At 95, Hillcrest’s Joey Gerber is still teaching dance, tending her garden and embracing life with infectious enthusiasm. Behind every graceful step is a remarkable story of resilience, determination and the quiet courage to keep moving forward, no matter what life brings.
Every Wednesday, the music begins, familiar faces gather and Joey Gerber steps onto the dance floor with the same enthusiasm she has shared with hundreds of dancers over the years.
There is nothing extraordinary about the way she carries herself. She isn’t trying to prove anything. She simply loves to dance.
Joey still teaches weekly line dancing classes, co-hosts ballroom, Latin and line dancing socials, with her dance partner, Leon, exercises every day, tends to her beautiful garden and takes great pride in keeping her home immaculate. For most people, that would be an impressive list of accomplishments. For Joey, it’s simply life.
Yet behind her radiant smile lies a childhood that would have broken many people.
Losing her mother when she was still a young girl, she spent much of her childhood fending for herself and her sister. There were days when there wasn’t enough food, warm clothing or the comfort of knowing where the next meal would come from. She never had the opportunity to enjoy much formal education and learnt at an early age that survival meant becoming independent.
“I don’t know my mother and father. I know who they were, but I didn’t really know them,” she recalls quietly.
She remembers eating berries growing wild beside the road when she was hungry and watching her sister search for food wherever she could find it. Shoes, warm jerseys and school lunches were luxuries she simply didn’t have.
Perhaps it was those tough early years that shaped the woman she would become.
Joey married at just 16 and went on to raise five children. Like so many things in her life, motherhood came with a steep learning curve.
“I couldn’t cook, but I taught myself,” she says matter-of-factly. Before long she was baking bread, creating beautiful Christmas cakes and discovering that there was very little she couldn’t learn if she was willing to try.
That determination followed her throughout her working life. Whether it was modelling clothing, working in a sweet factory, joining Lion Match or taking on completely unfamiliar roles, Joey never allowed inexperience to stand in her way.
“I would step into any job with no experience and learn,” she says. “I listened to the voice in my head.”
Ironically, the woman who has become synonymous with dancing didn’t discover line dancing until she was in her 60s.
After trying several classes without success, Joey decided to teach herself. She carefully worked through the dance steps until they made sense, determined not to give up. Before long she was sharing what she had learnt with others, and it quickly became apparent that she possessed a talent for teaching.
Her classes grew from a handful of dancers to packed halls across Durban and beyond. She taught at gyms, libraries, fundraising events and community venues, performed demonstrations in the streets of Hillcrest and even travelled to Eswatini, where she taught more than 300 people in a single evening. Along the way she added ballroom and Latin dancing to her repertoire, creating spaces where people could exercise, socialise and simply enjoy themselves.
Ask Joey what makes her such a successful teacher and she doesn’t talk about complicated choreography. Instead, she offers one simple philosophy: ‘First walk, then learn the steps’.
Although this advice may be for dancing, it also feels like the story of her life. Joey has never rushed or expected life to be easy. She has simply taken one step after another.
Purpose, passion and perseverance
Over the years, Joey has also experienced profound heartbreak. She has lost loved ones, including a son, and has supported her long-time dance partner, Leon, through serious health challenges. Rather than allowing hardships and sorrow to define her, she found strength in her faith and chose to keep moving forward with grace and gratitude.
When she’s not dancing, Joey is most likely in her garden. She lovingly trims every edge by hand, delights in keeping everything neat, and still enjoys exercising every single day, including balance work and strength exercises. It’s all part of her belief that life is meant to be lived actively.
And then there are the stilettos. At 95, Joey still wears them with pride! So, what’s her secret?
“I’ve never drunk coffee or cold drink in my life,” she says with a smile, before adding another line that perfectly captures her spirited personality. “Nobody tells me what to do. I was born a boss.”
Those who know Joey will undoubtedly tell you she’s an exceptional dancer and teacher. But perhaps her greatest lesson has very little to do with dance at all. It’s that our circumstances don’t have to define our future; that it’s never too late to learn something new; that purpose keeps us young, and that no matter what life throws our way, there is always another step waiting to be taken.
Watching her glide across a dance floor today, it’s impossible not to see the joy she brings to others. Yet her real legacy extends far beyond the music. For every person who has learnt to dance under her guidance, rediscovered their confidence, forged new friendships or simply found a reason to smile, Joey has quietly demonstrated that resilience isn’t something we are born with. It’s something we choose, one step at a time.
