By GARY S. HATRICK
In past issues we have been featuring people throughout East Pasco who were influential and helped shape their communities. We have called them, “Living Legends.” This month we are presenting a legend who we have not yet featured and is no longer living among us – Sally Blackwood of Blackwood Studios in Dade City. Sally was a friend to many, including this writer, a teacher and mentor to countless thousands of girls and some boys, a generational dance instructor, a patron of the arts, and a coach of champions. Since I cannot interview her now, I am going to reprint portions of a story I wrote 9 years ago updating the story where needed. Perhaps for a brief time, it will seem like Miss Sally is still a living legend.
Nearly 60 years ago a young lady came from Lakeland to Dade City to begin a dance studio. She was no stranger to the stage having been born the daughter of two vaudeville performers who performed with a troupe that entertained American troops at USO shows. She was the mascot and danced onstage with her parents at the age of five making up dances as she went along. She also had no qualms about taking a chance and trying something different. She had gotten that quality from her mother who was a world champion outboard motorboat racer.
Sally Blackwood, who passed away on January 24 of this year at the age of 89, began Blackwood Studios in the Dade City Woman’s Club in Dade City in 1965. “The first time I taught in Dade City I still lived in Lakeland, and I drove up and taught in the Woman’s Club,” she said. The first recital was in 1966 held at the Pasco Middle School auditorium, which was the Pasco High school then. With a smile she describes the first experience. “Most of the seats were broken, the lights didn’t work overhead. We went up and changed every light bulb in there, but it wasn’t all the bulbs, it was the sockets. It was a lovely stage. It had the old-fashioned footlights that sprung up out of the floor. No air conditioning - the place was packed. There must have been 150 people standing in the back of the auditorium.”
The theme was “The Wizard of Oz” and Blackwood’s studio celebrated each 10 years of teaching with the Wizard of Oz theme. The tradition lasted right up to last year and according to her daughter Mary Ann Blackwood who now operates the studio, will continue. Miss Sally used “The Wizard of Oz” because it is so versatile for performance. “We went to all his books (Frank L Baum),” she said. “The movie was just taken from the one. So, we’ve gone to the other books so that we’ve got enough characters. That is an age-old story that you can do that with. You can just keep adding when you need it. It’s got everything in it, it’s got scary parts and fun parts and beautiful parts and all kinds of different things. The children love it.”
Back in the beginning, Mary Reid Smith ran the Little School Kindergarten in her converted garage on 5th Street in Dade City not far from the Woman’s Club. She approached Miss Sally about having a place to teach, “She said, you know I’ve always wanted to build a building for my kindergarten. Would you come and use it in the afternoon, and I could use it in the morning for kindergarten? I’ll build the building if you’ll promise to rent it from me for three years.” After three years, Miss Sally and her husband “Woody” settled in the middle building that make up the Blackwood Studios lot at 37747 Meridian Ave. in Dade City. Shortly after that, their second child Mary Ann was born.
Miss Sally said that Mary Ann was destined to be a dancer and dance instructor and president and owner of Blackwood Studios because Mary Ann was onstage very early in life having been there with Miss Sally before she was born. Miss Sally’s oldest daughter, Glenda, was no stranger to the stage either; she also taught at the studio for 12 years. Sally Genevieve Atwood was born to Ben and Genevieve Atwood on March 9, 1936. She started dancing with Jean Berg Toll in Lakeland, but she considers a later teacher, Mary Fariday, to be her mentor. After graduating from Lakeland High School in 1954, she went to New York where she danced with Joffrey Ballet School. She returned to Lakeland at her soon-to-be husband’s request, got married on Sept. 10, 1957, went to work as a bank teller and taught with Fariday until she began Blackwood Studios. Woody was president until he passed away in 2001 when the torch was passed to Mary Ann.
Love for the theater took Miss Sally out into the community and beyond to help with community theater choreography or other pursuits. She was a founding member of the Heritage Arts Center Association and was instrumental in launching the Spotlight on Talent Competition that HACA presents annually. “Growing up, I didn’t really know a lot about it. I was just part of it,” Mary Ann said. “Then as I got older, I realized how much of an impact she had with lots of people in the community. She just loved Dade City more than anything. She’d always say that when we drove into town.”
Miss Sally saw her role, to not just teach dancing, but to teach character- such as how to win (which they often do) and how to lose (which they sometimes do as well). “If you go out there and try, you’ve already won something,” she said. “You have already won knowing what it’s like [to get on stage]. You will get better.” “She worked hard and she came in contact with a lot of people and a lot of young ladies over time,” Mary Ann added. “She just always tried to make everyone care about themselves and their surrounding and what they’re doing. She encouraged me to learn from other people and even to work at a different dance studio, to know what it would be like when I was in college.”
Miss Sally also tried to broaden her students’ horizons by taking a performing trip to Europe every five years. “We wanted very much for our kids to have a good education in everything they do,” Miss Sally explained. “We have kids that have never been out of Dade City and have never been in an airplane. You know there’s nobody that can be quite so opinionated as somebody who doesn’t know very much. We wanted them to have all the experience they possibly could. Honestly, it’s easier to take them all to Europe than to take them to New York for 10 days and they are learning so much about the world.”
Since the beginning thousands of girls as well as some boys have been students at Blackwood’s and Miss Sally loved it. “I love doing the costuming, (all the costuming was done in-house) I love making the shows, and writing the scripts,” she said. “She kept teaching as long as she was able. At the age of 79, she said, “It feels like it did the first time. It’s just wonderful. It’s just what I love to do, and I still love to do it, and you must be doing something right for that.”
Mary Ann said she would not know how to begin to estimate how many students her mother taught to dance. They are all over Dade City, Pasco County and beyond. The Pasco County Fair Showcase of Talent competition dedicated this year’s competition to Miss Sally saying “Miss Sally was a great supporter of the Pasco Showcase of Talent and provided the gift of dance to so many in this community. Miss Sally will surely be missed by everyone who has graced the stage here at Dan Cannon through the years.” The HACA Spotlight on Talent asked the audience to rise to her memory at both of their competitions this year as well.
A celebration of life for Miss Sally was held on Feb. 8 at Simpson Lakes in Trilby, Fla. where family, friends, and the dance community gathered to honor her legacy. Her obituary summed up a legendary life: “Sally dedicated her life to the performing arts and inspired countless students with her passion for dance. As an Honorary Life Member of Florida Dance Masters, she made an indelible mark on the dance community, sharing her love for movement and creativity with everyone around her. Sally’s warm spirit and dedication to her craft not only nurtured generations of dancers but also brought joy to her family, including her daughters, Mary Ann Blackwood Hall and Glenda Jeter, her son-in-law, Randy Hall, and her bonus daughter, Melissa Walters. Her legacy will continue to be felt through the fond memories and life lessons she imparted to those fortunate enough to cross her path. With a passion for dance that never waned, Sally transformed her studio into a haven for creativity and self-expression. Her enthusiasm for teaching and mentoring fostered a community that celebrated the joy of movement. Sally’s vibrant personality and unwavering support reminded everyone she encountered to chase their dreams with zeal and determination.”
I was one fortunate enough to cross her path. Miss ya, Miss Sally. ♥
