It's never too late... to keep on dancing
By Mimi M.Maddock Mimi@TheColumbiaStar.com

Members of The Super Six, (l- r) are Cheryl Haltiwanger, Carey Ann Blankenship, Sheri Harbin, Betty Stockman,Mimi Maddock, and Elaine Baskin.

Two years ago a conversation among several women at Dianne's on Devine resulted in the tap dance group, The Super Six. Each of the six has fond memories of dancing, wearing fancy costumes, and performing, and they all loved their dance teachers, especially "Miss Betty."

When the group asked Betty Stockman (Miss Betty) to teach the class an hour once a week, she agreed. This is when the group got serious and became The Super Six. The members are Elaine Baskin, Carey Ann Blankenship, Cheryl Haltiwanger, Sheri Harbin, Mimi Maddock, and Betty Stockman.

The love of dancing and the discipline Miss Betty insists upon has held this group together. Miss Betty and her daughter Sheri Harbin who is also her assistant, have choreographed four routines. Each lesson begins with a warmup at the bar, and then the routines are practiced.

On May 5, 2008, The Super Six celebrated Miss Betty's 84th birthday at the Bonefish Grill on Forest Drive. This was the second birthday the group had celebrated with Miss Betty during their two years of lessons with her every Monday at 5 pm sharp at Pavlovich Dance Studio.

According to Harbin, her mother cannot go anywhere without seeing her former students. Such was the case at the Bonefish Grill when a student attending Clemson University ran over and hugged her.

Miss Betty was a dance teacher at Roy McCulloch School of Dance in the 50s, and after McCulloch's death in 1984, the studio became Betty Stockman School of Dance until the late 90s when Miss Betty retired.

Sheri Harbin taught at the Woodrow Street studio after she entered Dreher High School and continued until graduating from USC where she used her skills as a cheerleader. She has worked for IBM since college and is presently the technical support renewal manager. Harbin is married to John and the couple has three grown children.

As a child, Elaine Baskin took dance lessons at Mays Park. She graduated from Dreher High School, attended USC, and was off to Italy for several years. After Italy, she moved to New York where she was a lobbyist for a large corporation. During this time away from Columbia, Baskin married and had three children. After a divorce and a move by her company to New Jersey, Baskin decided it was time to come home. She now has a pet sitting business with her husband, Weems Baskin.

Carey Ann Blankenship took dancing from Miss Betty at age seven. She graduated from Dreher High School, married Bobby Blankenship, and began working for the Employment Security Commission. She worked at the commission for over 30 years and has been married to Bobby for 45 years. They have two daughters. The Blankenships are both retired and spend much of their time with their grandchildren and traveling between Edisto, the mountains, and San Miquel, Mexico.

Cheryl Haltiwanger did not grow up in Columbia but made this her home after graduating from USC. She married the late Charlie Haltiwanger, and they had three children. Haltiwanger graduated in elementary education and taught at Satchel Ford Elementary School. She went back to school and got certified to teach history in high school and taught at A.C.Flora until she retired last year. Haltiawanger is an avid gardener and NASCAR enthusiast.

Mimi Maddock also took tap from Miss Betty at the age of five. Maddock graduated from Dreher High School, USC, and the University of Alabama in Birmingham. She taught school in Atlanta, Birmingham, and Columbia for a total of 23 years afterwhich she joined her father, Miller Montgomery, and her brother, Warner Montgomery, at The Star Reporter (The Columbia Star) in 1989 where she continues today as executive editor. She has one son and three grandchildren. Maddock also loves the salsa and takes from Pavlovich when it is offered.

Pavlovich is presently offering adult classes in ballet and pilate.