Man refused to dance, but flip of coin prevailed

The flip of a coin changed Chuck McKay’s life. As his sons grew up and lost interest in team sports, in which McKay was very involved, he and his wife decided it was time to pursue an activity they could do together.

Sue McKay had her heart set on dancing.

“I flatly refused,” said Chuck, 50. “I didn’t even dance at our wedding. I wanted to take up bowling.” A meeting of the minds could not be reached, so the couple agreed to let a coin decide. Heads for dancing and tails for bowling.

Sounds simple doesn’t it? And yet Chuck had other ideas.

“When it came up heads, I refused to dance, so we flipped again,” he said. “It came up heads again, but I still refused.” After a month and a promise to Sue to abide by the coin, a third flip was made.

“I thought, ‘What are the odds it would be heads again?'” said Chuck.

Heads it was and the rest, as they say, is history. The McKays began lessons in 1993.

Chuck was an admitted “very slow learner,” taking six months of lessons to learn the basics. But once he did, there was no stopping him. After extensive research on swing dance, he became a self-described guru.

The couple soon decided there was no good local venue to pursue their hobby. And after taking a class where they ended up “teaching the instructor,” they opened the Back Door Dance Studio in 1997.

“I learn slowly, so I can relate to people who have a hard time,” said Chuck. Each one-hour class is limited to six couples so individual attention is possible, and the four-week sessions are available at a variety of times. Students learn at their own pace, so there’s no pressure to pick up the steps quickly. Singles are welcome to take classes, as the dancers are very supportive.

“There’s always someone to dance with,” Chuck said.

All ages dance at the studio, he added, but the average age is 50ish. The oldest student was a 92-year-old who always came to class with his 61-year-old girlfriend.

“I’d always been impressed and envious of good dancers,” said Arthur Norcross, 73. “Chuck and Sue are great teachers. I wasn’t sure how much I could learn at 70 years old, but I was very comfortable there and have learned a lot. They’re so patient and have a strong interest in their student succeeding and progressing. It’s a lot of fun.”

It must be. Norcross travels an hour each way for classes and dances sponsored by Back Door.

“I’d always loved dancing but hadn’t done it in 30 years,” said Joan Daly, 60. “I went to a dance with a friend and soon began taking lessons.”

“Back Door is a hobby for us,” said Chuck, who along with Sue works full time. “The income generated from lessons goes right back into the dancing and into the community.”

The dance troupe Zoot Suit Revue, born from the Back Door Dance Studio, performs exhibitions in full period costumes, free of charge as a fund-raiser for nonprofit agencies.

Eastern Agency on Aging and University of Maine Center on Aging are very appreciative of that fact. The two agencies will hold a swing dance 8-11:30 p.m. May 8 at the Elks Club in Bangor. Tickets are $10 for a single or $15 per couple. The Band Moon Puppies will provide the musical stylings. Zoot Suit Revue will perform during band breaks.

For information on the swing dance, call EAA or the Center on Aging at 581-3444. To learn more about dance lessons, call the McKays at 843-5638.

Carol Higgins is director of communications at Eastern Agency on Aging. For information on EAA, call 941-2865, log on www.eaaa.org or e-mail info@eaaa.org.