There’s no doubt Roslyn “Roz” Kristoffersen has rhythm.

The Kalispell resident, who celebrated her 83rd birthday on Sunday, has taught dance classes in the Flathead Valley since 1983. But Kristoffersen’s dancing career goes back much further.

“I’ve been dancing since I was 4 years old,” she said. “My mother wanted me to be another Shirley Temple.”

Kristoffersen was born into a musical and rhythmically inclined family in Cleveland. Her first formal lessons were in tap, but Kristoffersen also took ballet and had other dance classes in junior high and high school.

“I was pretty good at tapping,” she said. “I never liked ballet, but I was pretty good at tap.”

She also learned ballroom dances, including the waltz, jitterbug and two-step — although she learned many of those dances as the male lead.

“Because I was tall for my age, I had to do the boy’s part most of the time. That’s how I started doing both parts,” Kristoffersen said. “When I was out dancing myself, it was hard for a while to realize I wasn’t going to be leading and would have to change.”

That experience would ultimately prove invaluable, she added. “Now, in later years it’s really helped me teach both parts.”

While she danced often, Kristoffersen’s early years also included time on the basketball court and working in her father’s restaurant. The eatery in Michigan was next door to a building that became a war plant during World War II, which created some long hours for Kristoffersen.

“It was open 24 hours a day,” she said.

Kristoffersen worked in the restaurant from age 11 until 1951, when she got married and moved west. She and her first husband, Harry Wagner, lived in Whitefish and Fernie, British Columbia, before settling in Hungry Horse, where they owned and operated the Hungry Horse Hotel.

Kristoffersen continued to run the hotel after Harry’s death and after she met and married Arthur Olson. In Hungry Horse, she stayed busy in various groups, including the school’s parent-teacher association, the Chamber of Commerce and the water company. She helped begin the Desert Mountain television station and was an incorporating officer of United Way of Flathead County.

She also raised five children. Deborah (Wagner) Castro, the oldest, ultimately settled in Fairfax, Va., but Darlene Wagner, Douglas Wagner, Deelynn “Dee” Olson and Darrell L. Olson all live in the Flathead Valley.

In 1979, after her second husband had died, Kristoffersen sold the hotel and moved to Kalispell. That’s when she got back into dancing, she said.

She also began teaching around that time. Kristoffersen has attended dance workshops all over the country, from New Jersey to Washington, D.C., to California, where she was introduced to line dancing in 1983.

“I thought, that’s great, because I have a lot of women that don’t have dance partners. It would be a good thing for them,” she said. “I’m the one who first brought [line dancing] to the Flathead.”

She has taught all over the valley, from the Remington Bar, Iron Horse and the Moose Lodge in Whitefish to the Outlaw Inn and Sons of Norway in Kalispell. For a time, Kristoffersen taught classes through Kalispell Parks and Recreation.

She has gotten many soon-to-be-married couples ready for their first dance and has given lessons at anniversaries and other parties. Her students have ranged from senior citizens to summer camp kids.

“It’s hard to remember, but I think since I’ve been doing this I’ve taught probably 10,000 people,” Kristoffersen said.

Her longest gig has been at Flathead Valley Community College, where she has taught people from their teens to their 80s to dance for the last 30 years. Her class also has an unusual claim to fame: It has spawned at least 14 marriages.

Kristoffersen explained that she always has extra people on hand to dance, so single dancers always have partners and novices can learn from an experienced dancer who’s of similar height and age. Those pairings have led to chemistry that carried beyond the dance floor.

“One of the ladies at the college said to me she thinks maybe what they ought to do is advertise it as Roz’s Dance and Romance Class,” Kristoffersen said, laughing.

She and her husband, artist Arvid Kristoffersen, also enjoy the occasional dance — although she says he would usually prefer to stay home and draw. Kristoffersen said she doesn’t mind, considering she teaches dance classes at least three days a week.

She says she has no intention of giving up those classes any time soon.

“People always ask, ‘How long are you going to teach dancing?’” she said. “I tell them, ‘Until I croak on the dance floor.’”

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.