Wilmington
Company Member since 1999

Since she was 6 years old, dance has been Judy’s life. She studied dance with former Vaudeville performer, Tony Grant, from 1949 - 1953, and was part of a tremendously popular daily attraction at Atlantic City’s star-studded Steel Pier Theatre called “Tony Grant’s Stars of Tomorrow”. Also part of Grant’s performing troupe at the time were Connie Francis, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., and Frankie Avalon. Judy remembers fondly, “When my little brother was 6 years old, he told his friends I was a movie star and charged them a nickel to see me. They were all standing at my bedroom door watching me comb my hair until I chased them away.”

In 1957, she moved to Wilmington, NC, and took dance lessons from Betty Cress, a former Rockette. At seventeen, Betty took her to try out for the Rockettes, but she was too short at five-foot-two. Betty then started "The Cressettes" and made Judy a leader, performing across the East Coast with the Ronnie Bartley Orchestra. In 1959, Judy moved to Washington, DC, to work at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. She married her husband a year later; they had four children and grandchildren in Virginia and Maryland. Judy earned a teaching certificate from Kent State University and taught until her 1999 retirement. Returning to Wilmington, she joined the Hi-Steppers and began teaching tap classes, a passion she’s pursued for over 27 years.

In 2018, after 58 years of marriage, Skip passed away. Years later, Judy reunited with her high school sweetheart, Ron, who is one of the Hi-Steppers' biggest fans. In 2000, Judy won the Ms. NC Senior America Pageant, rode in the NC Azalea Festival, performed across North Carolina, and competed in Reno, Nevada. She returned to Wilmington, served as State Director for four years, and remains involved with the organization.

Judy says, “Making people happy through dance has always been my community work. It makes me feel good to know I’m doing something good for somebody else.” Betty Cress inspired Judy, and she credits her for making her who she is today. Having danced almost her entire life, Judy plans to keep teaching as long as she can. At 88, she proves age is just a number.