Ballroom Dance Classes
With Pat Lyttaker
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Thursday Nights July 1 - Six Weeks
6:00 - 7:00 PM Beginner Ballrooms Foxtrot, Waltz, Rumba, Swing
7:00 - 8:00 PM Latin I
8:00 - 9:00 PM Samba
& Nightclub Two Step |
Call For reservations, please call Pat at 566-2498
Six week classes are $40 per couple or $20 per person
Pre-registration is required |
Eagles Club, map 2700 E Ash Springfield, Illinois
One half mile West of the Illinois DOT building
Enter the front door of the Eagles, and turn immediately to the left to enter the ballroom. Classes start promptly so show up a few minutes early to sign in. |
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Pat Lyttaker… This is Your Life…(so, far).
Written and orally presented by Naomi Greene as part of Pat Lyttaker’s Tribute on 9/13/08 |
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Pat, everything we’re doing tonight is because of our love of you and our admiration for your accomplishments. Just so everyone knows – I got most of this information directly from Pat under the ruse that I was writing an article. Well, I was – she just didn’t know exactly for whom.
Once upon a time, oh around 19????, a little baby girl was born in Springfield. Although she wiggled her toes and kicked her feet in the air a lot, little Pat Stevens grew up a very quiet…awkward… and introverted little gal. You heard right, I did say “introverted.”
Even at Feitshens High School, Pat didn’t participate in activities. No clubs. No rallies. No football games for this little girl. It was partly out of shyness, and partly because, being raised just by her mom, she found herself working after school.
In fact, she led such a quiet life, she says that if you were to talk to anyone from Feitshans High School, they wouldn’t know, or remember, who Pat Stevens was. She hardly had any friends in school – she would say she had none. So, instead, she worked every day after school, in her first job as a waitress at the Georgian restaurant at 9th and South Grand, which according to Pat, used to be THE restaurant to go to eat.
Then in her senior year, she went from the restaurant to working at Woolco across the street from the Georgian, because she thought that was cool. Working all the time didn’t allow much time for a social life. In fact, her first date was to the Senior prom with her best friend’s brother who was home from the military. Well, she grew up a very nice girl, and as a waitress and store clerk, she was great. But otherwise, Pat says, she really didn’t have any social skills - none!
Well, that was all about to change. After finishing high school, and with her cousins off to college, her Aunt Betty in Memphis invited Pat down and took her under her wing and said, “Why don’t you just stay here and decide what you want to do?”
So what does Pat decide to do? She goes to stay with her aunt, and she applies for a job at… Woolco! Well, as destiny would have it, Pat and her aunt were sitting in the Woolco cafeteria looking at the classifieds. And guess what? There was an ad looking for dance teachers at Arthur Murray! And, in her inimitable style, Pat said “that would be cool!”
Not missing a beat, her Aunt chimed, “You ought to apply for that! It says they train you!” Well… not one to be pushed by fate quite yet, and in her still inimitable style, Pat said, “Yeah, right!” But, not one to give up, Aunt Betty, said, “Well, call them and see what they say.” And guess what happened next? Did Pat get on the phone and make the call? Noooo! Aunt Betty got on the phone and made an appointment.
In those days, Pat couldn’t drive, so Aunt Betty took Pat downtown. Once there, was our shy, young Pat jumping at the bit to get out of the car and into that studio? Nooo! In fact, when they got there, Pat looked up at the building, and said “I can’t go in there! I can’t go in there!” To which, good ‘ol Aunt Betty said, “You will go in, I brought you here!” Not only that, she escorted Pat right up the steps and told the receptionist, “My niece is here to apply for a job.”
Well, she did get the job! Thank you, Aunt Betty!
She lived with Aunt Betty and traveled from Hernando, Miss., to Memphis for her lessons and teaching. She later moved to Florida with the studio.
