As I enter the home and dance studio of Deborah and Gerry Pageau, the first thing I notice is rows and rows of shoes on the wall - all suitable for dancing. Surprisingly, there are not too many high heels - the best dance shoes flex in the middle, Deborah tells me.
She should know; she's been dancing most of her life after studying for a dance major and earning a B.Sc. in kinesiology at the University of Waterloo. Kitchener-Waterloo is a town of German heritage, and she and Gerry met while dancing the polka at Oktoberfest. Though Gerry is an engineer by profession, the couple have been dancing together ever since, and they continued to partner after moving to the Coast in 1978.
"I hear music - I start to move. It's a natural for me," Deborah said.
The Pageaus have been teaching ballroom dancing through the Sunshine Coast Regional District recreation program, and it has been popular.
"The classes have all been full except for the foxtrot," she said. "Tango is big right now, and we'll be teaching it this fall."
She digresses for a while to describe the three styles: the original, sexy Argentine variety, the "cleaned up" (read: non-sensual) international version and the American standard. Which to choose? Pageau is clear that the dance classes are for fun and exercise. "We're a social dance class," she laughs. "We'll probably do Deborah and Gerry's tango."
The couple is offering a dance sampler for adults during the summer beginning on July 8 in a padded floor ballroom at the Gibsons and Area Community Centre. They'll start with one step, an easy-to-learn, smooth, steady walking movement that is at the root of many dances. The waltz is a style of one step and is danced to slow romantic music without syncopation. Generally dancers like syncopated music; it makes dance more interesting, but one step is suitable for beginners and for the more adept as well. After the first evening of one step, the couple will teach the waltz on July 15, modern jive on July 22 and continuing on Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m. with triple jive, rumba, cha cha and tango.
It is best to register as a couple. But what if you don't have a partner? Gerry points out that two women can sign up for lessons and take turns learning both the female and male steps, although switching back and forth is trickier for students to accomplish.
Participants can sign up individually for each class in the ballroom dance sampler but they must do it seven days in advance by contacting the SCRD at 604-885-6801 or registering on line at www.scrd.ca, click recreation.
Deborah loves to teach, but is not as keen on performing. Although you probably won't see her on stage, you might have seen her choreography, most recently in the production Quilters, performed last summer.
"I've choreographed most of [director] Sue Beer's shows," she said. "We work well together."
It is often up to the director to see the potential for choreographed movement in a play.
"Whenever movement specifically has to express emotion in the body, then the choreographer and the director will be working together," Deborah said.
Deborah credits one of her better-known teachers for finding her inner dancer. Prima ballerina Lois Smith was "one of the best," she says.
After the summer ballroom sampler, the Pageaus will be teaching five weeks of one step and five weeks of tango in the fall.
"You'll learn two or three figures, and you'll look like a pro," Deborah assures me.
