Advertisement

Retired Air Force captain is a DJ and dance instructor in Pasco

 
Al Walker, 65, has a mobile DJ and dance instruction service.
Al Walker, 65, has a mobile DJ and dance instruction service.
Published Oct. 29, 2014

PORT RICHEY — After a divorce, Al Walker made friends in a singles group at church.

"They talked me into going dancing on a Friday night," said Walker, 65. He enjoyed it, he said, and made a decision: "If I was going to do this, I needed to do it right. So I signed up for some classes."

Now, 15 years after his first dance class, he teaches them as owner of Two Left Feet Entertainment.

Walker retired from the Air Force in 1993 as a captain after 25 years of service and owned a software consulting business after that until he moved to Florida in 2004. Now, he is a substitute teacher for Pasco schools when he isn't showing dance students how it's done.

Two Left Feet offers mobile DJ services and provides dance instruction in styles including ballroom, Latin and swing in spaces he rents in Hudson and Port Richey, or at students' homes. His students, mostly adults, are often engaged couples.

At a wedding, "the cake cutting is the cake cutting. The garter toss is the garter toss. That's normal," Walker said. "Doing a choreographed dance for your first dance is totally different."

How many lessons it takes to learn to dance to their song depends on the couple, Walker said. One couple learned their dance in three lessons. Another couple took a lesson a week for five months because the groom-to-be worried he might forget the steps.

"On average, (it takes) six or eight lessons, if they practice," Walker said.

Their work, he said, is worth it.

"A lot of times, it's a surprise," he said. "(Wedding guests) don't think (the bride and groom) know how to dance, but they come out and do some really nice stuff."

Walker also teaches people who aren't preparing for weddings — and it's good for them, too.

"You burn more calories by dancing for 45 minutes, three days a week, than you do by going to the gym," he said. "It's a great pastime."

For information about Two Left Feet Entertainment, call (727) 457-7312 or visit twoleftfeetentertainment.com.