VCU news

By Mike Porter

Everett Worthington remembers his introduction to ballroom dancing very well.  It was 1968, his senior year in college, and he needed to take one elective for that final quarter.

“I had met my wife-to-be, Kirby, at that time, and I invited her to take this dancing class with me,” Worthington said. “We weren’t really ballroom dancing. It was more like shuffling, really. But we enjoyed it.”

As their relationship grew, so did the couple’s love for ballroom dancing. When Worthington served in the Navy, they enjoyed dancing at the officer’s club. But Everett and Kirby Worthington didn’t really get serious about ballroom dancing until they saw an advertisement about 15 years ago.

“We saw this ad for an open Friday night dance at the Marriott,” he said. “So we went to check it out. The dancers were actually in the lobby and everyone passing by could see them ballroom dancing.

“We decided to make a family activity out of this and took the four kids and joined a ballroom dancing club,” he said.

His passion for ballroom dancing grew as time passed. For the last three years, Worthington has danced once or twice a week.

A few weeks ago, he was leaving a dance lesson when the owner of Rigby’s Jig Dance Studio called out to him.

“And she said what are you doing next Thursday night?” Worthington recalled. “And what are you doing the following Tuesday night? And I said why do you want to know?” 

It turns out another dancer wanted to enter a ballroom dancing competition. But her partner was unable to participate.

“I like to dance with my wife,” he said. “She’s my primary partner, but she was injured. I knew she would want me to do it so I said ‘yes.’”

Worthington teamed up with Patti Wills. They competed against dozens of other couples in front of a panel of local judges and were selected as one of 10 couples to advance to the final competition before a national judge as part of the “Dancing with the Stars” national tour, which came to the Richmond Coliseum on Jan. 30.

Worthington is recognized as an international expert in the field of forgiveness and has appeared on a number of national television programs. But those appearances didn’t prepare him for the “stage fright” he experienced just before his live performance.
 
“Being there, the live band, the bright lights and knowing 6,000 people were out there watching increased my adrenalin production,” Worthington said.  “But as soon as I went out, I was fine.”

All 10 couples danced the cha-cha for one minute in front of the judge. Worthington and Wills were eliminated. 

“You practice and practice and have your one minute and you have to be lucky enough to have the judge look at you when you perform your trick,” Worthington said.

Ethan Miller, 10, and his partner Alexa Chapman, 8, and Charles Yancey, 16, and his partner Elysia Greene, 15, tied for first place.

“You know, I’m pretty competitive so I was disappointed that we didn’t win,” Worthington said. “But you have to ask where’s the future of ballroom dancing? When those young people danced, we all pretty much knew who was going to win.”

The early elimination allowed Worthington and Wills to relax and enjoy the rest of the show which he said was one of the best he’s seen.

“It was a great experience, however I’ll let somebody else enter next time,” Worthington chuckled.  And then his competitive spirit kicked in. “Actually it was fun, I’d do it again.”