It was only a few weeks ago that we posted a request for couples who met on the dance floor to send us their stories. We expected a few stories to trickle in. We were surprised to receive quite a number of them! It seems dancing really does bring people together! While we hope to announce some of these couples at this Saturdays Valentine dance and present a few of the outstanding stories with prizes, I thought it would be nice to share a few quotes and highlights with you.
The first story we received was from Megan and Adam. They first met at a UCF swing dance back in 2002 when Adam was president of the swing club. However they weren’t formally introduced until 2003 at City Jazz. Megan writes “He taught me to be a semi-decent dancer and incorporated swing as a major part of our dating life. In November of 2006 we were married, and we are expecting our first child in June of 2008. Although married life and pregnancy have pulled us away from swing dancing as frequently as we would like, its still a part of who we are and we would not be together without swing.”
But not everyone met at a local dance. Jim writes to tell us how he met Helga at a disco when stationed in Germany in 1971. “It was off limits for GIs but we never got stopped”. One popular song that night was “Just My Imagination”… the two just danced together to the same song 36 years later.
Some people even met in dance classes! Jessica writes to tell us how she met Joshua at one of our Sunday afternoon series classes and got to know him at the local dances. “The more we danced, the more I was smitten!” she writes. Amy and Ed met during a class at the Dance Club of Central Florida. “He was leading a complicated turn during class and we accidentally bumped heads”. Now that is the way to meet!
Thomas sent us a fascinating story of how he met a very special lady in the 50’s while appearing on American Bandstand. “Bob Horn had just been suddenly relieved as host of American Bandstand. A young guy named Dick Clark, working in the control booth, was put in at the last minute to take over in desperation. As a regular dancer on the program I was pleasantly surprised by Dick Clark…he was really good!” he writes. “During the winter months in Philadelphia, we would trudge over to the studio in the snow, slush and ice, many of us traveling a long way by bus to get a chance to dance on TV. There was a dressing room for the kid’s with coat racks for our heavy outer clothes but no where to put our wet soggy boots. There were puddles every where. The counter top in front of the mirror was loaded with pancake make-up to cover up our poor teenage complexion. Pretty prevalent in at that age. In those years the cameras were pre-aimed and pre-focused and stationary. The floors in the dance studio had white lines painted on the floor and we were warned not to dance too close to the cameras or to go over the white line.” There he met a young girl from Huntington Pike named Mickey. “Of course I asked her to dance and it was like magic…we fit like a glove. At that age with no car and no money a real date was out of the question so Bandstand was it for this romance. Dancing was what brought us together and is what kept us together and we were in love.” Seeing each other become quite a chore. “As Bandstand became a national program and very popular it became increasingly difficult to obtain ticket’s. Mickey and I saw less and less of each other because of it. I hitch-hiked several times out to where she lived but in those days her parents did not allow her to date or go out alone with a boy. We struggled to see each other but Bandstand and dancing was what really held us together. Without it, the relationship through the next several years grew thin.” But Thomas continues to dance. “Eventually I graduated high school, joined the Navy and found myself stationed in Virginia Beach with dance halls up and down the boardwalk. I was in heaven. Guess where I went every opportunity? Mickey was still in high school, a year younger than me, and her parents finally started letting her date boys her own age. She wrote me about it but I was hundreds of miles away. When I found out she went to the junior prom with another guy, it broke my heart.” It is sad that there was not a story book ending for Thomas and Mickey, but as he writes “I look back at that wonderful time with fond memories and a little sadness that Mickey and I didn’t quite make it but without dancing being part of my life I never would have had that tender young love and life experience. I’ll never forget her and Bandstand. Dancing has really enriched my life throughout.”
Wow! What a way to sum things up!
Thank you to everyone for the stories and we hope to see you all at the next dance. Happy Valentines Day to all!
Saturday, March 8th: The Nicole Sasser Quartet returns to Whirl & Twirl! Nicole leads a band of musicians who are passionate about their love for music and true to the great artists that have come before them. The group’s repertoire includes standards made famous by Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Krall, Michael Buble, Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole, just to name a few. From fast tempos to slow, there is something for everyone! All ages are welcome and admission is $10. Click here for more information on the dance.
