already an engineer with a family . He started dancing lessons in 1972 , and found that he “ enjoyed the hell out of that .”
One of the dancers makes a request for Herman ’ s arrangement of “ How Much Is That Doggie in the Window ?”
Joe and Lucy Birkemeier travel weekly to Orlando from Ocoee . The couple has been coming to Marks Street for upwards of fi fteen years , when the band playing was smaller , and the dancers were far greater in number . Joe had done competitive dancing in a Balkan folk dance group in his youth in Ohio . The Birkemeiers are 87 and 85 years old , respectively , and an observation shared by them and other couples is that the reduction in dancers is for obvious reasons : they are aging and dying , which is impossible not to notice because there are fewer and fewer younger people taking up ballroom dancing .
But there is one younger couple dancing amongst the seniors . With a buoyant , irrepressible energy , JoHelen Breen-Skinner , “ Jo ! Helen ! With an haitch ! No space !”, is an Irish-born bundle of energy in a fedora and short dress with a machine-gun speech pattern reminiscent of a 1920s fl apper girl . She is there with her new dancing partner , Dancin ’ Dan , a dance instructor here in Orlando . They are joyful on the dance fl oor , with the confi dence of experience and talent , but they clearly also take care not to show up their fl oormates . They ’ re respectful regulars , and JoHelen knows many of the couples there . She suggests I talk to another couple who has a truly remarkable story , and who visually stood out to me , too , because they seem about forty years apart in age .
The band starts the slow introduction to their arrangement of Irene Cara ’ s “ What a Feeling ” from Flashdance — the fastest piece of the night so far . Lucy Birkemeier dances Joe along a path to where I am sitting with JoHelen and Dancin ’ Dan . She leans close to me with a conspiratorial twinkle in her eye , and whispers a warning , “ Watch what ’ s going to happen next !” I disappoint her a little by informing her that I know that the song is going to pick up speed , and feel a twinge of guilt at unintentionally robbing her of successfully surprising the newcomer . The fl oor is a little emptier , but the remaining dancers handle the tempo with panache . Handkerchiefs emerge at the end to mop sweat from brows .
I make my way to the opposite side of the hall to discover the story of the couple that JoHelen and others suggested . It ’ s a story more touching , poignant , and lovely than I ever would have guessed . Maurice Salamy met Sally , “ the most beautiful woman [ he ’ d ] ever seen ,” when he popped up on the street level from a New York City subway during Fleet Week in 1947 , and immediately asked her to go dancing . A single mother of two girls , Sally tried to put him off , but he was persistent . She relented on the condition that of the dance halls nearby , he take her to “ the expensive one .” Fast forward through 64 years of married life , parenthood , and dancing to the year 2011 . Sally was now ready to celebrate her 100th birthday . And because they ’ d never had an offi cial wedding ceremony , they made a double party of it by having a vow renewal ceremony at their synagogue . Faye Novick , a local event planner , handled the details for the occasion . Three years later , at 103 , Sally passed away , leaving behind several children and a lifetime of happy memories for Maurice , twelve years her junior . Faye Novick had been deeply moved by Maurice and Sally ’ s romantic story . After Sally ’ s passing , she committed herself to start the process of learning ballroom dancing so that Maurice would continue to have a dance partner . It is Faye — elegant , graceful , and smiling — who Maurice now twirls , cradles , and steps with .
What happens on Tuesday nights at the Marks Street Senior Recreation Center is a small slice of magic . It ’ s not Disney magic . Nothing fl ashy or fancy or loud or attention-grabbing . It ’ s small , unassuming , joyful , sweaty , human magic . There ’ s music , dancing , love , camaraderie , and stories . So many stories . For $ 5 , it ’ s open to the public .
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tearing up the dance floor , photo by Jason Fronczek
Orlando ’ s Art Scene , v . 1.6
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