Kathy and Patrick Weir drove close to 150 miles from their home in Edison, N.J., to dance with the Big Band Society of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
Local group celebrates first event since pandemic
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Dancers, some of whom traveled from New York or New Jersey, enjoy a festive evening with the Big Band Society of Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
The dance floor at Genetti’s in downtown Wilkes-Barre was full of graceful couples on a recent Friday evening as the Big Band Society of Northeastern Pennsylvania held its first dance after the pandemic.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
A few tangos were part of the evening.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
Mary Ann Rubin, in pink, takes a break from the organizing of the Big Band Society’s recent dinner dance and enjos a turn around the dance floor.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
“The days of wine and roses laugh and run away like a child at play …”
“Come on, Baby! Let’s do the twist!”
“Till then, my darling, please wait for me …”
“You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen …”
What do all those lyrics have in common? Well, whether you prefer the music of Henry Mancini, Chubby Checker, The Mills Brothers or ABBA, whether you know all the hand motions to Y-M-C-A by the Village People or prefer the notes of Cole Porter’s “Begin the Beguine,” you were bound to hear something you enjoyed last weekend at Genetti’s in downtown Wilkes-Barre.
The Big Band Society of Northeastern Pennsylvania held its first dinner dance after the pandemic, and organizer Mary Ann Rubin was thrilled to see close to 60 people filling the tables.
“We want to build it back up,” she said, noting that before the pandemic it was easy to see 200 or more guests dancing the night away. ”But just to see the joy on people’s faces is so nice. They’re so happy, and it’s a joy for me.”
The dancing is fun, said Irene Miller of Drums, who attended the dance with her husband, David. But even better was seeing long-time friends Bill and Cheryl Thomas of Dorrance and Lou and Pat Bertoldi of Weston. The three couples had often shared a table at Big Band Society dinner dances before the pandemic.
It’s never too late to learn different styles of dance, Irene Miller said, explaining that it was only after she and her husband retired — he was a police officer in Washington, D.C., and she worked for the U.S. Air Force — that they returned to the area and decided to take up dancing.
“I wanted to try something new,” she said.
“The DJ’s getting a lot of people up to dance,” David Miller said with approval, noting that it seemed to him that “more people are getting up than used to get up for a live band.”
Guests of all levels of dancing ability are welcome to attend the Big Band Society’s events, Mary Ann Rubin said, noting people attend as individuals, couples or groups.
For some dancers, distance is no object.
“I set our odometer before we left home and now it’s at 148,” said Patrick Weir of Edison, N.J., who was quite adept at swinging his wife, Kathy, around the dance floor and occasionally dipping her.
“My husband took many lessons with Arthur Murray,” Kathy Weir said, naming a famous dance-school franchise.
She didn’t have to take lessons herself, she added with a smile, because “I follow him.”
Foxtrots and waltzes, cha-cha-cha and rhumba, even a polka or two added to the fun of the evening.
The next Big Band Society dance is set for May 5. It will have a Cinco de Mayo theme, Rubin said, and will be held at Appletree Terrace in Dallas. For more information, she may be reached at 570-298-2616.
Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT
