Stay Young, Go Dancing

The northern Michigan ballroom dance scene is on the upswing

By Eric Cox | Oct. 31, 2026

The late celebrated actor and dancer Gene Kelly summed it up perfectly: “You dance love, and you dance joy, and you dance dreams.” Aside from mere physical movement, Kelly viewed dance as a kind of transcendental activity that provides another way of expressing love and happiness.

Such lofty goals aren’t shared by every dancer, but some affiliated with Petoskey-based Ballroom Dance of Northern Michigan (BDNM) believe dance offers all that and more. Ballroom dancer Judy Wojcik helped found the nonprofit in 2006, and she’s been watching individuals and couples chase their dancing dreams for more than 20 years.

“Laugh, Learn, Dance” is BDNM’s motto, and Wojcik welcomes anyone with a desire to cut loose, forget about daily troubles, and learn some classic dance moves in a fun, friendly environment.

“You can’t really participate in dance class and think about things you’re worrying about or dragging you down,” she says. “It’s just a way to have fun. We want people to dance, laugh, learn and have fun.”

Getting Started

BDNM contracts with award-winning professional dance instructor Zoe Marshall-Rashid, who leads students through various classic ballroom dances, including swing, waltz, foxtrot, rumba, merengue, cha-cha, tango, west coast swing, salsa, nightclub two step, the hustle, and others.

Classes ($10 each, no RSVP or partner needed) take place Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Petoskey’s Crooked Tree Arts Center and Grand Unity Event Center, respectively. The art center classes are small due to limited space, but the event center is large.

Wojcik says BDNM is growing, thanks to the larger space, with classes averaging about 25 students. Though interest is currently increasing, she says ballroom dance instruction is generally very transitory in nature.

“We have to always be advertising and bringing in new people.” Wojcik, who has a degree in music education, tells Northern Express. “People leave. They get injured. They get married. There are seasonal students, people who are just passing through—it’s a very transient type of group. We have a core of dancers, but not enough to sustain the hiring of [full-time] instructor and paying rent. There’s so much turnover in a small community. If there aren’t new faces, you won’t survive.”

Reaping the Benefits

Since it waltzed back onto the national stage with shows like Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance, ballroom dancing has maintained a respectable following across a range of ages. Yet, the classes we attended slightly favored the gray-headed.

That’s no coincidence, as retired people seek out other hobbies to replace work. And, according to Harvard Medical School, retirees could be doing a lot worse than ballroom dancing.

“Scientists gave little thought to the neurological effects of dance until relatively recently, when researchers began to investigate the complex mental coordination that dance requires,” a 2015 article by the school says. “In a 2008 article in Scientific American magazine, a Columbia University neuroscientist posited that synchronizing music and movement—dance, essentially—constitutes a ‘pleasure double play.’ Music stimulates the brain’s reward centers, while dance activates its sensory and motor circuits.”

The article referenced other studies in which patients with Parkinson’s disease and dementia benefited from dance.

According to the Harvard Medical School article, “...dance helps reduce stress, increases levels of the feel-good hormone serotonin, and helps develop new neural connections, especially in regions involved in executive function, long-term memory, and spatial recognition.”

Everything at Once

Sixty-seven-year-old Paul Krecke of Petoskey echoed those findings. Not only did he meet his wife through dancing, but he also served on the BDNM board for 12 of the 15 years he’s been ballroom dancing.

At first, Krecke was just looking for some kind of evening social pursuit he could do locally. He found the ballroom dance group and never looked back.

“[Ballroom dancing] is social; it’s mental; it’s physical. It’s everything at once. It’s what I do on Tuesday nights,” he says.

Also a trail runner and pickleball player, Krecke says he uses the other activities to stay in shape for dancing, instead of the other way around. “I love movement of all kinds,” he said “…and [ballroom dancing] is an example of something with movement, learning, and laughing.”

Aside from the wellness aspects of dance, Krecke says his skills also have practical value. “The biggest benefit for me is that, when I’m at a wedding or social situation, I can now get out of my chair with my wife and do something about that, as opposed to just watching everyone else [dance].”

In the Swing of Things

As for Wojcik, she’s loved to dance since her teen years. “But, I had never done ballroom dance,” she explains. “There was a big void in this area. There was no place to go, and for a long time, [BDNM] was one of the area’s best kept secrets.”

But, now the secret is out, and classes are ongoing each week. Instructor Marshall-Rashid says there are unlimited opportunities for Michiganders to learn some classic steps.

She’s been teaching dance since 2011, after attending San Francisco’s Ballroom Dancing Teachers College, where she earned a teacher’s certification after an eight-month program. She then worked with a coach in a California studio and began competing in pro-am dance competitions. She and her instructor posted first-place finishes in both the San Francisco Open and the U.S. Dance Championships.

Now Marshall-Rashid welcomes ballroom dance students with a smile and a gentle teaching touch.

“Dancing is this great activity that combines exercise and social interaction,” she says. “Plus, it’s great for cognitive skills because you’re learning something new and memorizing it.”

Marshall-Rashid says that working with beginner students is her favorite part of the job.

“I feel like ballroom partner dance and social dancing is especially good for adult beginners,” she explains. “That’s kind of my niche—working with people who are scared of dancing, and it may feel out of reach for them. This is a healthy activity, and I love welcoming new people in and showing them how accessible ballroom dancing is for everyone.”

Take a Class

BDNM has seven more classes scheduled through the end of the year focused on learning the salsa and the waltz. Meanwhile, Marshall-Rashid always offers the option to book private lessons (prices range from $40-$75).

Recitals and showcases are also part of BDNM’s offerings. Students who opt in get to demonstrate their skills at public events, usually at the Grand Unity Events Center. In fact, the fall showcase will take place on Sunday, Nov. 22, at 4pm.

Marshall-Rashid also offers youth dance classes. She teaches a kids (ages 5-9) salsa class, the last session of which drew seven students. She’ll also be offering a creative movement class for kids (ages 2-4) through Crooked Tree Arts Center in 2027. Private dance lessons for all ages are available.

To learn more about northern Michigan dancing opportunities, visit ballroomdanceofnorthernmichigan.com or Marshall-Rashid’s website, petoskeyballroom.com.