Inspiring Dancers

There is a lady here in Atlanta that started dancing in the 60's with her husband. Her name is Evelyn Yopp. Her husband passed away in the 70's. Now in 2003 she is nearly 100 years old and still dancing. She can do all the dances including Paso Doble and Viennese Waltz. AND...she does it with flair and expression!

I hope dancing can keep me healthy and having fun for a long time, too.

Are there any people you know that have inspired you?

Yes. Frank and Eve Cavale. Both eighty years old, dancing ballroom with the greatest enthusiasm, having fun, and looking good. And, to me, the coolest thing about them is that they started only nine years ago, when they where both in their seventies. Totally amazing to me.

The last time I saw Mr. Cavale do a routine, it was a fast, fast quickstep, and his teacher/partner was more out of breath than he by the end of the routine. That's exactly what I want. To be dancing for the rest of my life!

I submitted a poem over on the topic "poems." I wrote it to help me get over nervousness, but the inspiration came from a lady that doesn't even know who I am.

Her name is Kathy, and she has MS. There are times that I've seen her struggle to just walk out on the dance floor. However, she is there for her Pro-Am students . . . talk about courage and the love for dance. She brings a tear to my eyes just watching her . . . not because she has MS, but because of her unselfish courage!

May she be blessed daily and that a cure for MS be found!

Inspirational Dancers

What touching stories

My first instructors, Ken and Miyo Ota, spent time in the Japanese internment camps of WWII in California. They lost their farms and could leave with only what they could carry. Despite this, they are patriotic Americans, and have given to generations of children and adults by sharing their knowledge of Aikido, Judo, and ballroom dancing.

I initially started with them when I was in Jr. High, as an Aikido/Judo student, and then my mom dragged me into their Cotillion/manners classes, where Mr. Ota carried around the same stick he smacked us with in Aikido, if we acted up (it didn't hurt that bad).

They still teach and dance, and Mr. Ota turned 80 this year and his wife is 87... people mistake them for at least 20 to 30 years younger. They still live in the house adjoined to their studio, which they built themselves out of brick, in Goleta, CA, and Mr. Ota teaches the ballroom program at UCSB.

I know they changed my life, as I met my girlfriend through dancing, and enjoy life being a competitor.

If ever you pass through Santa Barbara, you'll definitely have to give the Goleta Ballroom a call and see if they're having a party... they still know how to party!