Correspondent photo / Maurita Hoffman Jason Bergermeyer, owner of The Trumbull Senior Production Company, poses with Vivian Box and other dancers at the studio. Box allows Bergermeyer to use a building owned by her late husband for his production company.

Vivian Box was born Vivian Culp on July 13, 1927, in Leavittsburg and graduated from what was then Warren Township High School — now LaBrae High School — in 1946. She married Eli Box in 1948 and they raised three children together. A daughter, Sherry Doll, lives in Champion, and a son, Gary, lives in Howland. Another daughter, Sandy, is deceased. She has three grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and one great-great-granddaughter.

Saying she grew up on a farm, Box claimed she was “always outside, climbing trees, playing.” She said she discovered dancing at “about 10 years old.” From then on, Box danced. She said she wanted to do gymnastics more than dance, but she “tried to do a back flip as a teenager and landed flat” on her back, so she decided to stick with tap dancing.

Jason Bergermeyer of the Trumbull Senior Production Company in Leavittsburg said he met Box at SCOPE where he taught dance. TSPC is for dancers 50 and older.

“Dancing is good for you; it improves your balance, and it makes you think,” Box said. “There are lots of steps that you have to remember. Dancing keeps your mind sharp.”

Box said as soon as she puts on her tap shoes, “I just start tapping away.”

Box has appeared in various SCOPE productions. She performed a soft shoe tap dance with music from “Guys & Dolls” with Bergermeyer, “around 2015.” Unfortunately, earlier this year, Box was hurt during the production of “Singing in the Rain” at Robins Theatre. She said she no longer dances, “because my balance isn’t as good as it used to be — and my daughter won’t let me!”

Dancing or not, she is still very much a part of the TSPC. The studio occupies a building owned by Box.

“My husband Eli was an electrician, and he built this building for his business,” she said.

Bergermeyer said the dance company used “a room in my house the first year of the TSPC.” He stated that “in 2009, Vivian offered her store to us for a studio and had the dance floor and mirrors installed in the building at no cost to the production company.”

The dance studio is not the only thing that benefits from Box’s generosity. “My husband’s parents were from Ojasca, Romania,” she explained, stating her husband had seen pictures of the poverty of some of the children there.

“In 1995, Eli purchased land there and, in 2002, met with missionaries in Romania to see the camp that was being built for those kids,” she said.

Camp Eli is now a “church camp for orphans in Romania to come to in the summer,” Box said and added that mission groups from churches in the United States visit there in the summer. After visiting Romania, Box noted, “Eli passed away in Hawaii in 2002.”

Not one to be idle, Box participates in the dance company’s meetings and recently won one of the door prizes at the August meeting.

Her interests are varied; she said that “every Monday morning, my daughter and I go to Wellsprings in Warren.”

She noted that they have been going every week for seven years. At this facility for those recovering from mental health issues or addiction, Box said, “my daughter does crafts with the people there. I bring desserts and it helps as a change of pace for those living there.”

Box was quick to point out that her longevity, dancing and charity work “wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for Jesus.” Bergermeyer added that although Camp Eli was a project of her late husband, “Vivian still contributes to the camp and also donates money for a library in Romania to help the pupils there.”

Box expressed her encouragement for others with an interest in dance, even if they’ve never done it before.

“It is not just about the dance steps,” she said. “It’s fun. While you’re dancing, you’re not thinking of other things.” Another advantage to belonging to the dance group, according to Box, is “being with other people — it’s social; you’re talking with them and laughing.”

“I was shy when I was young,” she said, “but when you get on stage, that shyness goes away.”

She added, “Dancing is good therapy, you’re not thinking of your problems when you’re dancing.” Box grinned. “If you’ve never danced before, put your legs in the class and start dancing!”