A date to dance

A weekly dance class at Westchase Swim and Tennis Center is popular with mostly 30-somethings taking a break from parental duties.

By JANE BOKUN

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 7, 2000

WESTCHASE -- Timothy Mason had an unusual hero when he was growing up in a small English town near London.

"I wanted to be like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever," Mason said. "So my best friend and I decided we wanted to learn disco dancing. We saw a big advertisement for a dance studio near our homes, and we joined a juvenile disco class."

Soon, he said, he had a little girl partner and was dancing competitively. His success brought him to New York, then to Florida. Today, the 33-year-old Mason, and his wife, Michele, 32, teach eager residents the intricacies of ballroom and Latin dancing at the Westchase Swim and Tennis Center off Countryway Boulevard.

The mostly 30-somethings learn such dances as the waltz, fox trot, swing and jive, and Latin dances such as the cha cha, rumba and mambo.

For many of the students it's a chance for an uninterrupted date away from parental duties.

"We decided to do it because we've got two kids, and we needed to get to know each other again," said Terri Rogers, 31, of the Bennington subdivision in Westchase.

"I even gave up softball to do this," said her husband, Dave Rogers, 38.

During one recent class, couples swayed fairly in sync to George Michael's rendition of The Way You Look Tonight. After a graceful demonstration by the Masons, the couples, who are divided by gender while individually trying new steps, come together to try them in unison. Two people who have come to the class alone each dance with one of the instructors.

After about 20 minutes of dancing, the group takes a short break for iced tea, cookies and socializing. But then a Ricky Martin song provides the Latin beat for a mambo and it's back on the floor.

The Masons say they're pleased with the turnout for the course, which began about eight weeks ago. Sixteen dancers have signed up for a second, intermediate session.

"It's been very popular," said Michele Mason, also from England. "Ballroom dancing is good exercise for people even in their 90s."

The Masons have danced most of their lives.

"We learned to dance competitively at an early age," Tim Mason said. "We were both amateurs who turned professional at 16." They started dancing together in 1988.

They were spotted on the international dance circuit and invited to work in New York for the Fred Astaire dance studios.

"We had joined the United States competitive circuit and were one of the top two or three. We were getting contracts to go around the county, and we came to southwest Florida. It was a particularly bad winter in New York, and so we moved here in 1995," Tim Mason said.

The Masons retired from competition last November.

"We wanted to settle down, teach classes and think about having some junior dancers of our own," Tim Mason said. They teach at Rhapsody Dance Studio in Temple Terrace as well as the Westchase class, and they judge dance competitions.

"We're glad they started the class," said Heather Bauder, 34, of the Fords at Westchase. "We love to waltz."

Classes meet Monday nights from 7 to 8 p.m. The cost is $80 per person for an eight week course. A new intermediate class started June 26, and the next beginner's class will begin in September. For more information, call (813) 920-8181.

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