Plateau-ing !

Well, here we are in March and still tapping my head off ! At the moment learning three numbers, I remember when just learning 1 used to be such a challenge, so things must be progressing.

I have, though, reached a bit of a plateau. Quite common I hear in the learning process. You go along and all of a sudden you think, " hey, I think I'm getting the hang of this " and then you push a little further, and you can't seem to get it all over again..(drives me crazy sometimes).

Then you go through the "Oh, I'm never going to get this" dialogue, then you hit a step you never thought you would learn, and go ah haaah!!... then, oh, I think I'm getting the hang of this..and starts all over again... Apparently it never ends.. thats the journey, thats the joy, thats why I love it.

Check out our new link created by Linda Dear for Heart and Sole called Shelleysdancers.blogspot.com. It will give you an idea of what the learning process is all about, and how Shelley brilliantly pieces everything together. 

One of the other numbers I am learning is being choreographed by Troy McLaughlin at Vancouver Tap, the number is called "St Louis Blues" and it is a tough one...bluesy vibe, great song, but man, is it full of fast steps!  If I can get through it without Troy and I cracking up, I will be very happy. We tend to turn into a couple of 8 year olds sometimes when we are dancing so it will be a challenge to keep that in check. Having a great time learning it though, when you're sides are sore from laughing after a class, you know you're having fun.

More performances coming up in the late spring and summer, dates and times to come. Stay tuned !

Pigeon-Toed and Bow-legged... Oi vay!

You'll have to excuse how I write these things, I just throw them down when they come into my head, and sometimes it is a bit A.D.D. ish !

I have found that after dancing alot, one of the benefits is, I cannot gain weight for the life of me. Most of the time I come home from tap, I usually have to peel my clothes off, I am sweating so much. So, the weight stays off no matter what I eat.

However, I have found that my body has changed slightly... Or so I think it has. Shelley, our very talented choreographer for Heart and Sole, is very good at pinpointing people's personal habits in dance, good, and... not so good.

For example, one day she kept saying, you have to turn your feet out, "Plié!" she says. My right foot tends to turn in a bit, so, it is habit for me. So, that day, she came over and said, "Stand straight... Push your feet flat to the floor." I did, and she said, " You're a bit bow-legged, aren't you?" Well, I didn't know that, you would think I would've. Then she mentioned my foot turning in again, and I said, "Well, this is great. Dance has changed my body." Little did I know that I was bow-legged AND pigeon-toed, an attractive combination in dance!!

Funny thing is, I never take it personally, its just an observation.. something happened with my body, after all the dancing, that changed my shape, so now, I am standing very straight, with my legs closed and my feet apart.

All I need now is a tutu!
Thank you Shelley! I appreciate all of your critique, and will try to apply!

Money! 2008

This was a photo taken at the Year End show in June 2008...
Cabaret was always one of my favorite musicals, and to be able to perform "Money" and do the Joel Grey part was so much fun. For the first time since I was 17, I shaved off my beard and mustache, had an ex drag queen do my make up, and away we went.

The shot above is of me and my good friend Anna Kramer in the opening part of the number. I was so pumped up by this whole thing, at this point I was just vibrating !

and... who knew false eyelashes could be so comfortable!

Chinese New Year Show coming up !

February 4th, Chinese New Year !

Our group Heart and Sole have been asked to perform at Tinseltown in Chinatown, and have we got our work cut out for us !
We will be performing a soft shoe number to Willy Nelson's "on the Sunny Side of the Street which I have been struggling with now for weeks, but its coming, and hopefully by then , the muscle memory will kick in.
We all learn differently, and, at my age, the only way I seem to get it is to do it over and over and over.
Thank god for the internet, as now we video all of our sessions so we can do "homework" on our steps and be a little more prepared
We will also be doing a few other numbers that we have performed in the past, "You Make Me Feel So Young " " Choo Choo Cha Boogie " Feeling Good " Shim Sham Shimmy " "More" to name a few.

Tap is such a rollercoaster once you decide you want to stay on for the ride.
Some days you feel like you are soaring and are on top of the world, then you plateau and don't seem to go anywhere, which can be very frustrating.
New steps and combinations come to challenge you ALL the time and it becomes quite a love hate love relationship.
But, once you get a combination you have been struggling with and it really kicks in, there is nothing like it.. YES ! I GOT IT !
I know I have been promising pics, and will definitely make that one of my New Years resolutions, that, and totally pimping out this blog for followers, 4 or 5 really doesn't cut it !
If any of you (all 5 of you at this point !) are in the neighbourhood, catch the show at Tinseltown Feb. 4th at 6 pm, you'll probably hear us before you see us !

