S3 Ep3: Shirley Goodman (The Dancing Nana)

What Should I Do With My Life? with Steph Horwitz

Meet Shirley Goodman, AKA the Dancing Nana! At 99 years young, Shirley has been tap dancing for over 90 years! She started performing as a tap dancer as a young girl in the vaudeville days, and after high school, Nana opened up her own dance school. Today, you can find Nana performing at various Jazz venues in Sarasota, and teaching at local retirement homes, synagogues, and churches. You may recognize nana from her viral video dancing the tush push with her grandchildren at a family wedding. Her video has garnered over 50 million views, and she has truly become an internet session! Nana’s passion for dancing and movement is contagious, and she truly inspires everyone she meets, and everyone who sees her videos, to get up and dance. Today’s episode is extra special, because I am joined by my sister-in-law Miriam, who happens to be nana’s granddaughter! In this episode, we talk about how how Nana’s passion for tap dancing began, how it felt for Nana to achieve her lifelong dream of dancing on TV on Good Morning America– which happened in her late 90’s might I add!-and we find out what nana always keeps in her purse. This episode also includes an extra special audio clip of Nana tap dancing in 1938 on the Major Bowes radio show that you MUST hear.

If you want to follow Nana and see her dance, follow her instagram page https://www.instagram.com/the.dancing.nana/ .