Aging leads to a decline in skeletal muscle performance, therefore it is important to assess muscle function and physiology. To date, no one has reported the examination of muscle oxygenation together during the short physical performance battery (SPPB) and recovery. This study aims to study the effects of a SPPB on muscle oxygenation of the Vastus Lateralis in older adults before and after participating in a community dance program. Data was assessed in 14 older adults (dance program, n = 6; 73.67 ± 1.87 yo) & (control group, n = 8; 72.63 ± 2.33 yo) who participated in the 8-week community dance program (CDP) study, 1 session per week, which were conducted at senior activity centres. All participants performed the SPPB, before and after the control or CDP. Muscle oxygenation was quantified from the right Vastus Lateralis muscle with a near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) device (MOXY, USA), during, and up to 15 min after the SPPB test. Muscle oxygenation data was averaged over the last 15 secs before the commencement of the test, end of every SPPB component, and at every min post-test, then analysed using mixed-model ANOVA (SPSS, Version 29). There was a significant main effect of time (p < 0.001), but no interaction between intervention X time X group (p = 0.351). Regardless of intervention, muscle oxygenation was significantly decreased, during tandem stand (p = 0.037), gait speed test (p = 0.002), chair stand test (p < 0.001) and repeated chair stand (p < 0.001), and remained low, as compared to baseline, for up to 13 min post-test (p < 0.05). This is the first report of examining the effect of performing a geriatric functional test on intramuscular oxygenation. Our results suggest that muscle oxygenation, is sensitive to changes in functional tests and during the recovery phase. Muscle oxygenation is a clinically useful parameter that provide insights into physiological performance of an older adult performing the SPPB, as well as the efficacy of interventions. Future interventions, such as increasing the dance program workload, can be used to examine their effect on muscle oxygenation. Given the ceiling effects of many functional tests, the inclusion of a physiological measurement will provide objective assessments of changes in performance.