Concord’s Dancing Queen
Concord’s Liz Wood began dancing when she was three-years-old and now just months before her 70th birthday in April she’s a member of the Hardwood Classics, the new senior dance team of the world champion Golden State Warriors (Photo courtesy NBA Photos/Warriors).
Liz Wood began dancing when she was three-years-old in Concord. Nearly 67 years later she’s performing routines with the new Hardwood Classics senior dance team before 19,596 fans during eight Golden Gate Warriors games this season.
The Warriors, who hope to bring another NBA title to Oakland this summer, are also looking ahead to their move across the Bay to San Francisco in the fall. “Our organization was looking for new programs that we can bring to the Chase Center next season and adding a senior dance team is something we all wanted to do,” says Warriors Dance Teams Director Sabrina Ellison.
Wood doesn’t remember where she saw the ad inviting women and men 55 years and older to an open audition last summer for this new dance team. She thought “what the heck” and signed up. Ellison and the Warriors staff were stunned when 299 prospective members showed up Aug. 25.
Wood almost wasn’t there. “The night before, I called [lifelong friend] D’Ann Harvey and told her I’m not going to do it.” Harvey happens to have a little dance experience, operating DA Dance Center in downtown Concord since 1978.
“Shy, pigeon toed” Wood and Harvey were three-years-old when they took their first dance lesson together in Concord. Ironically, the sessions were held a couple doors down from the current DA Dance Center. When Wood got cold feet Harvey and her daughter Shawna Zimmerman, who not only works with her mom but also danced for the Warriors, Raiders and 49ers, got on the phone to make sure their friend took the plunge.
With that encouragement and some tips from Zimmerman (“smile, smile, smile”), Wood went to audition, the largest Ellison has ever supervised. Part way through the day the field of dancers was cut in half to about 150.
Based on the results of that grueling six-hour day the Warriors whittled down to 30 finalists, including Wood. They were invited to a Boot Camp that included an interview and dancing where the final 22 (19 women and three men) were selected.
“We have some incredible dancers, especially among the 55-59 year-olds,” Wood says. One of the original Warriors Girls dancers is on the Hardwood Classics as are two former Laker Girls, two Raiderettes and two from the WNBA LA Sparks.
Ellison says the Warriors decision to showcase the high level of performance talent in the Bay Area has proven out. “I couldn’t have picked a better group. It’s been a blessing. Everyone has a positive attitude and the team has a closeness.”
The Hardwood Classics danced last week at a game against the Knicks. The next day, the Warriors radio station’s morning team on 95.7 The Game said, “The crowd was kind of quiet until the second quarter when the Hardwood Classics senior dancers came out and got the loudest cheer of the night [for their performance]. They were shaking, twisting and turning.”
The Hardwood Classics rehearse three times with Ellison before each game performance and show up five hours before tipoff to rehearse their 75-second routine at Oracle. She calls Wood a “bright light” on the squad, which gets together on their own for many more practices.
Wood attended Queen of All Saints School and graduated from Mt. Diablo High in 1967. While she was majoring in PE and dance at Diablo Valley College and Cal State Hayward, Wood and Harvey were backup singers and dancers in a rock band, The Shadows. “We played at every military base along the Oregon-California coast during the Vietnam War era as well as at Disneyland and in Las Vegas and Reno.” Each of the women married a band member, although neither marriage lasted.
Wood worked nearly 40 years with Chevron marketing and is now semi-retired while assisting a couple law firms.
A former dance teacher invited her and other former students to audition for “George M” in 1971. She’s lost count of the number of shows she’s been involved in since then around the Diablo Valley, including the Willows Theatre, Parkside Playhouse and Concord Senior Center in Concord.
She’s been a part of Contra Costa Musical Theatre for 47 years and last Saturday was a presenter at the 40th Shellie Awards representing the Arts and Cultural Commission of Contra Costa County. Wood has won four Shellie Awards as a choreographer.
Wood and fellow Concord resident Karen Brewer will next perform with the Classics when the Miami Heat come to town Feb. 10.
Wood endured six major surgeries in the three years before 2018 (both hips, knee, shoulder) after suffering the loss of her husband, John Watkins, in 2014. On the Oracle hardwood she puts aside any aches and pains while dancing up a storm with the Classics.
Jay Bedecarré
Jay Bedecarré is a long-time resident and writer in Concord and Clayton. He began his newspaper writing career while still a senior at Mt. Diablo High School and he has been part of The Pioneer since its inception in 2003. Jay also operates Bay Area Festivals, presenting events around the San Francisco Bay Area including Bay Area KidFest annually in Downtown Concord.