Years before I was born into the Mathys family, my grandmother Ann Cahoon Mathys danced and taught dancing. She got her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physical education. During her brief tenure at Kansas State University she convinced the Kansas State Legislature to allow women in physical education classes to wear bloomers. She fought for the right for women to vote. She also gave birth to my father, Ed Mathys.
Tucked into a memory box was her Dance Record Book, filled with page after page of dance instructions. On my website, I included a copy of a few pages from this book and a modern rendition of one of the dances she outlined — Little Man in a Fix. Step back in time and visit a small slice of her dance world here.
She is teaching me to dance now, across the generations.