There are some people in life who are truly “connectors”; these are people who have a magical ability to bring everyone around them together. Team Aria competitor Bobbie Childers is one such connector. She has the uncanny ability to find anyone, talk to anyone, and make everyone feel welcome. And as such an integral part of our community as Bobbie is, we thought it was high time we sat down with Bobbie and chatted with her about her experiences and background as a ballroom dancer.
Bobbie loves feeling glamorous!
Bobbie was born in Hawaii and showed an interest in dancing even at that young age. Her mother joked that she danced for nine months in the womb, then would follow the hula dancers around and mimic their every movement. It seems fair to say that Bobbie was born to be a dancer. When she was 9 years old, she started ice skating, but quickly switched to ice dancing since, even at that young age, she wanted to dance with a partner. She competed in ice dancing until she went to college, at which time it just became unfeasible to make it to the ice rink. That was when she started Square Dancing and Round Dancing.
For those who don’t know what Round Dancing is, imagine a predetermined routine of ballroom steps that all competitors perform in synchronization as they dance around the floor. In Australia it’s called New Vogue, and was popular as Round Dancing in England, too. Bobbie loved it, and found that it helped her fill the void left behind by temporarily quitting ice dancing. Once she graduated from college and moved to Tacoma, she started to ice dance again, but Round Dancing had now become a permanent fixture in her life.
Bobbie soon met her husband, Jim, at a church convention. He had never danced in his life. They had a whirlwind romance so when Jim soon asked her to marry him, she asked him to take some Round Dance lessons first. He agreed, and blew her away with the speed with which he picked everything up. As soon as he graduated from the beginner’s class, Bobbie threw him in the deep end with the advanced class and was shocked to see him swim!
Three years after Bobbie and Jim were married, their Round Dancing teachers encouraged them to take International Ballroom lessons in order to improve their form and basic technique. They went to a local couple named Adrian and Mary Oaks, who had just returned from living and training in England. A couple of years later they started training in Latin with Jay Offutt.
One day, Jim was working on some cabinetry in Adrian’s house, and Adrian mentioned to Jim that if they were competitors, he would be teaching them differently. Jim was instantly intrigued, and discussed the option over with Bobbie.
“That’s what we wanted,” Bobbie said. “Technique and detail. I loved the idea of competing, and Jim loved the idea of being taught at a deeper level; and so it began.”
Jim and Bobbie competed in their first competition a few months later and won!
They continued to compete for a couple of years until it was discovered that they were teaching Round Dancing classes once a week, to some teenagers. At that time, accepting money in exchange for teaching any form of dance meant that you were a professional, and therefore ineligible to compete in amateur competition. Jim and Bobbie didn’t want to turn professional, so they stopped competing entirely. Soon, the combination of their professional careers and their two children made it difficult for them to balance everything, and they wanted to focus on their family. They made the decision to stop dancing, and they wouldn’t return to the ballroom world for another 15 years.
Fast forward those 15 years, and Jim and Bobbie were invited to the 100th birthday party of one of their former dance mentors in California. They flew down and stayed with some old dance friends. During that weekend, they spent the entire time watching videos of Blackpool congresses, seeing how ballroom and Round Dancing had progressed and changed over the years, and getting caught up on all the newest couples. Jim and Bobbie were mesmerized, and knew by the end of the weekend that it was time to return to dancing.
A lot had changed in the Seattle dance community during that time as well. One of their former teachers, Beth Knoll, had moved to Portland. Jim and Bobbie drove twice a month to Portland to work with Beth, but Beth suggested they also work with Stephen and CoraLyn Uczekaj, parents of Aria Ballroom principal Kora Stoynova and owners of a studio at that time called Impulse Ballroom. When, in 2016, Stephen and CoraLyn decided to close down Impulse Ballroom and move their business into Aria Ballroom, Jim and Bobbie followed suit. Soon after joining the team at Aria Ballroom, Jim and Bobbie started working with Aria instructor Atanas Malamov in addition to Stephen and CoraLyn.
Bobbie and Lukas at the Summit Dancesport last month.
But soon, Jim had foot surgery. In the years since they had first retired from ballroom dancing, Jim had had many surgeries and injuries on his shoulders, his knees, he had even had his meniscus entirely removed! After the foot surgery, Jim came to the conclusion that his dancing career was over. But although dancing was done for him, he encouraged Bobbie to keep going. There was just one problem – Bobbie needed a partner! Enter Atanas!
Bobbie had wanted to learn Smooth for a long time, and now this was her chance! Having never done Smooth before, Atanas started her out at Bronze level. He was tough on her, but the “tough love” mentality was something she remembered from her skating years and really appreciated. She had never done Pro-Am before and wasn’t sure what all was involved, but Atanas took control and guided her through the entire process.
They had barely started training together before COVID hit, so the moment Bobbie was able to get back into the studio, she dove head-first into competing Pro-Am with Atanas.
“It was a baptism by fire immersion,” she recalled with a laugh. “There was no ‘gradual’ about it. Five competitions in eight months. LOL! But I had a great time, learned so much, and will always be grateful to him and the Aria team. Jim became eyes at home supporting me 1,000 percent. He may not be dancing, but his eye for detail is as sharp as ever. He even converted three-quarters of our garage to a practice space with a floating floor and mirrors so I could practice at home as needed.
“I still remember stepping onto the comp floor for the first time that day. I took a deep breath before the music began, smiled, and thought, ‘Here we go.’ When the music started, I wasn’t afraid . . . I wasn’t nervous . . . I was home.”
Since then, Atanas has left the Ballroom Dance world to pursue an entirely different career, and Bobbie has started working with Aria Ballroom instructors Misha Vorobiev in International Standard and Lukas Spisak in Smooth. She has continued to compete in Pro-Am competitions in Smooth with Lukas.
We asked her what her short-term and long-term goals are for dancing.
“My short-term goals are all technical,” she explained. “To make my waltz look like a waltz with good footwork. And have better body stretch/mobility overall across the four dances. Next stop is Holiday Classic in Vegas.
“My long term goal? Competing Pro/Am at Blackpool in 2024!!! This is a dream I have had for 42 years and made the decision a month ago to go for it!”
This is a goal the team at Aria Ballroom are definitely dedicated to help bring to reality, and Bobbie knows it. “There is so much about Aria that I love!” she added. “It is a dance family and has become a home away from home. I prefer a demanding coach who will push me beyond what I think is possible, so I especially appreciate the excellence and standards of teaching, knowledge, and experience each instructor brings to the floor. They lead by example. The bar is held high but is tempered with plenty of support, encouragement, and care. I love that it is comprised of all ages, levels, and abilities; and we all inspire each other. Like I said, it’s a family.”
And what is her favorite thing about ballroom dancing? She had just one word to say to that.
“…Magic.”
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