Dear Reader,

Most of you won’t recognize the name ‘Georgia Bertin’. However, I’ll do a little name-dropping throughout her story that will trigger memories for you.

Georgia was born in southern California. She lived in Orange County and Ventura County before ‘valley girls’ was a popular slang choice. As a young girl, Georgia took ballet and tap. Dance was a natural part of her family life. She grew up with parents who loved to organize dance clubs for square dancing and formal folk dancing such as the polka. Georgia said, “We kids would get out on the dance floor in our socks when the band was on break. They were spreading salt on the floor and we’d slide all around.”

Georgia hung up her dance shoes during high school years; her school schedule kept her busy. In those years, she only danced when it was a part of the Physical Education (PE) curriculum. However, she was the drum major for her Ventura County high school. During the summer between her junior and senior year of high school she traveled to Paris and southern France to study language. While there, July 20, 1969 to be exact, on a French television station, Georgia watched astronaut Neil Armstrong walk on the moon. Where were you during this historical event, Reader?

Georgia attended California State University at North Ridge in the 70s. There, she started to realize more of her creative nature. She received a B.S. in Home Economics for her Nutrition Major. During those years she loved the art department classes that taught her to weave and batik.

After college, she married her first husband, and they ran a manufacturing t-shirt company. Their marriage lasted four years, and then they divorced.

Single again, she moved to Hollywood and worked in office administration for an actors’ agent and then for a writers’ and directors’ agent. Between her jobs and her new friends, she would go dancing in Santa Monica nightclubs. In addition, Georgia was introduced to the world of celebrities. “My first week working for the actors’ agent, I was in a car with Robert Mitchum, heading to an Academy Awards after-party,” she said. He was a presenter at the awards show that year. Her connections also got her in concerts and backstage for such musicians as Doobie Brothers, Bangles and Sammy Hagar, to name a few. Who is a favorite band that you would love to hear?

Readers, just to trigger your memories – Robert Mitchum starred in 68 movies. In 1984, he was awarded a star on Hollywood Boulevard. He was described as a screen legend by the American Film Institute. Entertainment Weekly named him as one of our greatest actors. Doobie Brothers was a classic rock band for five decades – the 1970s being their most famous year. Remember their 1976 hit “Takin’ It to the Streets”? You’ve got to move when you hear that song. Bangles were a pop-rock band in the 80s. They had six really popular hits including their 1986 “Walk like an Egyptian”. Sammy Hagar was a rock musician. At one point in his career, he was the lead singer for Van Halen. You might recognize “Your Love is Driving me Crazy”. Who is a celebrity that you would love to meet, Reader?

Moving forward three years, Georgia said good-bye to the Hollywood scene. For the second time, she traveled through Europe. She was excited, when during one of her excursions, she found Eric Clapton playing in a tent in a little town in Italy. Of course, she danced.

Georgia settled in Paris, France so she could learn the French language and write screenplays. While there, she would often attend the well-known arena – Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy. She saw many bands perform. She mentioned seeing French singer, Jacques Higelin. Another time, celebrating her birthday, she saw the English rock band, Supertramp. “I always made my way to the front so I could dance,” she said.

In 1986, she met her second husband in Paris. He was a French law student. The next year, they moved back to Orange County, California.

Back in the states, Georgia managed a small cable company while her husband attended college. Four years into their marriage, they had a son. Early on, Georgia’s son had a lot of bladder and kidney issues. In later years, it resulted in kidney failure at 19 and a recent kidney transplant. In those early years, he was in and out of the hospital. Georgia’s husband –through all the stress – left.

Three years later as they tried to get back together, Georgia got pregnant again to her husband. Fearful of repeating the couple’s stressful medical years again, Georgia said, when he found out that they were going to have another child – left again, and this time it resulted in a divorce.

After the children started elementary school, Georgia, with her two children, moved to Santa Barbara. She began dating again. She also decided to take tango lessons, as well as classes in salsa, two-step, line dancing, swing, hula, and Balboa (a specific form of swing dancing).

For 25 years, Georgia lived in Santa Barbara, worked as an accountant, raised her children – and danced – specifically tango dancing. In those years, she was introduced to a tango dance instructor from Boulder Colorado – Gustavo Naveira and his partner, Gisselle Anne. Georgia would attend dance seminars that the Coloradan instructors held. Currently, the couple owns the Boulder Tango Studio. In a 2011 Huffington Post article – Gustavo Naveira was described as a dance maestro “sought around the world”.  They are universally-known for their dancing, as well as their unique knowledge of the tango.

After retirement, in June 2018, Georgia moved to Longmont, Colorado and began attending tango dance classes taught by Gustavo Naveira and Gisselle Anne at the Boulder Tango Studio.  She also started taking line dancing at the Longmont Senior Center taught by Terry Wallace. “She is great!” Georgia said of her Longmont dance instructor.

Before the pandemic, Georgia worked as a tax preparer for one company and a bookkeeper for another – both here in Longmont. Currently, her work is now online, and she is able to continue remotely to be a bookkeeper for several companies.

