Both sides of his family were talented dancers. Myrtle Cook Dotson was born in 1921 and died in 2008. Robert referred to his style of dancing as flatfooting; Myrtle referred to hers as the Charleston, a dance that was popular with women of her generation. In addition to being a dancer, Robert Dotson was a farmer and a skilled carpenter. When he was 14, his father fell off the back of a truck and died, so Robert, as the oldest male in the immediate family, quit school to work and help his mother raise his seven brothers and sisters, according to Rodney Sutton, a longtime friend and fellow dancer. Death According to Dotson's obituary in the High Country Press, Dotson’s greatest influence was his grandfather, Ab Dotson, a banjo player and buck dancer. When he was younger, the two would hitchhike to Boone to watch a movie at the Appalachian Theatre in downtown. After a while of walking and waiting for a ride, Dotson would tell his grandpa that he was too tired. And Ab would then say, “Let’s just dance a little bit.” Robert's parents, Don Dotson and Bina Jane Hicks Dotson, were both well known dancers in the community. The Dotsons' children and grandchildren have learned from them. Myrtle remembered dancing a lot at home when she was a child, often to recorded music played on an old crank-up Victrola. At the time of his death in 2015, Dotson was survived by two daughters, Peggy Coffey of Lenoir and Annalee Wood and husband Edsel of Sugar Grove, four sisters, Gladyce Bradshaw and Eunice Bushburger of Wilkesboro, Lilly Speaks and Lois Nivens both of Charlotte, and a dear friend, Rodney Sutton of Marshall, seven grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren, 20 great-great grandchildren, and 22 nieces and nephews. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Myrtle Cook Dotson, one sister; Donnie Burton and two brothers; Charles Walter and Albert Billy Dotson. References American male dancers 1923 births 2015 deaths Dancers from North Carolina People from Watauga County, North Carolina 20th-century American dancers