The HEAT Golden Oldies, the country’s hippest senior citizen dance team, is in its 11th season. A team organized of colorful men and women with extraordinary back stories, each of the beloved Oldies has a unique set of circumstances that led them to the HEAT.
This season, the Golden Oldies welcome, Detroit native, Lezlie. A veteran dancer, Lezlie has had an awe-inspiring career that brought her to Miami.
“Dance is who I am. It’s been a part of my life since I was three years old. My grandmother took me to my first dance lesson and I was hooked,” Lezlie said. “I would leave school and go right to the dance studio three or four days a week. I was there until 11 o’clock every night.”
As a young girl, Lezlie remembers racing home to catch a glimpse of the dancers on evening variety shows.
“I remember coming home and sitting very close to the television watching Sonny and Cher and all the dancers and nobody could get me away from the television.”
Little did she know, one day she would be dancing alongside one of the performers who inspired her most. At the time, Lezlie was living in Los Angeles and received an invitation to audition for one of her idols, Cher. The rest is history.
“I watched all of the variety shows and the dancers. All of the sudden, 20 years later, I’m one of Cher’s dancers. It was just like everything fell into place and I feel so lucky and so blessed.”
Lezlie remembers her time with Cher fondly: “It was the most exciting time in my life. I got to travel the world for two amazing years.”
As her career matured, Lezlie joined the cast of “Solid Gold” from 1984 to 1985. In addition to working on the popular dance variety show, Lezlie performed in various music videos, choreographed for the stars and continued to have television success. Her television days may be behind her, but Lezlie, now a Registered Nurse, believes that becoming a Golden Oldie is “the most exciting thing I’ve done since leaving Los Angeles.”