Watch the full interview here: https://youtu.be/4AdeUVREJ5w?si=dg4Cy48lAA5t7P6j
I’ve had the immense pleasure of knowing today’s guest since the 1970s, and watching his career unfold has been nothing short of spectacular. He’s a true dance icon whose work has graced some of the biggest stages in the world — dancing alongside Diana Ross and bringing her iconic performances to life, moving right alongside Michael Jackson himself in the unforgettable “Beat It” video, and in the 1980s taking his talent to Europe, where he became the celebrated choreographer of the world-famous Moulin Rouge for decades.
Now he’s back in the States, and I’m thrilled about one of his latest passions: a dance class designed specifically for people over 50 that proves age is truly just a number when it comes to the joy of movement. He’s a choreographer, a dancer, a legend, and a dear friend — please welcome Billy Goodson.
Can you tell us a little about your career and how you got started as a dancer?
I started as a club dancer in Hollywood. I’d been living in Northern California, got divorced very young, and moved back to Los Angeles at 19. My first night out was at a disco called Gino’s II on Vine, near Santa Monica Boulevard, and it changed my life — I became a club dancer, favoring whacking, with a bit of locking and popping mixed in.
I partnered up with a dancer named Miranda Garrison, and we became fairly well known around the city. One night we saw Alvin Ailey perform at the Pantages, and I asked her afterward if she thought I could do that kind of dancing. She told me I had the talent, but that I was late to start — most trained dancers begin at six or seven, not nineteen. She gave me a list of ballet, jazz, and modern classes to take, and by nine the next morning I had my hand on the ballet barre with Gian Marachios. That was the beginning of everything.
About six months later, Tony Basil discovered me at a club called the Paradise Ballroom and hired me for her show. David Winter saw me there and brought me on as assistant lead dancer for Diana Ross — I toured with her for three years. He eventually asked me, somewhat under the table, if I could help choreograph the show, since he knew I dabbled in it. I was twenty years old, and that began my choreography career. Diana Ross introduced all of us to the Jackson family during that tour, and Michael Peters — one of my mentors, along with Joe Tremaine and Hamie Rogers — later hired me for “Beat It.” That was my first time working with Michael Jackson, right as MTV was beginning to change pop culture.
During the 1980s I also created a fitness program called CardioFunk, blending hip-hop with low-impact aerobics, with my friend Karen Voight. Then I moved to Europe, first to Italy, where I fell in love, learned Italian quickly, and ended up choreographing for international stars. When the star of the Moulin Rouge came through for a two-week engagement, she called the Moulin Rouge afterward and told them to give me a contract. They hired me in 1987, and I was their choreographer for more than 40 years.
What drew you to Europe, and what kept you there for so long?
There’s a romantic side to me that Europe really spoke to. It felt so much older and more established than what we have here — they still had full variety shows with live orchestras, singers, comedians, dancers, and actors all together. That was exactly what I’d been trained to do, and it still existed there, whereas by that point in America, outside of Broadway, it largely didn’t. I ended up living in Europe for more than 30 years, going back and forth.
What brought you back to the States?
During COVID, my mother — who was in her early 90s — fell ill, and I’d been dealing with her health from thousands of miles away for years. I realized I was done watching from a distance, and I moved back home about a year into the pandemic. She and I had almost three incredible years together before she passed at 95. Since then, the past couple of years have been about reimagining my life — not only without her, but also reimagining my career. I’ve spent my whole career working with young people, but now I’m working much more with seniors and mature adults, and I love it.
Tell us about the class you’re teaching now for people over 50.
I teach several times a week in what we call an “over” class, for grown folks. It’s a slow, intermediate-level class, and the students range widely — some are former professional dancers, some were huge stars in their day who are now my students, and some have never danced at all. I’m also working with a nonprofit called Dance and Dialogue on a program called the Watering Hole, doing workshops for mature adults and seniors, whether or not they have any dance background. Everyone is welcome, and it’s been a huge success.
When I first agreed to take part, I put it on the back burner for a while. But as it got closer, it became really important to me to create something that wasn’t just a dance class — it needed to be a movement experience that could reach someone with zero dance experience just as well as a dance professional.
What makes the class work so well for such a wide range of people?
I think it comes down to building community, on top of the teaching itself. We even keep chairs along the side of the room, because depending on the day, someone might need to sit through part of the class, or might not make it all the way through — and that’s completely fine. In our first Watering Hole class, everyone stayed, and no one sat down. Afterward, people were asking where they could take the class regularly. There were tears, there were smiles, and there was real community.
I think that matters because, as we age, we go through a kind of empty nesting more than once in life — not just when kids leave for college, but later, when we start losing peers, a spouse, or physical ability. Community becomes essential at that stage, and dance, in particular, brings people that in a powerful way.
What would you say to someone who’s scared to walk into their first class?
Be fearless — it’s much more fun in the party than watching it from outside. Even if you’re only comfortable sitting down, music can still connect you to a memory, get your hands clapping, and bring you real joy — and just feeling good is positive in itself. I’m not asking anyone to become a Baryshnikov in a day. It can happen in baby steps, on your own time. And there’s something freeing about getting older: there’s no more competition, no more trying to impress anyone. It’s just about you, so do it for you.
Is there real evidence that dance helps with memory or cognitive decline?
Yes. For almost all of us, as we get older, the thing that takes the longest to come back isn’t the body — plenty of people have stayed physically active through Pilates, the gym, running, or walking. It’s the mind. We haven’t been exercising it the same way. The work we do in class — memorizing sequences, taking direction, moving right to left — is genuine brain work. It might not click the first day, but if you keep engaging that muscle, people come back reporting real changes: remembering names they couldn’t six months earlier, better hand-eye coordination, better balance. I think dance in particular also brings a level of joy that releases its own endorphins, and I think we experience less of that pleasure as we get older — so getting it back matters.
What about people dealing with joint issues or recovering from surgery, like your own hip surgery?
You have to approach class with the body you actually have that day, and be realistic about your conditions, whether that’s arthritis or an old injury. There’s always some version of the movement that’s possible — you may not be able to kick up high, but you can make it your own and do a smaller version of the same movement. Over time, you’ll often find you have more range of motion than you thought, but it comes from not forcing it, not pushing the way we did when we were young. There’s real beauty in being the age you are — I’m 68, and there are plenty of things I can do now, and plenty of qualities I have now, that I didn’t have at 28.
For someone outside a big city, how would you suggest they find a class like this?
There’s so much dance out there now — social dancing, line dance, country dance, salsa, tango, lindy hop, slower stretch classes, mature ballet classes. A little research usually turns up something nearby, whether it’s at a community center, a college, or a retirement home. The dance community has changed a lot since the 70s, and there are more people out there now working to fill this gap for older adults. My advice is to stay open to where you might find it.
Any final thoughts for someone considering trying a class for the first time?
Find your passion, and you’ll find other people who share it — and there’s something special that happens when passion fills a room. There are so many kinds of exercise and movement out there; try a few and find the one you genuinely love, because if you love it, you’ll keep coming back, and you’ll find your community.
Fifty UP 