kiki and louie allen-dancing and loving life

8/13/2019 Kiki and Louie Allen-Dancing and Loving Life

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The roaring 80sSan Mateo couple still

dancing and romancing Page 22

Sunday, November 10, 2013 | Section W P1 On the Peninsula FREE

Rich fall pasta recipe, Page 4 Where to go this week, Page 12 Exploring Santa Cruz beyond the beachfront, Page 19


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W22 On the Peninsula | San Francisco Chronicle and SFGate.com | Sunday, November 10, 2013 P1

By Sophia Markoulakis

In 1949, before online datingsites promised matchmakingmiracles, singles had to rely onfriends and family to be pairedwith the person of theirdreams.

When Kiki Rekas met LouieAllen she had been told of his

warm smile and slim build.More importantly, she hadheard he was a good dancer.Likewise, Louies friends hadvouched for her graceful goodlooks and jitterbug skills.

Kiki, 18 at the time, hadalready won several dancecompetitions, so her interest inLouie relied heavily on their

compatibility on the dancefloor. I was an only child andwas a little spoiled. When wecame here from Greece, all Idid was go to school and go todances with friends, saysKiki.

Louie, 23 at the time, wasdetermined to learn to dancewhen he moved to San Fran-

cisco from Greece at age 18 andfrequented dance clubs likeSan Franciscos El Patio andOaklands Ali Baba with hishousemate.

Their first meeting at a SanFrancisco waterfront dancehall and first dance that nightsecured a lifetime of compat-ibility, on and off the dance

floor. It was love at firstsight, according to LouieAllen.

Now, 64 years later, this SanMateo couple is still locking

arms and eyes at senior cen-tersponsored ballroom andswing dances up and down thepeninsula. On any given week,they could be dancing at theSan Brunos Crystal SpringsSenior Center, the BurlingameWomens Club, the Elks Clubin Sunnyvale, and other drop-in locations.

Courtesy of Charleton Churchill

Louie, left, and Kiki Allen enjoy ice cream cones during a photo shoot with wedding photographer Charleton Churchill. The Allens were one of three couples towin a free photo session as part of a contest Churchill ran on Facebook.

SAN MATEO

A joyous dance through life


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P1 Sunday, November 10, 2013 | San Francisco Chronicle and SFGate.com | On the Peninsula W23

The duos love of dance andeach other was recently recog-nized when they were one of three couples to win a Face- book contest hosted by Charle-ton Churchill, a destinationwedding photographer. Theprize was a custom photoshoot that will be featured onhis website.

It all started last year whentheir granddaughter Kate Ale-vizos married John Ramacciot-ti. She made sure that the band played her grandparentsfavorite song, In the Mood.

While Kiki Allen, 81, andLouie Allen, 87, danced, Chur-chill took photos of them and

noticed their talented dancingand large smiles while lookinginto each others eyes, recallsChurchill.

Several months later, thecouples granddaughter andKate Alevizos sister, EleniAlevizos, entered the Allens ina contest that Churchill wasrunning on his personal andfan Facebook pages.

My grandparents love foreach other has always been asource of inspiration for me;what they have is what everycouple hopes and strives for,says Eleni Alevizos. They areso deeply in love.

Churchill admits that Kikiand Louie Allen were, in part,responsible for the contestsidea.

I have photographed somany weddings, and it breaksmy heart when they end forwhatever reason. I wanted togive back to those couples thatare committed to marriage. Ialso wanted to remind mycolleagues that we shouldnt just photograph the youthfuland beautiful. Beauty comes inall forms and stages in life,and I wanted to promote the beauty that shines throughtheir love for each other, saysChurchill.

This past June, Churchill

gathered the three winningcouples for a daylong shoot inAmador County, where heoften works.

For the Allens photos,Churchill chose an ice creamparlor and when he instructedthem to look into each otherseyes and say something. LouieAllen said, I love you as

shots were taken and bystand-ers looked on.

Later Churchill took them toan open field where he askedthem to dance. I said, Here,on the dirt? But theres nomusic? So Charleton pulled

out his phone and played Inthe Mood for us, says Louie.Some members of the cou-

ples family accompanied themon the shoot, and everyone became emotional watchingthem dance. When theydance, their world contractsand intensifies until its onlythem on the dance floor, Eleni

Alevizos said.

Nervous for the shoot, KikiAllen was given little instruc-tion other than to arrive withthree different outfits. Icouldnt believe anyone wouldwant to take pictures of us. Ifelt like a movie star as peoplewere asking what was goingon, says Kiki Allen.

Whether it was as newly-

weds working separate jobs to

establish themselves, or rais-ing two sons while operatingtheir popular San Franciscorestaurant, Kitties CoffeeShop, Kiki and Louie Allenalways found time to recon-nect through dance.

Louie would come homefrom work and say, Just giveme a half hour to nap and Ill

be ready to go dance, re-members Kiki Allen, no mat-ter what time it was or howtired we were.

Now retired from the res-taurant, the couple have creat-ed a network of friends fromdancing at their regularhaunts. Forging friendshipshas been great, but really ev-eryone just goes to dance.

Once you start dancing, youforget how old you are. I amalways at my happiest whenIm dancing, says Louie Al-len.

Eleni Alevizos admires theirshared interest and devotion.

For them, making time todance is making time for eachother, Alevizos said. "After somany years, loving each otherand dancing have become verymuch the same thing."

Like many long-time mar-ried couples, routine is big forKiki and Louie, and thoserituals and habits almost al-ways involve each other. Ev-ery night before we go to bed, Ialways tell her how much Ilove her because you neverknow if you will wake up thenext day, says Louie.

Kiki, too, believes that oneshould never go to bed upsetand that Life is too short to beangry.

She believes that their night-ly promise for a date the nextday keeps things fresh. Asthey settle in they go over thenext days plans and pick arestaurant to meet. Everymorning before Louie Allenwakes, Kiki Allen heads to thegym, and writes him a notetelling him how long shell beand how many classes she

plans on taking.And like clockwork, LouieAllen always arrives at therestaurant an hour before justin case shes early so that hesthere to greet her first.

Sophia Markoulakis is a Peninsula freelance writer. E-mail [email protected].

Photos by Dan Evans / Special to The Chronicle

Above: Louie and Kiki Allen dance to their favorite song, Glenn Millers In the Mood, whilein their San Mateo home. Below: A wedding day photograph of the Allens stands on a table asthe couple looks through a photo album of their granddaughters wedding.

Kiki and Louie Allenphoto shootTo view the pictures, visit Char-leton Churchills blog at http://charletonchurchill.com/myblog

When they dance,their world contractsand intensifies untilits only them on the

dance floor. Eleni Alevizos, about her grandparents Kiki and Louie Allen

kiki and louie allen-dancing and loving life

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