Sally Hess Ballroom Training and Competition Costs

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Sally's Students and Jill Sigman are organizing this fundraiser.

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We are organizing this campaign as former students of Sally Hess, the Fred Astaire National Ballroom Champion (2022) in the Senior IV Division. At the age of 82, Sally holds the Senior Championship Title four times over for the Ohio Star Ball, the largest Ballroom Competition in the U.S., and other titles as well. In addition to being an awe-inspiring and elegant Ballroom champion, Sally was once our dance and choreography teacher in college at Swarthmore and Princeton. She was a mind-opening, passionate, devoted teacher who made us into the creatives and professionals we are today—the kind of teacher who changes people’s lives. Now that Sally is herself a student, a Ballroom dancer in need, we want to show up for her—and we hope you will too!

In her professional dance career as a Modern Dance performer, choreographer and teacher, Sally was paid for her skills, but in the Ballroom world she is a student. The costs of studying and competing in the for-profit Ballroom world are incredibly high. Sally has nearly drained her savings. She is still winning Competitions, but the expense has become prohibitive.

Sally dances with her full being and sees everything as an opportunity to learn. She writes, “Ever since I was a child, I have loved dancing and performing. My career has taken me all over the world. I became a student Ballroom dancer when I turned 70, gratefully continuing my vocation, my passion, my life's energy far beyond retirement! Ballroom Competitions fuel my desire to join in community with others in a style that I have found unexpectedly late in life. They allow me to contribute through performance to a peaceful human endeavor — to create and share moments of beauty.”

Elizabeth Zimmer, dance writer, the Village Voice and other publications, writes: “Counter to the expected restrictions that are associated with aging, Sally’s experience is that she keeps learning and is improving greatly. To stop is to die, to cut (way) back is to survive but barely. How to continue? Will you support Sally?”

From Colleen Bartley, former Swarthmore student and former Co-editor at Contact Quarterly: “This woman needs to dance - her talent, skill and dedication are undeniable. She is truly inspirational.”

Please help Sally continue to dance and compete nationally in the year to come. A gift of any size is special and affirms the principle that to dance is to live.