This year after many years, no decades, I have taken up tap dancing again.  It was at the instance of my lovely and talented daughter who teaches the class of exceptional adults on Monday nights.  My daughter loves these ladies and the time she spends with them and thought I would too.  She was right of course.  They are wonderful and FUN.  We laugh so hard sometimes I can’t even breathe.  Last night was classic.  It is getting close to performance time so on Saturday we had a stage rehearsal.  With three people missing I got completely lost on the formations.  It was humbling.  My daughter was laughing pretty hard as she video taped the number as evidenced by the jiggling on the play back.  Last night she was showing the video to my grand-daughter who was one of the members of our group who had missed the rehearsal.  Let’s just say they were thoroughly enjoying my confusion on stage.

Last night’s class was much better.  I finally got the steps I could not master before.  We reviewed a number of times the changes in formation and the transition steps so I am feeling much more confident that I can pull this multi-generational number off  … as long as I practice my behind off for the next three weeks.  What keeps me going is that I am not alone.  Others who have been taking the class for five or six years also experienced confusion with formations and the more difficult steps and we all agreed sitting on the patio after the rehearsal for a beer was the best part. These people enjoy each others company.  They laugh at themselves and with others every week.  They play jokes on each other in a good-natured way. Last night the teacher ( my daughter ) left the room and they jokingly dared a class mate to block the door so she couldn’t get back in because they felt they really needed a rest.  So it was blocked.  A little tug of war ensued and when the door opened there were peals of laughter.  It was fun, innocent fun and so good for the soul.  When we all managed to get the line and do the step together a loud celebration broke out spontaneously.

It struck me that they have SHIFT covered.  Sharp minds remembering steps.  Happy hearts dancing with joy. Independent and interdependent relationships where they rely on each other and understand their own responsibility for the success of the group. Fit bodies actively improving control and stamina. Trusting that it will all turn out in the end.  I am thoroughly impressed by them each week as we learn more together.  There is a clear performance goal and a light-hearted approach that will get us there.   I love it.

I love this time with them and I look forward to helping them bring home the gold the way they have for many years.  My goal is to be brilliant or at least to not mess up so bad that I break the streak for them.  The cool thing is they would take it in stride.  One said to me after she saw the video of me standing in the wrong place, not once but twice ” At least you didn’t run of the stage…”  Hmmm I didn’t think that was on option.  I am sure my daughter/teacher would prefer I stay on stage and entertain in what ever way I can.  It is a performance thing.  Stages don’t scare me but I definitely need to be more confident about what I should be doing there before our next venture into the world of tap competition.

Learning new things at any age is commendable right????