Heel, Toe, Step Together

Eighty-two-year-old Bob Hill, a former DJ and dance champion, met 28-year-old radio producer Katie Burningham by chance at their local market in East London. Bob was there to buy vinyl records for a new set of decks -- his wife Iris had ordered them as a gift to replace the set that he had sold to take her on the QE2. Sadly, Iris died before they were delivered, but now, 30 years after he last played records, Bob had decided to dust off his old collection and start dancing again. Since then, Katie and Bob have met regularly and recently, they have embarked on a challenge together: to teach Katie how to waltz.

Katie Burningham is a former MA Radio student from Goldsmiths College, University of London and before that a Classics graduate from Oxford. Her story was produced for Falling Tree Productions, a London-based radio production company.

Heel, Toe, Step Together was the winner of the gold medal at the 2011 Sony Radio Academy Awards and honorable mention at the 2011 Third Coast International Audio Festival.

(This program originally aired on January 20, 2012.)

Banner image: Bob Hill and Katie Burningham