April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
STEPPING OUT
Just call him 'Dancing Deacon'
"So how I pine just to fall in line with those sweethearts on parade," croons Guy Lombardo in a late-1920s hit.
It's still one of Deacon Jerry Christiano's favorite tunes. But give him his tap shoes and switch on an energetic ditty like "When the Saints Go Marching In," and Deacon Christiano can easily flaunt his athleticism - and make a lot of noise.
The 85-year-old performs at yearly recitals with a dance studio in Clifton Park - the lone senior citizen among mostly young, female dance students - and struts his stuff for residents at area convents and nursing homes.
Of course, that's after he distributes communion and leads prayer services.
"I tell them to sit back and relax and I give them a song and dance," he told The Evangelist.
Deacon Christiano is a retired U.S. Navy seaman, Passionist brother, teacher and Catholic hospital chaplain. Despite never finishing high school, he holds three master's degrees: in English, theology and Italian.
Being raised in orphanages run by Sisters of St. Joseph and Christian Brothers "gave me a foundation for my spiritual life," he said.
Since the early 1980s, Deacon Christiano has served at St. Anthony of Padua Shrine Church in Troy, his home parish, and at Our Lady of Victory Church in Troy. He also serves at a Florida parish when he and his wife, Margie, vacation down south.
When Deacon Christiano retired in 1988 from chaplaincy at St. Mary's Hospital in Troy, his colleagues gave him a certificate for five personal tap dance lessons.
He'd already dabbled in jitterbugging. "I had my own style," the deacon remarked. "When I'm on the dance floor, I have certain moves."
As a teacher for two decades at Lansingburgh High School, he had also directed dozens of musicals. Deacon Christiano still enjoys watching Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire films and listening to Perry Como, Guy Lombardo and traditional New Orleans jazz bands.
He said dancing helps to connect him to his faith. He practices centering prayer and often paces a room in time to his recitation of the Lord's Prayer or the Aramaic word "Maranatha" ("Come, Lord Jesus").
"There's a touch of rhythm in spiritual life," he noted.
Mrs. Christiano is often her husband's dance partner, twirling around their North Troy driveway and garage.
"She does a nice waltz," Deacon Christiano said.
"I do more than a waltz, Jerry," she retorted. But "I can't follow my way around the room the way he does," she told The Evangelist.
The deacon cited his motto: "When the tempo is right and the urge is strong, I do not resist it."
He did have to quit dancing for a month and a half this winter while recovering from knee surgery.
That "called for a lot of patience," he said. "I want to go on as long as I can."[[In-content Ad]]
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