By Tammy Stables Battaglia, Detroit Free Press
Jul. 20–When Ron Sherman’s not traveling on cruise ships — twirling women on dance floors as a gentleman host — he doesn’t miss a Moon Dusters ballroom dance in Livonia.
Each Saturday night since 1973, the ballroom enthusiasts have been hosting dances at the Livonia Civic Park Senior Center.
While the setting may not compare with Buenos Aires, Istanbul or Venice, the dancing’s just as much fun, said Sherman, 72, of Westland.
“I love to dance,” he said in between songs on a July night in Livonia. “I try to dance with everybody, regardless of if they can dance or not.”
And the focus stays on dancing, on the boat or off, he said.
“When you say gentleman host, some say ‘Oh, gigolo,’ ” he said, explaining that he pays a travel agent about $30 a day, and the ships pay his airfare if he stays on the cruise to dance for more than 30 days. “I say, ‘No, gentleman host.’ You’re a perfect gentleman at all times.”
When he’s back, it’s on to Moon Dusters.
The gatherings are part high school prom, part reunion. The Saturday-night dances typically draw about 150 people at $6 a ticket. Proceeds buy cake served at 10 p.m.; the rest the group donates to local nonprofits like the senior center, Paralyzed Veterans of America, the American Cancer Society and the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
Mostly senior citizens attend because of the dance’s location. No stilettos here — think pretty but comfortable 2-inch heels. These women have been dancing long enough to know what to wear to enjoy an evening out.
“You can dance every night of the week in metro Detroit,” said Toni Gibson, 57, of Grosse Pointe Park, a Moon Dusters dance regular with her husband, John, 58. “The west side, the east side, there’s places everywhere.”
And man, can they dance. Whether it’s to the fast pace of “Copacabana” or the elegant melodies of traditional swing, partners’ feet slide on the tile in unison.
“This is really the only thing that would keep me from eating and sleeping third grade,” explained Gibson, now a retired Detroit Public Schools teacher.
Her parents, big dancers themselves, taught her. But John learned later in life, after she refused to dance until he took lessons at a private studio.
“They said, ‘Oh, he’s so good!’ I nearly fell over,” she said.
Each Saturday night at 7 p.m., Linda Hively, 61, of Livonia, a retired insurance executive, and her husband, Ron, also 61, a retired commercial airline pilot, don wireless headsets to start out the evening with a dance lesson.
On July 5, 21 men lined up against the windows of the senior center’s activity room, and 26 women took their place across the floor to learn samba.
Linda started tap and ballet as a small child. Ron is proof anyone can learn to dance.
“Basically I was a six-pack dancer: If I had a six-pack, there were a lot of people on the floor and I didn’t think anyone would notice,” he said. That lasted until he was 40, when he secretly signed up for private lessons at a nearby Arthur Murray dance studio. “In case I didn’t like it, I didn’t want an argument if I quit.”
They can make the music for lessons speed up or slow down through their equipment, focusing on a single type of dance each week.
“If you go straight down, you’ll get a crease in your pants,” Ron Hively said through the microphone to the 47 students July 5, bending his knees to illustrate the samba dip. They followed his lead, leaning back just a little. The creases disappeared. “Your hips should be tucked underneath.”
During the regular dances, a light-up sign on the wall notes what’s playing, to make sure everyone gets the steps right: fox-trot, Latin, mixer, waltz, polka or intermission.
“This is strictly authentic ballroom,” said Moon Dusters president Joe Castrodale, a retired banker who lives in Oak Park. “It’s not hustle, it’s not West Coast. Those are novelty dances.”
It’s all in the moves, the counts and the area covered during the dance. And it’s a form of dance that took a backseat to rock ‘n’ roll in the ’50s, forcing the big dance halls of the ’30s and ’40s out of business, Castrodale said.
“They faded out when Elvis Presley came in,” he said. “Then the smaller ones popped up, like us, in the ’70s.”
Television dance contests have been a good influence in the past few years, he said.
” ‘Dancing with the Stars’ may have people picking it up,” he said. Plus, just like any social scene, it’s a great place to meet people. “My theory is you come here long enough, you’re going to meet somebody. A lot of people couple up; they do.”
Rorie Boisclair, 62, of Walled Lake met her second husband, Ray, at the dance.
“He said, ‘Why are you here? Where is your mother?’ I said, ‘I’m old enough!’ ” she said, smiling appreciatively.
Carol Romero, 68, of Commerce Township said she’s been attending dances for 10 years, sometimes visiting a couple of different spots on a Saturday night.
“If you go to a bar, you have a postage stamp-sized floor,” she said. Instead of gym class, she learned ballroom dance at the now-closed Sweetest Heart of Mary High School in Detroit. “Here, you can dance.”
Plus, she said, it’s a nice night out.
“A lot of guys come here,” she said. “They don’t dance a lot, but they say, ‘What am I going to do, sit at home?’ And the women like to dress up.”
E-mail TAMMY STABLES
The Moon Dusters dances take place at the Livonia Civic Senior Center, 15218 Farmington Road, in the Civic Center complex. For more information, call 248-968-5197. BATTAGLIA at [email protected].
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