Winston and Lilly Chow are first Asian Americans to win California competitions
MILLBRAE, Calif. — With grace and elegance, ballroom dance champions Winston and Lilly Chow captured the heart of the audience as they glided across the floor at 2007’s U.S. National Amateur Senior Standard Championship in Kentucky.
In August, they became the first Asian Americans from Northern California to win a U.S. national amateur senior ballroom title, in the over-55 category, beating out 11 other couples from across the country. At an annual Belgium dance competition in October, they placed 72 out of 224 couples around the world in the over-45 category; in the over-50 category, they tied for seventh place out of 38 couples.
The husband and wife team started dancing socially in 1996 in an attempt to lower Winston’s cholesterol level. Dances such as the quickstep and Viennese waltz involve a great deal of running across the floor; a routine of quickstep can be the exercise equivalent to running a 2000-meter marathon, according to Lilly, 58. Indeed the activity did bring his cholesterol level down, gave him more stamina, “and I get to dance with my favorite girl,” said Winston, 60, who has since lost 15 pounds.
It also gives them a mental workout, which Lilly says “keeps us younger ‘cause we constantly have to think.” They must learn new steps, techniques and ways of moving, as well as stay alert to avoid collisions and pay attention to each other’s physical cues — pushing an arm or turning a certain way, for example, to communicate on the dance floor.
The couple began competing in 2001, and they now dance in competitions about once a month and have won 22 tournaments. About half a dozen Bay Area dancers in their age group enter amateur competitions, but only a few of those are Asian and willing to travel, according to Winston, adding he would like to see other Asians accomplish the same “or better — and are younger.”
“It’s inspiring to see other Asians get on the dance floor, because you want to see role models out there,” said Winston, a retired research department manager and San Francisco native (Lilly is a Shanghai-born real estate broker, who immigrated to the U.S. at age 2). “We hope we serve as role models by winning a U.S. championship.”
At the Belgium competition in October, they were the only couple in the over-50 category representing the U.S. and also the only Asian couple. According to Lilly, the reason for fewer Asian couples is because Europeans instill dancing as part of their elementary school curriculum.
The pair says they are accustomed to being one of the few Asian American couples at competitions, but they are not intimidated. “Well, there’s bound to be prejudice, but we try not to let it bother us,” Winston said. “We try to overcome that by performing better than the rest. Let the dancing speak for itself.”
The Chows practice five nights a week for 60 to 90 minute sessions at The Imperial Dance Club near their home in Redwood City; younger dancers practice three to four hours a day. “If we did that, we’d be in crutches and a wheelchair,” Winston joked.
They receive training once a month from World Professional Ballroom Championship runner-up Charlotte Jorgensen, who also appeared on the first season of the ABC TV show Dancing With the Stars, which the couple acknowledged has fueled an increase in the popularity of ballroom dancing, especially among seniors. With celebrity contestants like Jane Seymour and John Ratzenberger in their 50s and 60s, the show inspires many to become physically active later in life, the couple said. “It demonstrates that no matter how old you are, if you apply yourself, you can dance,” Winston said.