Fatima Halloum
At 79 and 75-years-old, you’d expect Marika and Mark Tittl to be winding down and enjoying the calm luxuries in life.
Instead the award-winning couple are still tearing up the dance floor, teaching residents in Wyndham everything they know about ballroom dancing.
“We were born in Czech Republic and arrived in Australia in 1982,” Mark said.
‘When we arrived, Marika wanted me to go dancing, but I had never danced before so we suggested that we are going somewhere and taking lessons in dancing.”
A few years later, their teachers encouraged them to participate in dance contests and Mark and Marika won multiple national and inter-national championships throughout their careers.
As dancing became more physically demanding and the pair became affected by injuries, Mark and Marika chose to redirect their skills to help others.
“After 30 years of competition dancing and being really on the top of the classes and the competitions, we have so much knowledge that we would like to give it to somebody else,” Marika said.
The couple were inspired to teach weekly classes at The Grange Community Centre when they noticed the municipality was lacking the service.
“In Werribee and surrounding suburbs, we just wanted to go dancing somewhere and couldn’t find anything,” Mark said.
“The idea is, you can’t tell anybody ‘I can’t dance’ if you haven’t tried,” Mark said.
The couple encourage people of all ages and fitness levels to attend.
“It’s so beautiful if all the people get out of their houses and their retirement villages and do a little bit of salsa dancing,” Marika said.
“You’ll meet new friends and have a nice social time, in the dancing world everybody is really friendly.”
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