I
loved dancing school when I was a kid.
It was more than dancing school.
It was the foundation for whatever paltry confidence I dragged with me
into adulthood, and it kept me out of trouble in more ways than I can
count.
I
suffered through ballet class. We all
did. The bar work, no matter how it toned my body in a way I didn't appreciate
at the time, was grueling. Connie had us bending and twist and holding, and it
was difficult and painful. The tap
dance, however, was thoroughly enjoyable. Nobody taught like Connie did. She was striking, demanding, and talented,
and she endowed my feet with 15 years’ worth of tap routines that are forever
emblazoned in my muscle memory (a term she used frequently). Waltz clogs, time steps (single, double, and
triple), shuffle off to Buffalo, Fred Astaire breaks, chugs, flaps, slaps and
travelling steps are all accessible to me now.
Before
my weight loss surgery a year ago, tap dance was one of the things that
motivated and excited me. Elizabeth’s sophomore
year high school musical and
dance recital fired me up even more.
Now, I’m pursing it.
I've listed two classes in Pacifica’s Park & Rec Fall Play book. Beginners Adult Tap Dance is offered twice
with a series of six classes in September/October, and six classes in
October/November; two sessions back to back.
I’m holding the classes in the little dance studio at the Pacifica
Community Center. It’s got bars, mirrors
and everything.
I
am poised to launch an intensive local marketing campaign with flyers,
postcards, ads in the paper and on Pacifica’s public access channel, and a
website dedicated exclusively to tap dance.
I think I’ll call it “Pacifica Tap”.
I want to apply what I've learned about press at Sanchez Art Center to
this.
There
is a tiny possibility that I might be able to teach a class at Spindrift, too,
but we’ll see if it works out. It doesn't matter to me one way or the other. What
matters to me is my health and readiness.
I
better get ready.
Don’tcha
think?
