13 Best Girls' Dance Unitards

Bestselling Girls' Dance Unitards in 2023

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Dancewear Dreams

Starting a small business is tough. Here you can see how one couple made Ballroom dancing a success for their small business.

That's the way it was for my grandparents. When they opened Ed amp; Vi's Dancewear, ballroom dancing had become more than just a hobby for them. According to Grandma, the started dancing because Grandpa didn't want to be a wall-flower at the Moose Lodge dances. Not that Grandpa could have been a wall-flower had he been glued to it, but they began taking lessons. It wasn't long after that that they started dancing in exhibitions and eventually in the first Ohio Star Ball, which has become one of the largest ballroom dance competitions in the world.

With the advent of shows like "Dancing with the Stars" and "So You Think You Can Dance" the general public may be aware that ballroom dancers wear specific types of shoes. They are carefully manufactured with extra reinforcement to the arches (for women) as well as a special sued sole ideal for smoothly gliding across the dance floor. Until the mid 80's, there were no shops in the United States where you could go in, try on a pair of ballroom shoes, and walk out with them under your arm. In fact, there were no retail stores of any kind for ballroom dancing.

It wasn't just the shoes that instigated Ed amp; Vi's. Not only were the shoes difficult to find, but costuming became a problem as well. Fortunately Grandma was truly "old school" and had the education that made her an excellent seamstress. Don't call her that, though, because as the business grew and styles evolved, what was once a full circle skirt with a few embellishments became the kind of extensive ball gowns you are now seeing on TV. To create these works of art takes more than just a needle and thread and both Grandma and Grandpa worked together to produce their magnificent pieces. From the very first costume Grandma wore on the dance floor, the her final performance, she was requested to sell the very clothes off her back. I don't know that she ever did sell anything she had made for herself, but she was always willing to create something new for everyone who asked.

Including strippers. If you haven't seen any ballroom dancing, you might find this shocking, but some of the dances and the costumes are more than a little risque. Often so are the people, which contributed to Grandma's ability to make dancers from other discipline's comfortable in her shop. This was rather fortunate since it was her personality that had one of the strippers calling Grandma to help her replace an entire wardrobe that was stolen, and in a hurry. Grandma did it too, without thought of the time and energy it would take to produce so much so fast.

Maybe it was this willingness to step up to any emergency that kept them in business for over 30 years. Often I would be helping to sell shoes during a dance competition, watching as Grandma repaired a broken strap on a gown made by someone else. She neither turned down any emergency, nor did she ever refuse to fix someone else's shoddy work. Not that I ever heard her call it shoddy in front of a client.

Grandma was never rude, even to those who deserved it. Many times I would have to leave the room because of parents unable to control their children in the shop. Grandma never asked them to leave and even when she did have to say something, it was done in a gentle way and with a smile that no one ever took offense too. It probably helped that, when things did get a little difficult, Grandpa would come out of the back room and keep people entertained until the transaction was completed, and Grandma could breath freely again. Some folks even stopped by just to visit them, even non-dancers!

Certainly it was the personalities behind the business that made Ed amp; Vi's so successful. Even after other photographers were denied access to the floor as the Ohio Star Ball grew, Grandpa (and eventually Dad) were the privileged to be caught on film filming the moments. Most of the productions of the Ohio Star Ball that are played on the local WOSU show Grandpa on the edges of the floor taking one of the thousands of pictures produced at each competition. Not only did Grandpa's personality charm Sam Soldano (coordinator of the OSB) but he also had the opportunity to charm a few celebrities. Juliet Prowse knew my grandparents by a first name basis, Barbra Eden had several conversations with Grandpa as well as Dad when she was also hosting the televised portion of the OSB. Many Ballroom professionals have had close friendships with the family as well. I danced with James Kunitz when we still called him Jamie and I still have the album from his marriage to Janna because Grandpa was their photographer. The last time we saw Mary Murphy she still joked with Dad as though she and my uncle were still dating. Grandma and Grandpa liked to play match-maker I think since it was they who introduced Dad to the woman I call "mom": "Chuck, meet Pat. Now go dance with her!" This year that would have been about 20 years ago now.

I can be fairly certain that it was their comfortable personalities that contributed to the success of their business. As I was working the election in North Carolina, a conversation with one of my co-judges revealed her memory of buying dance supplies from Grandma nearly 10 years previously. Did I mention the shop was in Ohio? The only thing the woman remembered about the physical space was that it was blue, but she couldn't stop talking about how impressed she was with Grandma.

Grandpa died about 2 years before we officially closed the shop. Grandma ran it alone while she was in her 80's, climbing up and down step ladders at the whim of a customer. It still breaks my heart to think of the shop being gone. For over 30 years it had entertained us even while forcing constraints on finances and their time. Because of the shop I got to do a great deal of traveling, and grew up with ties to a sub-culture our Appalachian background balanced nicely. Maybe that's the true measure of success: not 30 years of memories, but 30 years of new friendships and experiences leading to the culmination of an entire family's character.