Former wallflowers venture onto the dance floor for a spin

For 59 years, Warren Pierson didn't know he could dance. Now, at age 60, he's an advanced swing dancer. Pierson, an admitted former wallflower, said the trick is in the training. To ward off the boredom of retirement, he decided to try a class at Let's Dance Studio on Rock Boulevard in Sparks, signing up a month at a time.

"They taught me how to pay attention to rhythm in the music," Pierson said. "Now, I can actually keep step."

He's not alone. Dawn Wilson, 59, who never danced as child said she had no intention of ever dancing. She would come to the studio just to drop off her 14-year-old granddaughter. But owner Fred Suhr convinced her to venture onto the floor. Now after four years she's an avid dancer of East Coast Swing and Swango -- a mixture of Swing and Tango.

"It's a great feeling to realize you can dance when you thought you had two left feet," Wilson said.

Wilson said the relaxed and sociable atmosphere is what allowed her to take her first dance step.

"It's a great social thing because they treat you like you're family," Wilson said.

Fred Suhr said he and his wife, Beth Suhr, have enjoyed retiring to a dance studio. They don't consider teaching dance to be work, he said.

They teach Argentine Tango, West and East Cost Swing, the Charleston, Salsa, Cha-cha, Merengue, ballroom dances and Swango.

Their beginning Swing class intrigued me. I always watched with envy the energetic jumps, jives and spins of those who mastered Swing.

So, with no small degree of apprehension, I ventured into Let's Dance Studio alone on Saturday night for the beginning Swing class at 5:30 p.m.

I've always moved with relative ease around the dance floor with my own improvised moves, but when instructed to dance in a pattern I found myself struggling to count to four.

I was marching nervously in place, as stiff as a tin soldier. Tap, tap, right, left.

Then it was time to attempt to coordinate the steps with a partner. After a few minutes, the pairs would switch. This could easily be the most daunting aspect of any dance class. I began to hope my dance partners were wearing steel-toed shoes and would be forgiving of my uncoordinated lumbering.

But to my grateful surprise, many offered helpful tips and missteps were greeted with mutual laughs. When Fred and Beth Suhr taught us a new dance moves it became a team effort to learn the right method.

By the end of the night, I was dancing and spinning to a three-step rhythm.

About 20 people arrived at 6:30 p.m. for the intermediate-advanced swing class and monthly potluck. That sense of community is what Marie-Elena VanTreeck found seven years ago when she attended the New Year's celebration of Let's Dance Studio.

She had recently moved from Washington, D.C., and decided to force her husband onto the dance floor. Initially her husband was grinding his teeth while dancing, he was putting so much effort and muscle into getting the steps right, she said. But VanTreeck said everyone was so sociable and relaxed that he loosened up and felt comfortable learning. Now, he beckons her out to the dance floor.

While there's a wide range of ages who attend classes, Myra Godfrey, 27, who teaches Tango at the studio, said most of the dance floor hoofers are 30 to 60 years old. She said a large percentage of their clientele are married couples.

Let's Dance Studio is also reaching out to the community in another way.

They started Nevada Tango Society Inc., which teaches Argentine Tango at least once a week for free at elementary schools including Van Gorder, Desert Heights, Drake, Juniper and Anderson.

Godfrey said it teaches kids how to respectfully come in contact with another person, proper etiquette and moving gracefully.

For many of the schools it's an afterschool program. Godfrey said she regularly teaches 20 kids twice a week at Lena Juniper elementary.

Fred Suhr said more schools have expressed an interest in the program, but they don't have enough teachers to expand the program. But he said he's glad to see dance gaining in popularity.

"Everyone who attends is looking to make a positive change in their life so the people who arrive are all positive," Fred Suhr said.

Visit Let's Dance Studio on the Web: http://www.letsdancereno.homestead.com/letsdance1.html