Dancing delight

“I noticed Kim’s motor coordination took longer to kick in, and it informed my teaching, to realise that not all kids were the same. When Kim was three, I took him to a Musical Inspiration class, and that was where his path began really.

“I am musical like him. I remember when Kim started conducting the Cathedral Choir in Rocky, and I took over for him for a while. I love music, and if I can’t hear phrasing when I’m dancing, I can’t dance properly.”

In 2005 Colleen was living in Rockhampton and had Glandular Fever and Ross River Fever at the same time. She developed Chronic Fatigue as a result and needed to take long service leave.

“When I retired from teaching, I took up tap dancing in Rockhampton for three years, then when I moved to Maleny I did some more tap dancing for a few years.

By VICTORIA MCGUIN

Colleen Ahern has just finished her ballet class, dancing en pointe under the guidance of her teacher, Fiona Jopp, at The Dance Academy in Maleny. Colleen was born in June 1943, and is a shining example of how you can relish new challenges and keep learning at any age.

“I grew up in Cairns, in a musical family, and all my siblings played a musical instrument,” said Colleen. “I danced until I was 11 years old when my teacher went to Sydney, and since then I managed to dance for a year in my early 20s and a couple of years of jazz in my 30s.”

Colleen’s two great loves have been ballet and mathematics. “I worked for a few years as a statistician, but desperately wanted a child, so I left and took up teaching for the hours and school holidays.”

Colleen had a little boy, who has grown to be a familiar name in the hinterland, musician/conductor Kim Kirkman.

“And then my luck changed as I met Dawn Thomas at the show in Maleny and she had just started her dance school, The Dance Academy. In August 2018 I began adult ballet with her and a lovely group of women and one man, although now we sometimes have two men.”

“We teach Colleen three times a week,” said Dawn, “in ballet and tap, along with about eight-to-twelve other regulars in her class. She is a great tapper!”

“Some of the group have been tapping for years, and we even have a lady come up from Glasshouse to dance with us,” shared Colleen. “They are all lovely. The class came out to help me celebrate my 80th birthday, and every Christmas Tabitha, who dances with me, organises a Christmas

As for the ballet, teacher Fiona is impressed with how far Colleen has come

“I can push Colleen quite hard, as she is very strong,” said Fiona.