For almost 60 years Ken Sims has been dancing and for most of that time he has also been teaching people to dance.
He and wife Laurel ran a successful dance school in Melbourne’s Dandenongs before retiring up here to the Tweed in 2000.
Ken and Laurel, introduced by Ken’s mother on a blind date, went on to win Victorian championships and Laurel even became an Australian judge. Laurel was in a scene (as a judge) in the Baz Luhrmann classic Strictly Ballroom.
Dancing has always been their life with Ken training a lot of top dancers over the years at the couple’s dance school.
The school is now run by their son Mark but while Laurel is happy to hang up her dance shoes, retirement doesn’t seem to be in Ken’s make-up.
So now he has volunteered to teach at the Tweed PCYC on a Saturday afternoon – taking would-be students through the basics.
He is hoping to attract families for the classes too – saying that the family that dances together, stays together (and with both of his children taking up the sport and he and his wife still together, he could be right).
The classes cover Cha Cha Cha, Tango, Jive, Waltz, Foxtrot, New Vogue and more. Cost is $7 for adults and $5 for children and classes run from 3.30 – 4.30pm on Saturday afternoons. Bring the whole family and you could be dancing with the stars in no time.
