-care costs, among them.
"With a little education, you can prevent this," Jon Lolley said. "That's why we're here. In a few weeks, they're walking taller and feeling more confident. They're able to resume traveling with children and resume gardening.
"We're telling them, 'You don't have to fall and stay there.'"
An example is Grace Schultz, 73. She had three recent falls - one at an airport in Munich, another when she stepped in a hole and fell into a ditch, another when she fell and was pulled across her yard while trying to walk her German shepherd.
After the third fall, her husband told her she needed to do something. She went to the Balance Studio.
"See? I can stand on one foot," she said, demonstrating her balance.
She said before coming to the center she could not stand on one foot, kick her leg out and keep her balance or lift her knee and keep her balance.
"When we started, I would have been on the floor if I had to stand on one foot," she said. "I'm not anxious (now) about tipping over.
"It's something that works, but it doesn't work overnight."