Drinks, dinner, and dancing were the go-to date-night format mere decades ago. Now, the joy and connection inherent in formal dance is a lost art. This highlights why Richard Easton and Pat Levy’s exquisite moves have built a reputation across Sandy Springs and Dunwoody. The dancing duo, aged 90 and 96, respectively, twirl and waltz all over town. Strangers often lavish them with compliments, sometimes with tears in their eyes; the sheer magnitude of praise astounds them both. While the beauty of dance came into both their lives at completely different times, they are fully aligned in their dedication to enjoying life in the here and now.
Richard and Pat met “through divine intervention,” according to Richard, at Mount Vernon Tower. Richard’s friends had been begging him to attend a dance social there, and he finally relented, even though he insisted he wasn’t a dancer. Their mutual friend, Charlotte, introduced the two. Pat, a lifelong lover of dance, was impressed by Richard’s “natural sense of rhythm.” Even so, she suggested he take formal lessons, specifically to nail down the waltz. They both take the craft seriously. Three years later, these sweet friends still dance regularly together and have amassed quite the fan base along the way.
It’s an incredible thing to live full, multi-faceted, and very long lives; it’s even more incredible to find new friendship and fellowship in one’s twilight years. While Richard and Pat seem bewildered at all the attention they receive, insisting they aren’t the most skillful dancers in every room, it’s easy as an outsider to understand the fascination. It’s not only rare to see formally trained couples dancing at everyday community events; it’s practically an anomaly to see two people in their nineties enjoying themselves more than anyone else in the room.
Dance is life-enhancing, joy-emitting, and demands a level of agility many aspire towards. Pat and Richard move, spin, and jive in total sync. Pat, a UC Berkeley alum, went to university at a time when many women didn't. Her own father didn’t approve. "He said, ‘Well, Mormon girls like you, they don't go to college.’ And I said, ‘I don't care. That's where I wanna go.’" Go she did. She met her husband at university and continued to enjoy ballroom dancing her entire life, often across the globe, and her passionate determination is evident in her dancing style. At 96 years young, she’s in tune with her body, with perfectly timed footwork and an unmistakable elegance.
Richard worked as a highly successful trial attorney for 50 years, a performance in and of itself, with a 90% success rate in jury trials. "I just love to stand in front of the jury, hands out like Billy Graham, you know?” Richard says with a twinkle in his eye. “It's almost as much fun as dancing." That charisma still emanates not only in his dancing style but also in his openness. He’ll pull up Pandora at the drop of a hat, often the Dean Martin station, then offer his hand to women so they can dance, whether at a live music event or in the produce aisle.
It’s vital for all of us, in every era of our lives, to get out of our houses and connect with our communities. Pat and Richard do so with total gumption, which easily explains their revered reputations. Dance serves as a unifier. Both Richard and Pat now know that regular dancing, and the network it creates, also acts as a salve on grief. Aging has its hardships, but the joy of dance softens the edges. When I ask Pat where they like to dance, she replies immediately, “Everywhere, anywhere. We dance anywhere there's music." Richard and Pat inspire people all over the city to feel the music, honor dance as an art form, and enjoy themselves no matter where one is or what everyone else is doing.
Aging has its hardships, but the joy of dance softens the edges.