A GRANDMOTHER who danced her way onto the stage and TV in her early 20s says she has no plans to give up as she starts her own high-energy dance class.

Jackie Jensen, 66, who was part of a dance troupe that performed on Top of the Pops and toured with singers including Lulu and Rolf Harris.

She has taught dance for about 30 years and was on the verge of retirement when she heard about Zumba - a cross between aerobics and Latin dance - and decided to start running classes on top of the line-dancing she already taught.

“I’d been dancing professionally since I was 15 and I was going to retire, but Zumba came along and changed my mind,” she said. “I’ve been getting all sorts of different ages and people are really enjoying it.”

The Brooklyn Avenue resident was a member of the dance group Young Generation and her TV performances included shows with Lulu, Rolf Harris, Vera Lynn and Ronnie Corbett, as well as dancing with members of Pan’s People before the group was formed.

“I used to be on twice a week with the Young Generation and we used to get fan mail, wearing our short mini-dresses,” she said. “It was like a paid holiday really."

She remembers choreographer and former Strictly judge Arlene Phillips, who she knew while they were dancing in West End shows together, as “a hard grafter.”

“We were a bit like two peas in a pod, really,” she added. “When I first knew her, she had just come down from Manchester and was a very hard grafter. She still is.

“I was always trying to get better all the time.”

Ms Jensen, who used to perform under the name of Jackie Dalton, said that she was still fit and had not suffered many injuries during her career, despite being dropped by dance partners many times.

One of her Zumba students, Linda Brooks, 61, said: “I can’t keep up with her. She’s an absolute fireball and her figure is amazing.”

Ms Jensen runs five Zumba classes a week in Loughton, two in Chingford and one in Chigwell. For more information on joining, call 07931 167886.