However, her dream is that this is only a stepping stone to the next years of her life. In 2020, Georgia, now 68-years-old, plans to travel to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. Why? Well, in the ports around the river delta of the Río de la Plata, you have on one side – Uruguay and on the other side is Argentina. That area, in the late 1800s, was the birthplace of the tango culture. Reader, do you have an unrequited dream?

After considerable research, Georgia started making plans to travel, with a three-month visa, to Uruguay where she hopes to immerse herself in school and the South American culture. Currently, the hold-up is the restrictions surrounding COVID-19. During this waiting period, Georgia has been approved to live on campus at the La Herradura Spanish School in Montevideo, Uruguay. There, she will hone both her tango and her Spanish language skills. As well, she will volunteer in the local community to teach English as a second language. After she establishes residency in Uruguay, she will be able to get a paid position as an English language instructor. Her plan is that she may also be able to continue, remotely, to work as a bookkeeper and possibly, a tax preparer. However, her main goal is to be able to dance where the tango culture originated. She will learn and practice from those in the local region of Uruguay and Argentina.

In 2019, Georgia had attended a writing class at the Longmont Senior Center. The lecturer, Jack Greene, spoke about writing poetry inspired by paintings. Georgia learned about the formal villanelle poem format. “It resonated with me,” she said.  Many of us have discovered that our plans are on hold as we wade through this pandemic era. Georgia has been using her time creatively. With the dance studios closed, “I wanted to keep my head in the dance,” she said. So, she wrote a poem in the villanelle style. She gives voice to the intense passion of the tango dance.

A Tango Villanelle

The dance of romance…

the tangled bodies embraced

in a melancholy trance.

 

First his eyes seek her glance,

then fingers interlaced…

the dance of romance.

 

Her retreat, his advance…

each step exactly placed

in a melancholy trance.

 

The tanda complete, she sits with her aunts.

The memory of his hand at her waist…

the dance of romance.

 

He glances again, perchance

he will once more taste

the dance of romance

in a melancholy trance.

 

~Georgia Bertin, 07/16/20

 

(Georgia explained: “Tanda is the word for ”batch,” and in tango, is the group of songs played together. There are usually three or four songs of similar rhythm or orchestra or singer or composer or era and the dancers dance with the same partner for all 4 songs before they change.”)

Georgia describes herself as someone who “dances to her own tune”. Having members of her family live well into their 90s, she said, “I could live another 40 years. What am I going to do for all those years?” Then she smiled and said, “Dance”.

Last month we visited with Christine Cochran. She shared her path to understanding some of her family’s mysteries. Linda, a Floridian reader, wanted to know if Christine ever met your biological father and brother? Christine answers that question for us: “I have never determined who my father is. I have DNA results that indicate who my great-grand-parents were on my father’s side. I did meet my brother about six months before my wedding in 2013. He walked me down the aisle and gave me away!” Reader Frank said, “Wow Debbie!! What a great story and blog. The problem is that you know how to hit the heartstrings for me. That is not bad…just emotional!” Maria said that it is “heartbreaking that she grew up not knowing who she came from; glad that genealogy helped her.” Jan said, “I love reading about how we discover who we are by who we were.”

 

Until next month, may peace be at your side,

Debbie Noel

We have several ways to interact with Debbie!

• Email her at DroppingInWithDebbie@gmail.com

• Register with the site (very bottom of the page) to have your comments viewed online

• Send your letters to:

Debbie Noel
C/o Longmont Senior Center
910 Longs Peak Avenue
Longmont, Colorado 80501

 

If you are interested in the Line dancing classes that Georgia took at the Longmont Senior Center, when classes resume, you may call 303-651-8411 for current schedule information. Information will also available in the Exercise section of the GO Catalog.

All programs at the Longmont Senior Center are occurring online and/or via phone. Most online programs all have a call-in option available. When the center can open its building and make many programs happen in-person, the front desk employees will notify everyone registered for those programs. Please note the registration details in the Go Book. The activities and some programs have special registration instructions. Due to the unpredictability of the pandemic, the center is opening registration for activities one month at a time. View or download the current Go Catalog online now. 

Before COVID-19, Georgia attended the Longmont Senior Center’s following two classes:

Line Dance (Beginning) -Are you looking for fun? Look no further. Join Terry Wallace, your instructor, in this wonderful form of exercise. For those who love music and want to learn some dance steps for their repertoire, this is for YOU! The benefits of line dancing are many — control high blood pressure and cholesterol, manage stress, strengthen bones and muscles without hurting your joints, and improve your balance. Not only is it a physical activity, it will keep your brain active, and you get to socialize and have a lot of fun all at once. Location: Longmont Senior Center, Wednesdays, 1:45 – 2:45 pm

Line Dance (Advanced) – If you have been taking Terry’s line dance for some time, or are experienced at line dance steps and can move along to the faster tunes, this is for you. Terry will continue some of the group favorites and teach new dance steps to keep you motivated. This is one of the greatest forms of exercise for all the reasons listed above in the beginner class. Location: Longmont Senior Center, Tuesdays, 1:30 – 2:30 pm