MARION COLES
Age: 88
Marion Coles is the dance director of the Silver Belles, and at 88 has seemingly boundless energy. During the filming, Marion had to get a pacemaker, and the first question she asked her doctor was, "When can I dance again?" She hardly skipped a week before she was back on the floor. "I don't like to sit around." She teaches tap to younger dance teachers so they can pass on traditional steps that would otherwise be lost to a new generation.
Marion also teaches tap at Queens College in New York, which recently bestowed on her an honorary doctorate for her dedication to her craft and her students. She continues to take tap classes herself, to learn new techniques. "She always used to hang out with guys between shows, eating up any tap moves they could teach her. "Dance, dance, dance, she'd dance all day if she could," say the ladies of Marion. She is the widow of the legendary hoofer Honi Coles.
