- April 16, 2024
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At 64-years-old, Ormond Beach resident Beth King took a leap of faith and crossed off an item on her bucket list: She learned to ballroom dance.
King, a divorce lawyer, had never watched an episode of "Dancing With the Stars" or ever really danced much at all. She didn't know the difference between a cha-cha or a rumba, and never envisioned herself gliding across the dance floor performing a tango.
“It was just something that was in the back of my mind, and I really didn’t know a lot about it to be honest," King said. "I just thought, ‘well, it’ll be something for me to try.’”
Now, two years later, ballroom dancing has become a passion for King. So much so, that she trains with her dance instructor Artur Kozun for four hours a week at Oceans Dance Studio in Daytona Beach.
King has also discovered she loves competing.
Just before the coronavirus triggered safer-at-home orders across the country, King and Kozun were able to compete in the New York Dance Festival in New York City in late February, where they placed third in the SR International Ballroom Bronze Scholarship competition and fourth in the SR International Ballroom Bronze Championship.
It was during that competition that King experienced one of her biggest thrills, she said. It was the moment she found out she was headed to the quarter finals.
King's enthusiasm for competing appeared shortly after she started taking lessons. In the beginning, the lessons were more social in nature. She was learning the basics.
And then she discovered the quickstep while watching videos of ballroom championships. King decided she wanted to learn how to perform that dance.
That's how she ended up meeting Kozun, a Polish native who has been dancing since he was 7 years old. Together, they have competed in four competitions so far, including ones in Orlando, St. Augustine and Miami. Kozun said he likes working with Beth because she's fast learner. She also asks a lot of questions.
“She’s a very curious person and I like it because sometimes it creates new knowledge,” he said.
While ballroom dancing can be physically demanding at times, King said it makes her incredibly happy. She called dancing an "anti-aging" method, as it helps keep both her body and mind healthy, she said.
Oceans Dance Studio was closed for two months due to COVID-19, and King missed it. Recently, the studio has reopened, and both students and teachers wear masks during their lessons.
Kozun loves seeing King succeed, and it's a testament that anyone can start dancing at any age, he said. Kozun loves to see how dance can transform a person's life. Beyond feeding the mind and body, dance feeds the soul, he said.
“I think it’s like a chameleon," Kozun said. "It can give you whatever you need.”
As a lawyer, King is not only a little competitive, but she's goal oriented. She loves having something to work toward. Competitions give her that. She's also met a lot of new friends.
But taking that first lesson took courage. In the beginning, King said it was very humbling having to learn a new skill from the very beginning. Along the way, she was surprised at how much is involved in dancing: The different patterns, rhythms, steps and even types of dance.
“There’s just a lot more to it than meets the eye," King said.
Now that she's competed in the New York Dance Festival, King has her eyes on her next big goal: performing in the Blackpool Dance Festival, the most well-known ballroom dance competition in the world.
