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Physical fitness and finesse crop up on the daily agenda. In one of the last places that women regularly gather without men around, there is much discussion of quads, glutes and pecs. Many of these women know their cholesterol count, optimum training heart rate and body-fat percentage. Says instructor and center co-owner Karen Shaffer, 43, who bears a striking resemblance to Carol Burnett: "We talk about boobs a lot." Jazzercise is also an hour of dancing, something that women seem to like a good deal more than men do. Says writer and editor Phyllis Kluger, 51, a six-year Jazzercise veteran: "I enjoy dancing, and, if I come here, I don't have to think, 'Oh, my husband never takes me out dancing.' "
Family matters and suburban survival techniques get regular attention. They are the cement that holds the classes together. Says Grossman: "There's a sense of shared community here about the fact that there's not enough time, the kids won't do the dishes, and father paces the floor when daughter is out on the first date. You need to hear that everybody else is going through it too."
For some, the sharing has fostered deeper relationships. The class has nurtured regulars through pregnancy, divorce and surgery. Says Kluger: "If someone says, 'Hey, I'm getting married next month,' people start asking 'Have you bought your dress yet?' An emotion can coalesce around that kind of thing." When Mattia announced she was getting married, a couple of the regulars threw a swinging bachelorette party at Chippendale's, the male stripper club over in New York City. Says the newlywed: "We rented a limousine. We partied all the way in and all the way back." They also brought back pictures of the goings-on to show the Pennington class. Mattia and her new friends have remained close; they often meet for dinner.
The class is a kind of grass-roots media review board that any pollster worth his clipboard would give a rating point to get in on. Currently approved by the majority: any movie in which heartthrob Kevin Costner (Field of Dreams) removes his shirt. The video of the film Bull Durham, in which Costner takes off more than that, is one of the area's hottest rentals. Television gets its share of attention. Before summer reruns took over the tube, the women found that Moonlighting was funny again, and the wacky comedy of Tracey Ullman acquired a growing following. The women who watched The New Perry Mason marveled at the good shape of Della Street's legs. Mused Shaffer: "What exercises has Della been doing? "
Sometimes, the class resembles nothing so much as a junior high locker room. Says a regular: "We're free to be adolescent and silly, like we were when we were 14, but without being mean." When Shaffer played Prince's recent hit Kiss, with the lyrics, "I'll be your fantasy and you'll be mine," she blurted out, "Not really. What if Prince was the last man on earth? Would you be celibate, or what?" The breathless women nodded in agreement.