Marge Blakely has decided it’s time to go back home.
Blakely, a dance pioneer in The Villages and one of the most respected dance instructors here, is leaving to return to her hometown roots near Buffalo, New York.
Blakely and her husband, Harvey, recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Also, despite her youthful appearance and zestful energy, Blakely – like her husband – recently turned 80.
“We both feel it’s time to go home,” Blakely said. The couple has lived in Mallory Square for over a decade. “We love The Villages and the people here, but we want to be with our family.”
Blakely is renowned and beloved for her dancing legacy in Buffalo. She taught there for nearly a half-century in the Buffalo suburb of North Tonawanda, touching the lives of thousands of dancers. One was the late Michael Bennett. He won fame on Broadway and created “A Chorus Line.”
Blakely has a way of teaching her students more than just dancing.
“I’ve learned discipline, confidence and something else: you’re never too old to dream,” Villager Gloria Arnold told Villages-News.com in a recent story on Blakely. “Marge makes it special. She is patient, professional and she treats us as authentic dancers. This is not a watered-down class. She holds us to high expectations and she wants us to be our best. That’s what we strive for with Marge.”
Villager Carolyn Hosman took classes with Blakely and described her influence this way: “She makes a difference in our lives.”
Choreographer Helene Yelverton praised Blakely as a “wonderful teacher and dancer.”
Back in Western New York, Blakely’s studio is still going strong. Her daughter, Lynda BlakelyCox, and granddaughter, Andria Harrington, now run the Marjorie Blakely Dance Studio.
“Not only that, but my three great-granddaughters are taking classes there,” Blakely said. “Harvey and I feel it’s the right time to be back with them.”
Blakely taught jazz, ballet and tap for years at The Villages Lifelong Learning College. She also taught Liturgical Dance at the First Presbyterian Church in Wildwood.
Now, it’s time to take it easy and maybe do a little teaching and dancing in the place where it all began.
“It gets cold in Buffalo, but you get used to it,” she said with a smile. One thing that warms her spirit is dancing.
As Marge Blakely likes to say: “It keeps my mind and body in shape.”