Happy New Year

Ok, after being gently reminded that I have only two posts on this blog, I have decided to make it my New Years resolution to enter at LEAST 5 a year !
Have not been tapping now for about oh, two weeks which is quite a long time for a tap addict. With Christmas and New Years over and probably an extra 5 pounds put on with an over abundance of shortbread and sugar cookies, its time to get back to it. I feel like blob right now !

Usually there is a mid-year Christmas show put on by Van Tap, but for several reasons it was put off this year, so, we weren't practicing as much as we would have previous years.
However, Heart and Sole, the Monday night performance group I belong to was asked to perform at the Chalmers Lodge seniors center for a little Christmas entertainment. The group usually consists of about 12 of us, but, being the holiday season, only 5 were available.
The challenging thing about this gig was that, due to the small stage area, we had to dance on small circular pieces of board for our floor. Now, these weren't just any pieces of board, they were the pieces used by the tappers during the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics in Feb 2010.
These were about 5 ft in diameter, with big red maple leafs painted on them. I have to say, I was quite excited about just dancing on the same floor that these talented dancers performed on.

The show we did consisted of 4 numbers, BS Chorus danced to the tune of "More" by Bobby Darin, "You Make Me Feel So Young", Shim Sham Shimmy
at the end, and.. something I had never done before, an improv number, no music, just the 5 of us doing our "home" steps. This is done by one person starting a step they like, then the next person, jumping in with one of their steps, but keeping the rhythm, and so on with the rest of us. This was conducted by our choreographer Shelley Stewart-Hunt.

I had practiced this once before with the group, and just did a slow rhythmic cramp-roll as it is quite intimidating at first to do this. It sounded pretty good, so I thought for the show, I would get a little fancier. Well, there is something to be said for keeping it simple, as I started to do fancy, and it definitely was not a fit, Shelley very quietly leaned in and said, "keep it simple" which I did, and it turned out pretty good.

The audience was so responsive to the show, their feet were tappin' they were clapping, swaying and really seemed to be having a good time. I just loved them, I don't think you can find a more appreciative audience. The looks on their faces was all I needed to see, they were happy, engaged, curious, asked questions, present.
I would hit the seniors circuit in a minute !

In 2011 I hope Heart and Sole has many more of these small venue performances, they are such good practice and increase the comfort level of being on stage, which is always a bit nerve racking.

This year I am continuing with Troy McLaughlin's choreography class, doing a very bluesy number called St. Louis Blues by Peter Cincotti. Lovin' this number, but have to say it is the most challenging to date, very fast steps, and a real study in rhythm and beat. Its one of those numbers that if one of is off, you can really hear it, so with 12 of us dancing we all have to be spot on.
Troy has a great easy style of teaching, patient, understanding,and, with a sense of humor. Thank you Troy !

Hopefully I can get some photos posted here soon,

Have a great 2011 !!

Cure for the Common Cold

The perfect cure for the common cold, take 2 aspirins, drink plenty of liquids, get some rest, if that doesn't work after a few days, meet a couple of friends at the tap studio and dance you heart out for 1 1/2 hours, do this and your cold will disappear... mine just did !

And so it began ...

September 2004

Today ... my first day of tap dancing lessons.

After seeing Jayka, my partners daughter's tap recital, I became inspired to take lessons. I suppose I had a preconceived idea on how everything would go. When I was a kid, I was constantly pretending to tap dance, making clicking noises with my mouth to try and match my foot movements, it would be easy, just like that... hmmmmm

Lets just say that a good tap dancer makes it looks easy, they move so quickly and with ease and grace, at the same time making beautiful music with their feet. Ya, I could do that.

HA! easier said than done.

I learned that tap was an entirely new language in itself..
Shuffles, steps, ball changes, grapevines, brushes, hops, leaps, drawbacks, digs, cramprolls, Cincinatti's. pullbacks, Maxie Fords, and the list goes on and on..

So, take all of those, combine them with two feet and you have literally thousands and thousands of unlimited combination that are to this day, still being discovered. I had no idea what I was in for.

The first year was a challenge, but the class was amazing, I met some pretty great people all on the same level as myself, so we all were like newborn colts learning to walk, with the same grace I am sure.

The second year was advance beginner, (accent on the beginner). In this class, Mika our instructor and choreographer, put together a number to Wilson Picketts classic motown hit, "Do you love me " a song I love and grew up on. I especially liked the lyrics ...nowwww that I can daaance, Watch me now ! I then made the first real commitment, buying my own shoes. You buy your first pair of shoes when you start tapping and tappers look at each other and nod, so as to say, " yup, he's hooked" and I was.

