Dancing keeps him young
- August 15, 2010
Charles Aikens feels like dancing. He can't help himself. Once he starts dancing, he doesn't stop until the orchestra or DJ stops playing for the night.
He likes all kinds of dance music, too: Latin, blues, boogie-woogie, hip-hop, waltzes, jazz and the latest move he's mastering -- Chicago Steppin'.
Aikens isn't ever too old to learn, and at 69, he's not so old that he can't outdance people half his age.
He is the dancing man.
Although a senior, he believes he could keep up with any partner they match him with on "Dancing With The Stars."
"I could beat either one of them," he said of Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith, both recent Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees who competed on that popular television show. "If I practiced like they do, I'd tear 'em up.
"I'm still groovin', competing. Some people tell me I'm the best dancer they've ever seen. I just like to show off. I'm fast, and I'm quick."
He dances once a week "religiously," and sometimes two or three times a week. Once dance partners find out his age, they're flabbergasted, because his moves are silky smooth, and he's feather-light on his feet.
"I go three, four hours without stopping," he said. "A lot of my partners tire out."
His first dancing experience occurred at age 14 in Oakland, where he still lives, while taking lessons at deFremery Recreation Center. Dorothy Pitts taught those playground kids the whole works -- fox trot, waltz, tango, mambo, cha-cha, etc.
Renowned local dance instructor Ruth Beckford wanted Aikens, then a McClymonds High School senior, to become a professional dancer. But he was just as impressive a baseball player, and he signed with the Baltimore Orioles.
He spent two years in the minor leagues, encountering racism from not only the grandstands in Appalachia, but from the Baltimore organization, which made Aikens and his African-American teammate, Jim Chambers, stay in different lodging from the Bluefield, W.Va., (Rookie League) team's white players.
"I got mad at the system, really frustrated," Aikens said. "Racism destroyed my desire."
Nevertheless, he advanced to the Class A team in Appleton, Wis. He tore up his right, throwing shoulder while baserunning, which affected his accuracy from second base, though he continued to hit well. When manager Cal Ripken Sr. benched him, his anger swelled, and he quit the game in the early 1960s.
Aikens worked in the Oakland Tribune sports department from 1963 to 1968. He earned a bachelor's degree in social science from then-Cal State Hayward and a master's in secondary education from the University of San Francisco in 1978.
He then taught journalism at Merritt College and a public relations class at the College of Alameda. He's now teaching public relations and communication skills at the West Oakland Senior Center.
"Baseball made me somewhat bitter," he said. "I almost went with the Black Panthers, but I didn't think it would be wise to pick up a gun. "... Racism can kill you."
Instead, he became someone "who would help people all my life." He's had his ups and downs along the way, going through two marriages and having trusted friends turn on him. For relief, he returned to his oldest partner, the dance floor.
"Dancing levels me out," he said Wednesday evening before taking another Chicago Steppin' lesson at the Oyster Reef Seafood Restaurant in Oakland. "Dancing is the only thing that makes me extremely relaxed. It gives me creative expression, camaraderie with other people, and it enhances my physical and psychological condition."
Aikens is the father of three children and has five grandchildren. None of them can outdance him.
"I like a lot of action in my dances," he said. "The new dances, I don't even know their names. I just do them. I can do anything I see other people doing."
Read original article: