If you’ve spent much time at Aria, you’ve probably met Jon. He is one of those people who always seems happy to stop and talk, especially if the conversation happens to involve dancing. And after more than fifteen years of dancing, he has plenty to say about it!
Jon started dancing around 2010, when he was 70 years old. An ex girlfriend danced, and later another woman he was dating was taking lessons, so he decided to give it a try. The relationships eventually came and went, but the dancing stayed. As Jon puts it, “Neither of them had the love of dancing that I did, so when they went bye bye I kept dancing.”
It didn’t take long for Jon to realize that he really did love it, although getting out in front of people was another story. He has always considered himself shy, and the idea of doing a solo was intimidating. Dancing slowly changed that. What once felt terrifying became something he could actually enjoy, and he found that getting comfortable on the dance floor helped him become more comfortable speaking and communicating in other parts of life too.
These days, asking Jon about his favorite dance is almost a trick question. “I probably shouldn’t say!” he says, before settling on, “The last one I just did.” That will certainly be the answer if you ask him at a competition or an event! If he had to narrow it down just a little, it took him a while to appreciate Waltz, but now he loves Slow Waltz, Viennese Waltz, and Country Waltz. He has also developed a serious love of Country music, despite initially thinking he didn’t like it. Four or five years into dancing, he gave it a try and now describes himself as a “country junkie!” Nightclub Two Step and Hustle are favorites too, but really, Jon’s philosophy is that you can’t know what you’ll love until you actually try it, and he wants to try them all.
His friends Sue and Jack Dills were the ones who convinced him to come to Aria, and he quickly found a place where he could keep learning and challenging himself. He appreciates that lessons and competitions are more accessible at Aria, but he especially values having teachers who are knowledgeable and able to push his dancing forward. In his words, “I am now moving forward in my dancing goals, not sideways or backwards.”
That idea of a challenge is a big part of what keeps Jon coming back. He likes that dancing requires effort, thought, memory, and physical movement all at once. If something is too easy, he says, people get bored. For Jon, there is always something new to learn, and that keeps dancing interesting.
He also believes more people should dance. Jon loves music in almost every form, and he wishes dancing had remained a bigger part of everyday life. He talks to just about everyone he can about dance and is always encouraging people to stick with it long enough to get past the “difficult part.” Starting something new can be hard, but Jon knows firsthand how much can change if you keep going.
One of his proudest accomplishments is being able to perform solos. When he first started, he struggled to get through them and even froze and forgot his routine once. Now, he can get out in front of a couple hundred people and dance. For someone who once found that idea terrifying, that is quite a transformation.
Jon has plenty more dancing ahead of him. He is looking forward to the Fall Showcase and Holiday Dance Classic and wants to dance as many different dances as possible. But his biggest upcoming goal is something a little more ambitious: a new show dance!
And if you know Jon, you already know he is not planning to make it boring. He promises it will be “VERY entertaining,” so keep your eyes peeled.
Jon may have started dancing at 70, but he has clearly decided there is no reason to stop now, and we are all here for it!