After rehearsing for a year, we were then to perform at the Michael J Fox theatre for the year end show Vancouver Tap puts on. We had our work cut out for us. I became obsessed, as did my fellow fledgling tappers.
I had never performed on stage before, and this was one of my Bucket List things to do.

Usually what happens in a class like this, it starts out with 12 or 13, then people drop out, by the time November rolled around, there were 6. We were driven. Phone calls to each other, writing every step down on paper to follow, flexing muscles in our mind that we never knew we had. I would be at work, and drive people crazy with my feet always on the go, practicing, practicing, practicing.

The year went quickly, but I felt ready. Our first dress rehearsal in front of our peers went ok, but I had made a couple of mistakes and was just mortified, how could it not be perfect ? What was I going to do for the real thing ? People would laugh.. bla bla bla, all the things the adult ego comes up with.

We all felt the same way. Meanwhile, the teenagers around us looked so relaxed , laughing, fooling around, making mistakes, but they didn't seem to care. How could they not take this seriously ? We had so much to learn, on so many levels, this being such an important lesson.

Fellow tappers are the most forgiving and supportive audience, always cheering you on and encouraging, never making you feel small. But adults build up so many layers of fear of failing, apprehensions, etc it takes a long time to shed those fears.

Second and final dress rehearsal at the theatre went fairly well, and I was raring to go.

Then about 4 days before the performance, I started getting really tired at work. The next day I had to go home because I had such a bad headache, I could hardly see. I thought I had a migraine (had never had one) due to stress, overrehearsing etc. But then I started getting really nauseous, continuously throwing up, not eating anything.

Finally, it got so bad I had to go to the hospital, where I was diagnosed with viral meningitis. I was in for quite a ride.They sent me home with some medication, and painkillers but it got worse, and had to go back.. I told them " just give me some morphine and I will be ok, I have to perform tomorrow" I was becoming delirious. They gave me ativan to settle me down, but little did I know, I was allergic to it and had a reaction to the drug which included paranoid psychosis. I thought everyone was trying to kill me. I was Jack Bauer in 24 ! Needless to say, I missed the performance, Mika, my instructor, took my place. It was so last minute, the 28 or 29 loyal and enthusiastic friends that bought tickets, didn't even know I was sick, thats how fast it hit.

So, a year of hard work and study, down the drain.. I was pretty bummed out. It took me months to recover, I never did go back to work, and pretty much had given up on dancing, I became very depressed.

One day, I bumped into Jay, one of the other guys in the tap group. Jay and I had become good buddies during the previous year dancing, but I had kind of lost touch. He told me he was still dancing, and that I should come back and try again.. it was January, so I had already missed 5 months of practice. I said no, but he pushed and pushed, and finally I agreed.

They were doing " Hallejluja " a Ray Charles hit from years ago. I liked the groove of it, and slowly started coming back.

June rolled around, the year end show was coming, and I was getting very nervous. The dress rehearsal was a disaster, I had totally blanked out on a few things and thought, I'm not ready for this. But we were all the same, pretty much terrified. Jay helped me along with phone calls, encouragement, and what to expect on the big night.

I got there, and just freaked. Now I know where the expression " cold feet" comes from. My hands and feet were literally like ice. I couldn't believe it.. how could I ... What was I ... DOING HERE ?? !!

About 10 minutes before we went on, John, the oldest tapper ( 80 years old) and deaf as a post, asked me " How ya doin lad " ? I said.. John, I'm scared shitless ! He said, "what? " I said the same thing, a bit louder so he could hear me, and he said " WHAT ? and I yelled so loud everyone heard " I AM SCARED SHITLESS" alot of heads turned. He gave me the best advice.. he said, listen lad, enjoy this moment, it will go by so quickly, you won't even remember what you did. Just keep your head up, look over the heads of the audience, and smile. and enjoy the moment. Thank you John, you saved my life. He was right, I didn't remember much about that 3 minute and 22 second number, but I did remember the elation I felt after it was over. The audience was great, totally forgiving of mistakes, they didn't care, they were having fun, so I had fun.

We, as adults, take ourselves so seriously. We're so afraid of being embarrassed or looking foolish or not being perfect, so we build up these layers of tension that take a long time to peel away. Well, I'm into year 7 of tap, going into my 5th year end performance, and I'm still peeling ! But now, now I am having so much fun !