At the beginning of the year I received a Living Social Deal from Knock on Wood Tap Studio. That e-mail sparked the desire that I've had for years to tap. I never did anything with it because I was told that I was too heavy. I saw the Drew Carey Show and they had a scene with tapping and there was a heavy tapper. From that point on I knew it was possible, but I didn't know what or where to go. Receiving the Living Social Deal e-mail was the direction I needed in order to become a tapper!
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| Ms. Yvonne |
Classes started in January and who would have thought that I'd actually pick it up?? I picked the steps up pretty easily too. We learned how to shuffle, flap, break, and a host of other things. The goal was to learn the ShimSham routine so that we could perform it. As time went on and my work schedule intensified I missed a lot of classes. Ms. Yvonne Edwards (my teacher) was amazing with me. Extra patient (yet firm when needed) and forgiving. She allowed me to come to extra classes so that I could catch up. I learned the routine that my class members were going to perform, but I wasn't comfortable with it so she suggested I perform with the beginners only on the ShimSham.
Instead of being my normal nerves of steal, today I was ball of anxiety with a multitude of questions rolling around in my head - "what if I freeze", "what if I forget my part", "what if I fall, oh Lord, I can't break another bone today", "I don't wanna look like a goober on stage", "Rochelle, why are you even here, just go home!", "oh Lord, your friends are here...if I mess up they are going to laugh at me". I'll spare you with the rest of my thoughts but just know that there were a host more. Group 5 finishes and the time has come. Who would have thought it; but, I get to lead our group out on the stage. I stand in the back waiting for my time to shine. When the time comes, I stepped up to the plate, stopped thinking and did what I've been practicing since January. For that moment in time, I was a tapper. Every step was not done correctly, but I was doing something that I was told I couldn't do! Today was another victory in overcoming/dispelling the lies that I've embraced over the course of my life.
At the beginning of the year I received a Living Social Deal from Knock on Wood Tap Studio. That e-mail sparked the desire that I've had for years to tap. I never did anything with it because I was told that I was too heavy. I saw the Drew Carey Show and they had a scene with tapping and there was a heavy tapper. From that point on I knew it was possible, but I didn't know what or where to go. Receiving the Living Social Deal e-mail was the direction I needed in order to become a tapper!
Instead of being my normal nerves of steal, today I was ball of anxiety with a multitude of questions rolling around in my head - "what if I freeze", "what if I forget my part", "what if I fall, oh Lord, I can't break another bone today", "I don't wanna look like a goober on stage", "Rochelle, why are you even here, just go home!", "oh Lord, your friends are here...if I mess up they are going to laugh at me". I'll spare you with the rest of my thoughts but just know that there were a host more. Group 5 finishes and the time has come. Who would have thought it; but, I get to lead our group out on the stage. I stand in the back waiting for my time to shine. When the time comes, I stepped up to the plate, stopped thinking and did what I've been practicing since January. For that moment in time, I was a tapper. Every step was not done correctly, but I was doing something that I was told I couldn't do! Today was another victory in overcoming/dispelling the lies that I've embraced over the course of my life.
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