ShareThisWe’ve all seen the celebrities swanning around on television’s Dancing With The Stars, that oddly engaging program that makes you question whether you might be able to foxtrot as well or better than a linebacker.
Talk to real ballroom enthusiasts about the show, however, and they’ll tell you that what you’re seeing isn’t so much ballroom dance as it is ballroom choreography. While that takes real talent and real work, what’s missing is the spontaneity and the idiosyncratic nature of dancing—and, as Linden Hills Dancing Club member Susan Dempsey points out, the notion that you needn’t devote hours of daily practice to dancing to enjoy it.
What is perhaps surprising about the Linden Hills Dancing Club is that its existence has nothing to do with the recent explosion of interest in dance caused by Dancing With the Stars. It’s been far more durable, attracting and maintaining a devoted membership since 1914—a whopping 95 years. It’s an enviable track record for any club devoted to a leisure pursuit, and it’s carried on that long because, ultimately, the club is about people making connections, both with their dancing partners and with other members.
The club welcomes dancers of all skill levels, from beginners to professional dance instructors. While Eric Jaakkola and his wife, Pat, aren’t professionals, they certainly know how to cut a rug. Eric used to compete in dancing in the 1960s, and he and Pat actually met in a ballroom. “We got invited and saw what it was, and we decided that this was something that would be great for us,” Eric Jaakkola says. “It’s like a special occasion, because you get to dress up.
The special occasions that Jaakkola mentions are the seven dances that the club holds every year. Each event includes a one-hour complimentary dance lesson with a professional instructor, focusing on one specific dance. The lesson is followed by a formal, catered dinner during which members can catch up with each other on all that’s happened since the last time they got together. After that, of course, is the dancing. A live band plays a wide variety of music that allows couples to try out all of their steps and a bit of what they learned earlier in the evening. Formal wear is encouraged but not required, although with a group devoted to something as elegant as ballroom dance, the chance to step out in tuxes and evening gowns is seized enthusiastically.
For club member Susan Dempsey, getting to know the other members is a profound bonus to the opportunity to dance. She enjoys the fact that the ages of the club members vary widely; the Badiyans note many of the older couples who can’t dance well anymore still come to meet with friends. “The couples have such fabulous, interesting backgrounds, whether it’s the work they’ve done or community service efforts they’re involved in,” Dempsey says. “They just have such interesting lives apart from having the dancing in common.”
As much fun as it is to get together with other couples who share a love of dance, Dempsey says the club is a unique opportunity for two dancing partners to connect with each other, putting aside the stresses of everyday life and work. “It’s wonderfully romantic,” she says. “You’re dressed up, and you’re really in the moment with your partner. You’re reminded of why you’re together and what drew you together in the first place.”
Want to Know More?
Linden Hills Dancing Club will share membership details through any one of its current members or planned events. Request an invitation to one of the club’s upcoming dances in March, April or May by logging onto Lindenhillsdancingclub.com.
Gina Czupka is the former editor of Lake Minnetonka Magazine and a freelance writer based in south
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