Make no mistake. It was no easy waltz for our Pat – not yet. She says she was a slow learner. In her words, “I think that’s what made me a better teacher, because I am not a gifted learner, still am not a gifted learner. I can’t mimic – look at something and pick it up. I have to break things down. Once I’ve got it, I can teach it to anybody. Dancing is just where my skills went to.” Well, it still, didn’t quite come together at first. Unfortunately, or fortunately (depending on how you look at it), our Pat failed her first training course. She had to re-take the 10-week, 200 hour course. She went through the training; got through it – and flunked, because – believe it our not –she couldn’t keep time to the music. In fact, she ended up quitting dance training about four times.
Finally, her second teacher, Mark, realized that maybe Pat needed a little more encouragement. He said to her “Pat, you’ve got to get a little more back bone, and not let everyone see your feelings. You’re one of these people who has to understand what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Pat credits Mark as the one that convinced her to stay. Thank you, Mark!
In fact, Mark is the one who taught Pat to count – “Ready, and…” With that little phrase Pat says, “I faked my way through my tests. The only dance I knew how to count rhythm was the waltz.” Well, she found that by going “Ready, and…” to herself, she could start anything. And she made it through!
Ironically, for those of you who also came reluctantly to dance, that experience is what made her a natural and good teacher. She applied her insights and knew how to take the least confident person and instill confidence in them. In her words, “I had compassion and empathy for them, because I knew what they were going through. I never intimidated anybody with my knowledge because, I promise – if you give me the time, I’ll get you there. I guarantee, I wasn’t any faster than you are.”
And she got very good at teaching – the shy, the reluctant, the awkward, as well as the eager and coordinated. She and many of her students entered competitions, including the U.S. Ballroom Championships. She competed every year. Most of her students were older. One of her student competitors was a man who learned to dance with a prosthetic leg. 99% of her students took first place in the Pro-Am division. And her couples always won first place.
Well, folks, Pat has been teaching since 1967, or as she says - for more than 25 years. How she got back to Springfield involves the other half of Pat’s story – Don.
How did this shy, awkward girl finally manage to meet her man? Pat says she always knew that when she found a guy who was comfortable with himself, and confident and FUNNY – she would marry him. According to Pat, her sister knew one such guy, and introduced them when Pat came home from Florida on a Christmas vacation in 1986.
In Pat’s words – “Don is a confident person.” And he was different from other men she finally got around to dating. Those guys were easily intimidated! The minute they found out she was a dance teacher – shewww, forget it, they were gone! When she asked Don – “Does it bother you that I ’m a dance teacher? He said, “Oh, no! I love to dance!”
Well, they didn’t really get to dance much in the beginning anyway. It was a very short courtship. They actually only saw each other for a week and two days before they got married. Their whole relationship was fired up over the phone. When Pat came back in January of 1987, Don was in the hospital. It seems Don’s mind must have been on Pat, somehow he managed to accidentally gored with a drywall screw and developed blood poisoning. Well, Pat kept him company in the hospital 24/7, and really got to know him. Don says, they decided in three days to stay together. They got married the week he got out of the hospital.
On February 15, 1987, they found a place to have their reception and went around knocking on doors, inviting neighbors to help them celebrate.
Pat started teaching in Springfield in 1987 in a club, and they’ve been together 21 years. Thank you, Don, for bringing Pat back!
Now, I’d like to end by sharing one final interesting anecdote. Pat says Don is as good at what he does as what she does. He’s a great builder, and he signs everything. (Now, you’ll have to remember this next part for a presentation later in our program). In Pat’s own words, “I’m such a fanatic about people signing their work – if you’re proud about what you do you will sign it. Well, Don signs his work. I feel like anybody I put out as a dancer, I’m willing to say – yes, I’m their teacher. If you’re not proud of what you do, you shouldn’t be doing it.
Pat, says dancing gave her the confidence to be who she is today. She has trained thousands of students in all those years - too many to count - plus helping organizations.
Pat, those of us gathered here this evening are only a very small percentage of the many people with whom you have shared your talent and joy. You may not have had many friends early in your life – but Pat – look around to all the friends you have now, who came together to thank you and honor you tonight.
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