Gotta Dance....Gotta Dance!

Do you KNOW how fun it is to learn how to tap dance? I've admired tap dancers and their craft since forever....really. I think my mother's enthusiasm for the art form rubbed off on me at a very young age, starting at 3. Well then, why the heck did I NEVER study tap dancing as a kid? It just was never an option. We were a musical family, not a dancing family, so music it was. Ok, I lied. My mother and I took an extremely lame summer tap dancing class through our town's park and rec program one summer when I was about 17. The teacher was about 83. I didn't learn much about tapping, and I certainly didn't learn anything about style since I wore those STUPID patent leather Mary Jane tap shoes that tie with the ribbon. Picture a dainty, little-girl tap shoe on a size NINE foot. Under a chubby teenager.

Fast forward many, many, MANY years. I am a proud mother of two beautiful and talented girls who are dancers. I'm am positive if given the chance they would be excellent musicians, but dance is the activity in THIS family. I discovered that their dance studio offers adult tap classes. My heart got all fluttery when I first learned this. BUT, I just couldn't make the class happen for me at that time. Not enough money, no time, etc. etc. etc. At each new issue of the class schedule, I pined away for the adult tap class. Then a series of miracles happened. I got a job at the dance studio which meant reduced fees. The time of the adult class seems to fit into my family's schedule. My little one was old enough to stay up late enough (sort of) so I could attend the class. Poor Charlotte was definitely stretched to the max  as I forced her to go to bed 1/2 hour past her bedtime one night a week so I could do this. She also had the privilege of sitting through my class while she either did her spelling homework, drew pictures, or snoozed on the mats. Meanwhile, Abigail took an acro class at the same time as my class. A miracle.

There is much for me to say about my first year of tap, but I will save much of it for later. Suffice it to say, the year culminated with a real, honest-to-God recital performance sandwiched between the highest peforming group at the studio (to Mika's "Grace Kelly) and a preschool class doing an acro routine where they were dressed up in frog costumes. Our song was Michael Buble's "Can't Buy Me Love", and I NAILED it. At least that's what they told me. People I didn't even know came up to me afterward to shake my hand and tell me what a fantastic job I did, and that I stood out in the group, etc. etc. etc. Being the loyal employee I am, I told them the day and time of the summer adult tap class.