Several years ago I was Goodwill Shopping and I spotted a pair of tap shoes. They looked about the right size so I tried them on. They fit! I bought them thinking that one day I would take a class. It was a more of a goal than a thought, I just had to figure out how to find the time and the money to do it.
I had learned a little tap in High School more than 25 years ago. I hated PE class but it was mandatory. After suffering through my Sophomore and the beginning of my Junior year in PE we moved to Arizona. All of a sudden there was a choice to take Dance instead. That sounded so much better and it was. We learned one style of dance each quarter: Jazz, Tap, Ballet and Modern. I was actually good at dance. The tap section only lasted one quarter and we didn't even use tap shoes so it was more like soft shoe but I wanted to learn more. So here I was, years later, with a pair of shoes and a desire.
I started looking for classes and comparing prices. The Parks and Rec. Dance program was the most affordable and convenient but they met on Monday night which was an impossibility for me. Soon after I became pregnant and that didn't seem a good time to begin. After the baby was born I started looking again. This time my husband was so very supportive that he signed me up and I was ready to begin.
Life and goals seldom play out just as we expect and sure enough something happened. I went ice skating with the girls from church and fell and broke my arm. The first thing I asked my Doctor was if I could dance and the answer was "NO". I had to drop the class before I had even begun and start going to physical therapy instead. We have all heard stories about physical therapy, stories about how the therapists are mean and the exercises hurt but what I experienced was very different. I saw people come in moaning and complaining. People who had to be pushed to work and therapist who were very kind but had work to do. I wanted to get better-fast. It didn't matter if it was uncomfortable, after all I'd been through real pain. I could take it. If the therapist gave me 5 minutes on the arm bike I asked if I could do more. I went home and exercised everyday and I made wonderful progress in 4 weeks I had almost full use of my arm back and 2 weeks later I got the OK to start dance class.
This week is the one year anniversary of my starting tap class. When I began last year I didn't realize that I had come into a class that had started 6 months before. They had been working together on steps and choreography and here I was trying to catch up. The instructor, Minda, was wonderful. She was encouraging and helpful and would challenge each of us at our own level. I had heard about muscle memory before but I had never really experience it. Everything I had learned years ago was locked up in my body somewhere and it took very little for it all to come pouring out. My challenge was to learn the choreography for the dance recital in June. I practice every chance I got and learned more than I ever thought I could. When June came I was ready. My husband and all 12 children came to the recital (that cost a small fortune) and I was able to get up there and do my part. The best part was when my daughter said, "Mom, you didn't miss a step!"
I still love tap. Each week I walk out with something new to work on. I practice all week and feel great when I can walk back in and show what I have learned. One step in particular took me 3 months to master. What a lesson in perseverance. This last January I was supposed to move up to the intermediate class but once again it meets on Monday. I have stayed in the Beginning class but Minda has me come early each week and she teaches me the dance so I can perform with the other class in the recital in June. Then during class she gives me more difficult variations on the steps she is teaching to the others. I miss being with some of the other women I danced with last year but this is a good fit for my life. Sometimes, I am tempted to quit. My Dad thinks I'm silly. My life is hectic and I feel a little guilty about spending the money but I justify it as a good form of exercise but the greatest benefit to me and my family is that I feel happy when I tap. I have tapped away stress and grief and each week I see that I can do more than I thought I could.
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