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player ready...Return to the days of music`s yesteryear, when bobby socks, poodle skirts and the Platters were all the rage and couples still danced together. That`s what the Shoreline Ballroom Dance Club did last weekend with a special evening celebrating the music and sock-hop atmosphere of the 1950s.
The year-old not-for-profit dance club was formed by ballroom dance aficianados John and Erna Rokosz of Lake Forest and Ken and Judy Stall of Lake Bluff, with the assistance of instructor Norm Jahnke, who taught dance at the Gorton Community Center in Lake Forest.
”We started basically because there was nowhere to go and dance, ballroom dance, in the area,” John Rokosz, the club`s president, explained. For the Stalls, ballroom dancing has a special significance. ”We literally met on the dance floor,” Ken Stall recalled. The two were dancing with others then, but they enjoy dancing together now and have taken lessons in everything from swing to salsa to the hustle.
Saturday`s sock hop in the gym at the Lake Forest recreation center was preceded by a jitterbug lesson given by dance instructors Janis Kenyon and Tom Jackimiec. Kenyon said she has seen a resurgence in the interest in ballroom dancing in the last few years, spurred by the movie ”Dirty Dancing” and the Lambada dance craze.
”I think the trend for ballroom dancing is coming back,” agreed Libertyville resident Lyn Milliken, who attended her first Shoreline Club dance last weekend. About 20 couples, club members as well as newcomers, some in 1950s dress, joined the fun at the Shoreline hop. The group ranged in age from the 30 to 70-plus; so for some, the 1950s dancing was nostalgic, and for others, it was a new experience.
The club meets once a month, usually at the Gorton Community Center. Dances often are preceded by a lesson in some dance form. Recorded music is used on most evenings, but the group`s next event, a Valentine`s Dance on Feb. 14, will feature live music by Big Al and his Orchestra. For information about the club, contact Rokosz at 708-295-9053.