The short skirts. The sparkly pompoms. The sassy hip sways. The grandchildren.
They are the Milwaukee Dancing Grannies, a marching, dancing holiday fixture in Wisconsin for nearly 40 years, and a joyful twist on America’s expectations that parades are supposed to feature mainly school-age dance troupes.
But tragedy struck the group when, as they marched down yet another Main Street on Sunday, holiday music blaring around them, three grandmothers were killed.
This Nov. 16, 2021, photo provided by the Waukesha County Sheriff Office in Waukesha, Wis., shows Darrell Brooks Jr. Brooks, the SUV driver who plowed into a Christmas parade in suburban Milwaukee, on Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021, killing and injuring multiple people, was leaving the scene of a domestic dispute that had taken place just minutes earlier, Waukesha's police chief said Monday, Nov. 22, 2021. Police Chief Dan Thompson said that there was no evidence the bloodshed Sunday was a terrorist attack or that the suspect, Darrell Brooks Jr., knew anyone in the parade. Brooks acted alone, the chief said. (Waukesha County Sheriff Office via AP)
“Our group was doing what they loved, performing in front of crowds in a parade,” the group said in a statement Monday morning. “Putting smiles on faces of all ages, filling them with joy and happiness."
Late Sunday afternoon, the driver of a red SUV roared through a Christmas parade in the suburban Milwaukee town of Waukesha, killing at least five people and leaving 48 injured, according to authorities. Police said he had left the scene of a domestic dispute and didn't appear to know anyone in the parade when he drove into the route.
Not even an hour earlier, the Grannies had called out to fans on their Facebook page.
“Waukesha here we come!!!” the post shouted. “The Grannies are kicking off their holiday parades.”
The Dancing Grannies grew out of an exercise class in 1984, with dozens of women, most ranging in age from their mid-50s to mid-70s, cycling in and out of the group over the years. They have only one requirement: You need to be a grandmother.
Police identified those killed as Virginia Sorenson, 79; LeAnna Owen, 71; Tamara Durand, 52; and Wilhelm Hospel, 81. The three women were members of the Grannies, and Hospel reportedly helped the troupe with their shows.
Jane Kulich, 52, also died. Local news reports said she worked for a local branch of Citizens Bank, which issued a statement saying an employee “was walking with our parade float” when she was struck and killed. The bank did not identify the employee.
Sorenson, a dance lover who had to give up the hobby years ago after surgery, was the group’s longtime choreographer.
“It was like I lost a best friend,” she told WDJT, the Milwaukee CBS affiliate, in an August story about the group. The Grannies brought back that joy. “I love it,” she said of the troupe, “and I love the ladies.”