Having presided over criminal and civil cases as a California state court judge for 19 years, I yearned for something new, something different, something to give my life meaning. It was then that I was introduced to soul line dancing, and instructor Jewel Lucas.

After I retired from the bench, in 2001, I returned to Stanford University (my law school alma mater), and I brought Jewel and soul line dancing with me. In 2002, we started soul line dance classes at Stanford with just 10 people. In no time the classes grew to an average of 100 people per week. Our dancers are from within and without the university community. We come in all sizes, shapes, colors and genders. Our ages range from 12 to 80+.

At the invitation of Stanford coach Tara Vanderveer (also the coach of the U.S. Olympic Gold Medal women's basketball team), we have performed at halftime before thousands of fans at the Stanford women's basketball games. Not surprisingly, each time that we have performed, the Stanford women's team has won. Also, we participate in the 24-hour dance marathon, a charitable event at Stanford, which raised $210,000 for HIV/AIDS research in 2007.

Stanford soul line dancing is truly a Bay Area, cross-cultural happening!

Hon. LaDoris H. Cordell
Retired Superior Court Judge