Meet the Saskatchewan couple offering free dance lessons at their home studio

A Saskatchewan couple isteaching pairs that it takes two to tango or dance a waltz, or swing.

Jim and Gail Schonhoffer, who are 71 and 70 years old, offer free dance lessons out of the studio built on their rural property just east of Regina. The Schonhoffers say that learning to dance together is a good test of every couple's union.

"I like to see how people come along, they start out and it's hard at first," said Gail.

"As they develop their skills, we always tell them every time we should have taken a video at the beginning because the improvement is fantastic."

Many couples preparing for the first danceat their wedding have taken thesefree dance lessons over the years, but the proposal is open toany duo.

For the wedding couples, the Schonhoffers will listen to their first dance song, decide which dance styles are the best fit for the music and demonstrate those styles.

First dance

"The waltz was a hard no," said Aysia Yeo, who laughed as she describedhow she and her fiance, Ryan Bedard, triedout different styles.

Gail says most couples think they want to learn the waltz, but after learning it usually decide to go with a different style, with swing being one of the most popular styles.

The pair from Regina decided on the tango for their first dance to the song "Experience"by Ludovico Einaudi.

"I just like the way that it makes me feel when I listen to it," said Bedard.

Yeo said that her friend connected her to the Schonhoffers after she said she'd like to learn a dance for their wedding.

"It's been amazing. I'm a dancer, so I came in with a little bit of experience, but certainly nothing like partner dancing and Ryan came in with not much experience at all," said Yeo.

Bedardsaidhe hadzero knowledge before meeting the Schonhoffers, and after months of practice with them, he feels confident to perform in front of 150 people at his reception.

Before taking the lessons, "It was probably going to be a slow hug and a sway," said Bedard.

Yeo said that it's also been hard to let Bedard lead and to have no idea what's happening at any point.

Rather than plan the choreography, the Schonhoffers teach the dance and certain tricks, andthe couple decidedthe moves as they dance.

"It's anxiety-inducing, but he knows what he's doing and I just follow. That's all Jim and Gail," said Yeo.

Giving the gift of dance

On the Schonhoffer's 22nd wedding anniversary in 1996, Gail said Jim didn't know what to get her as a gift. After hearing that his co-workers enjoyed dance lessons, Jim decided to take Gail for classes.

"Just the basics, because he didn't really want to do it," said Gail.

From there it evolved to the couple getting involved with Regina's ballroom club and even becoming instructors.

Surprisingly, Gail said they didn't get hooked that first day.

"In fact, we used to call it Monday night at the fights because there was a lot of tension," said Gail.

Before learning partner dancing, Gail had danced for 11 years in jazz and ballet. While she picked up the steps easily, it was difficult for her to learn to follow Jim.

"I could dance with other women a lot better than with Gail because she couldn't follow a paved road," said Jim.

He said he surprised himself at how enjoyable he found dancing and they started to keep at it.

"There was something about it that we wanted to keep going," said Gail.

While they struggled that first year, the people who taught the Schonhoffers offered for them to come out to their home to practice their dancing.

"They did that for us for free, and so we just keep carrying it forward. That's what I ask other people to do," said Gail.