Langley resident Daunne Bacon Zinger recently received her post-bachelor of arts degree in dance from the University of Washington. At age 57, this is no small accomplishment.

In 2006, she retired from the University of Washington as campus alterations manager, ending a 30-year career in construction management.

At the same time, she began pursuing her dance degree — a goal that has been on her “bucket list” for a long time.

Five years of tuition payments, countless ferry trips to the university and a supportive husband (Jerry Bacon), culminated in Zinger dancing to the Husky Stadium podium in June to receive her diploma.

Along her journey, Zinger studied Integrated Dance, an emerging area that explores dance for people with disabilities, as well as for people who have none.

She accomplished all of the required coursework within the dance curriculum and graduated with a 3.8 grade point average.

Zinger also choreographed and performed in several University of Washington dance concerts and re-discovered her love of jazz dance by studying with a dance mentor in New York City.

Zinger currently teaches water aerobics at Island Athletic Club in Freeland and continues to find creative ways to integrate her love of dance with water, including co-leading the effort to launch Aqua Zumba in February.

Now that she has more time on her hands, Zinger plans to continue working with community theater groups as a choreographer, and to discover new ways to teach dance in the community, especially to those with little or no experience.