Before I even started writing this article, I had tears in my eyes. Not due to sadness, but because I feel blessed to have this forum to share what’s in my heart and on my mind. So, before I go any further, I want to thank Charlie for continuing to support my writing with Cleveland Country Magazine. For the duration of this piece, everyone else shall remain anonymous.
Recently, a chance encounter took me back through my past. Someone recognized me from being a “dancer” and I realized that he recalled me from the early 1980’s when I was a dance student and assistant teacher at my first studio. He stated that his daughter was dancing there at the same time, but I was obviously amazed with his memory from over 40 years ago. He recalled that I had moved on to other studios, and that gave me the idea for this article.
As I have shared previously, my dance career began with ballet, tap, and jazz; throughout my teaching years, I taught a deaf student who felt the beat of the music through floor vibrations and watched my movements. Using my ballet background, I also choreographed arm movements for a competitive synchronized swimmer’s solo routine, plus a different student who competed in ice dance skating. Additionally, I am a dance coach for several baton twirlers, which started back in the early 1980’s and has continued through the present day.
Over the past couple of years, I have noticed a renewed interest with the local line dance scene in western PA. Eastern OH has always had several well-established line dance venues and honkytonk bars. However, just across the border, line dancers there previously had to travel out of their area. Now there are weekly line dance classes and events at various places like fire department halls, social clubs, and neighborhood bars with dance floors.
For the most part, I personally know (or have heard of) these instructors. I hope they realize how lucky they are to be active in the line dance world. They all have diverse teaching backgrounds; some of them started with fitness classes and were bitten by the “line dance bug.” I know at least four of them (maybe more) started by taking line dance from me. In the past, when I would attend a class or event where they were teaching, I would always try to position myself where beginner dancers could follow me if they couldn’t see the instructor. Some were grateful for the help; unfortunately, one mistook my assistance as interference, even when I tried to reassure her that I wasn’t trying to “step on her toes” and had zero interest in taking over the class.
That misunderstanding led me to remember a conversation I had with a line dance instructor who blazed the way for me to secure some of my favorite teaching gigs, mostly notably at Yankee Bootleggers. After she took one of my classes, she told her students that if she ever stepped away from teaching, she would offer her classes to me, not because I was “better” but due to my non-competitive attitude. I just wanted people to learn and retain while enjoying my lessons. The quintessential example of this was my Bootleggers years; I still have people who reminisce and thank me for teaching them there. The director at my grandson’s preschool finally realized why I looked familiar to her, as she was one of hundreds who I taught on the massive Yankee Lake ballroom floor. She, like others who I encounter, always share: “Those were the best times; I wish they would bring back Bootleggers and you as the teacher.” It is moments like those when I am so grateful that I have those wonderful memories and am thankful to have planted the seed for my students and others to continue line dancing.
