I first saw Lena Vitalie five years ago at one of my first visits to Tuesday Night Jump. I couldn't take my eyes off of this adorable lady who was just a fireball of fun and energy. Even though she was obviously older than most of the other followers at the club she was leaving most of them in the dust. I just had to meet her and that introduction has lead to a friendship I cherish. I will tell her outright that she is one of my dance idols-and for so many reasons! Her charm, her style, her strength and her dedication to Lindy Hop are a continuing source of inspiration to me. When I asked her if she would be my first interview for this blog she not only obliged me but wrote this wonderful personal dance history for me. I'm posting it just as she wrote it. Her personal history parallels the resurgence of Lindy Hop in the Bay Area and she's full of great stories about those times. Next time you spot her on the dance floor be sure to introduce yourself-you'll be glad you did. And Gentlemen, ask her to dance. You'll be in for a treat.
Lena in her own words:
Here is my personal experience of how I became involved in the Swing Dance World at an age when most dancers are slowing down.
I began dancing later than most, due to a medical condition called Hyperhydrosis which is a condition having to do with over active sweat glands, which in my case manifested in my hands. My hands were always dripping wet making for a very uncomfortable and embarrassing situation when having to hold someone's hand for the duration of a dance. This only happened when I felt nervous. The only dances I attended were my Junior and Senior Proms because the dress of the period included gloves.
One day my daughter came across an article that mentioned this condition and that there was a corrective surgery procedure. I couldn't wait to get to Stanford to have this surgery. It's called Simpathecomy. Two incisions were made, one on each side of my throat, and the nerves were cut that controlled the sweat glands to stop the sweat from both hands. Prior to the procedure I was warned about possible side effects, but I didn't care. I was in my 50's and wanted to dance and was willing to chance the surgery and the possible side effects.
My very first dance class was at The Avenue Ballroom on Taravel Street in S.F. My very first dance lesson was a Jitter Bug class taught by Kelly Buckwalder. She also taught WCS there. It was also at the Avenue Ballroom where I met someone who has become my longtime friend and dance partner. The Avenue, as we called it, was the rebirth of the ballrooms of S.F. that had faded away due to the times. Dancers came from all over the Bay Area to dance at the Avenue. The Avenue caught on and soon other ballrooms opened their doors and the selection of places to dance grew.
West Coast Swing was the dominate swing dance at the time and it was all I knew and did for about 8 years until 1993 when I discovered Lindy Hop, Frankie Manning, Norma Miller, Betty Wood, Fayard Nicholas, and so many other survivors of the Swing Dance world of the 30's and 40's. Due to the Frankie Manning Workshop assignments, my dance partner and I developed a very close relationship with Frankie and it is a friendship, the memory of I will cherish forever.
At this point I joined other Lindy Enthusiasts and in 1994 we founded the Northern California Lindy Society. We had our first Bay Area Lindy Workshop in February of 1995 which was an experience that changed my life. My experience with the beginning of the Lindy community is another relationship I will cherish forever. All of us involved feel the same way. It was a threshold to a once in a lifetime experience. I danced at every opportunity and venue that I could get to.
In 1999, to my surprise, I won the Intergenerational Competition (at Satin Ballroom) in Los Angeles with Johnny Lee, beating out dancers who I considered to be far better than myself and a lot more experienced. Before that contest I had won a small contest with my friend Bernie doing Balboa at the Claremont Hotel and in Mendocino during one of Frankie's Birthday celebrations with the NCLS (Northern California Lindy Society) my partner and I won a dance contest. The biggest surprise was when I won not once but two years in a row at Stanford College in a Swing contest with someone I had just met and had never danced with before that night. I had no intentions of entering a dance contest. I was there to take some pictures of Rob VanHarron and Diane who were teaching a lesson that night. These memories I will treasure for as long as I live. I went from a gal who couldn't dance due to a medical disorder to someone who actually won some dance contests! I truly feel I have made up for all those years I couldn't dance.
I was once told by a champion swing dancer who watched me doing the Lindy in Berkeley, and I quote, "Lena, this is your dance!" and it sure is. When I am dancing on the floor I light up like a Xmas tree and I grin from ear to ear. The aches and pains related to aging go away, along with any stress I may feel.
Don't get me wrong, I loved being a housewife and a mother to three beautiful children, but my world became smaller when they didn't need me any longer. I needed something for me. Dancing, especially Lindy, opened my world to a point I could never imagine.
In my generation, women did not ask guys to dance. That just was not done, it was not proper. That is something that is hard for me to do. I am not comfortable asking a guy to dance. Today when I am at a dance without my dance partner, I don't get to dance as much as I would like because of my age. Let's face it, guys want to dance with younger sexier gals, and I don't blame them. I just wish there were more older people doing Swing Dancing. I have had a few experiences where a guy just said "no" when I asked them to dance, or they would make some excuse why they couldn't dance with me at the moment. That makes me feel awful. I wished I had never asked. Of course, that has not stopped me from going out where the young kids go and dance because I do get a little dancing in now and then. You can't do anything about the numbers, it is what it is. There are a lot more women than guys and when you are an older lady it makes it that much harder to get on the dance floor.
I'm just thankful that I can still do some swing dancing. As long as I can boogie I'm happy. I have certainly made up for all of those years I didn't dance. I have gone beyond my expectations and have become a dancer. I feel I will live longer because of dancing.
Lena Vitalie
Lena cutting a rug with her dance partner.
