Strictly come dancing with Owen
WATCH this 86-year-old man ballroom dance.
THERE are shortcuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them! At 86-years-old, the charismatic and talented Owen Clarke is one of Empangeni’s finest trained ballroom dance instructors.
What was initially just an interest in wanting to learn how to get by on the dance floor, turned into seven years of ballroom dancing lessons.
Originally from England, Owen started dancing in 1964 and later, in 1975 moved to South Africa where he took up a dance instructor post at Arthur Murray International Dance Studios in Johannesburg.
‘I just wanted to learn the basics and I was hooked. I didn’t go home at all,’ said Owen with a chuckle.
After two years in Johannesburg, Owen took ownership of a dance studio where he taught every day of the week for eight years.
‘However, the political situation at the time did not allow many people to dance, the rent kept going up and I had to kind of break even,’ he said.
During his years of teaching, Owen met his wife.
They later moved to Richards Bay in 1998, shortly after, Owen responded an advert in the Zululand Observer seeking a dance instructor.
‘There was a civil engineer who had been travelling to Durban once a week for an hour lesson and decided to advertise in hopes of finding a local teacher.
‘I called him up and we got a dance studio going. He funded it, I taught,’ he said.
An English gentleman
Owen is the youngest of three children, with a sister living in England who celebrates her 99th birthday this month.
Before following his passion, Owen worked at an aircraft factory for 27 years.
During the World War Two, Owen developed a great fascination with aeroplanes.
‘I would assemble planes and popular at the time was the De Havilland aircraft, on which I worked quite extensively.
In his spare time, Owen walks his dogs, reads Shakespeare or enjoys tasty variations of pasta.
Friedrich Nietzsche once said, ‘We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once’ – those interested in learning ballroom dancing, can contact Owen on 082 7058121.
