Retired Army Colonel teaches Shippensburg to dance

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Many Shippensburg residents have been coming out to learn how to dance at the hands of retired Army colonel Frank Hancock.

Hancock has been teaching the residents of Shippensburg Township, both young and old, how to dance the dance.

Hancock teaches both beginner and advanced ballroom dancing classes every Monday at the H. Ric Luhrs Performing Arts Center on the Shippensburg University campus.

The six-week course is designed to lead dancers through the basics either as a beginner or at the advanced level.

Hancock’s lessons come in two flavors: beginner sessions that start at 5:30 p.m., and teach the basics of dances like the swing, waltz, and tango; and advanced classes that start at 6:30 p.m.

The advanced class teaches dances like the foxtrot and charleston, waltz, mambo, two-step, rumba and advanced swing. The advanced class will also teach advanced steps for the dances taught in the beginner classes.

Hancock has been teaching ballroom dancing for years.

He also teaches lessons at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., with students from neighboring Cedar Cliff High School helping him out on occasion.

Current SU student and ROTC cadet Sam Gutshall is currently involved in Hancock’s lessons.
In teaching locals how to dance, Hancock is bringing back an art form that so few people today know exists. The art of ballroom dancing.

By going to Hancock’s lessons, people of all ages will be able to appreciate, learn and enjoy ballroom dancing.

They will also learn a skill that will serve them well for the rest of their lives.

Those who attend Hancock’s ballroom dancing lessons may come away with a renewed appreciation of the art, as well as a skill that will invariably come up at many points during their lives such as parties, galas, and, maybe eventually, their own wedding.