The Dance Meme.....

Julia (A Piece of My Mind) has tagged me to do this meme. Apparently one has to write a story about Dance that happened to you at some time in your life.



I love dancing. I have always loved dancing. In fact I was still dancing when my knee was really bad apart from the last three months before I had my operation. I got up and danced whilst I was still using one crutch - abandoning my crutch and hanging on to MWM's neck instead!



I was a bit of a performer when I was a child, always dancing around and singing and I always wanted to be a ballet dancer after seeing it on the telly and reading about it in Bunty. We weren't exactly poor but there certainly wasn't enough money for dancing lessons but Aunty Peggy knew of my desire and offered to pay for dancing lessons every Saturday morning for me at Madame Peach's Dancing Academy, so off we went to enrol. The Academy was in fact an empty shop which Madame had kitted out with a barre and a mirrored wall.


Madame Peach looked like an elderly lady to me. She was probably about 30 ish but I was about ten at the time so she looked ancient to me. She stood there with her 'Queen Anne' legs her 'ball and claw' feet encased in black tap shoes, flowery dress swirling round her knees. She looked at me and said


"She'll have to do tap first to get rid of some of that weight"!


My dreams were shattered. I didn't want to do tap I wanted to be a ballerina. I wasn't that big, it was just 'puppy fat' my Mum and Dad told me and I'd never really been bothered about my weight before, but that one remark triggered a belief that I was huge that has lasted to this day! I really didn't want to bother now but Aunty decided Tap was better than nothing. I would start the following Saturday after Aunty had purchased my Tap shoes and dancing outfit.


We had to go into Manchester Town Centre for the tap shoes whilst a friend of Aunty's made my short circular skirt. I wanted to try on the ballet shoes, the points, but Aunty said no. I resigned myself to tap shoes but if I had to have them they had to be RED! I tried them on and walked across the linoleum floor. Tap, tap, tap, tap, TAP - I loved them - pillar box red with bright red ribbon to tie in a bow. I was hooked, I couldn't wait for Saturday to try them out.


When I arrived at Madame Peach's the following Saturday I was introduced to the other girls. One in particular captured my attention - a tall willowy, dreamy looking girl called DARLING! Yes you heard right - DARLING. What sort of name is that? It was romantic and unusual - I latched on. Of course Darling did ballet as well as tap, as I knew she would with a name like that - straight out of Bunty.


Dancing lessons lasted two hours and I enjoyed every single minute, including the warm-up. About 20 of us, at different ages, all learning the steps - Shuffle hop step, shuffle hop step. The sound of all those tap shoes clattering was music to my ears. Not only did we have exams to earn medals but we put on shows too. Aunty was really good and always got her dressmaker to make any outfit I needed - I loved dressing up and I loved the medals I earned for tap dancing too.


By the time I got to 13 years old my family were moving house, and it was too far to travel to Madame Peach's Academy, besides which I was getting interested in pop music, so I gave up the Saturday mornings with Madame Peach, I didn't give up dancing though, by that time I was going to school discos and the youth club and dancing to the Beatles. Years later MWM and I took up Line Dancing - stomping feet again - I even had steel tips put on my line dancing boots! Of course the gammy knee put paid to that but not until I'd mastered the majority of the dances. Who knows maybe I'll take it up again now my knee is mended.


I'm not tagging anyone but if you have a story to tell about Dance then do join in and let me know so I can come over and read it.