Chester County Edition
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June 2015
Vol. 12 No. 6
Shall We Dance? Octogenarian Passes ’50s-Era Dance to New Generation of Swing Enthusiasts By Jason Tabor Ivan Kerns turned 83 last September, but he hasn’t let that keep him off the dance floor. “If you want to stay young, hang out with young people and others who think young,” he says. Kerns is the president of the Central Pennsylvania Swing Dance Club, a volunteer-run organization comprising swing dance enthusiasts. He’s not just the president, however. He’s also an instructor. Swing dancing is the energetic form of dance named after the “swing” style of jazz music made popular in America in the 1920s to 1950s. It is associated with dancers lifting, spinning, or flipping their partners into the air in time to the music. Kerns has been dancing for most of his life. A congenital heart condition sidelined him from sports during high school, and that’s when he got involved in dancing “to have something to do” that was physically active but wouldn’t pose a risk to his health. As a result of his heart condition, Kerns underwent a new, radical openheart surgical technique in 1950 to fix the problem. His doctors informed him he was one of the first 10 people to undergo this revolutionary procedure. “I do believe that I am a world’s record, which I cannot prove—but think I am the world’s longest surviving open-heart surgery patient,” says Kerns. “Sixty-five years later, still here and kicking.” After graduating from high school, he accepted an offer from Arthur please see DANCE page 12
Photo credit: Jason Tabor
Dance instructor Ivan Kerns doing the East Coast Swing with one of his students.
Inside:
Getting Around When You No Longer Drive page 4
What to Buy — Desktop, Laptop, or Tablet? page 10