To my black, Bloch, deeply broken in tap shoes,
Thank you. Thank you for being a constant in my life for over 15 years. When I put my first pair on when I was 5 years old, I had no idea that this simple shoe with silver taps on the bottom would change my life. I took tap along with ballet and jazz for years and for a while it was just another dance class, but around middle school that changed for me. Middle school was around the time where dance classes got more serious, when we started to go not just for fun, but to really develop our skills and challenge ourselves. This was also around the time when you picked the activities that you wanted to focus on instead of pursuing everything under the sun your parents signed you up for in elementary school. I started to focus on dance and realize that it was actually something I was good at, especially tap. I got lost in the taps and rhythms and found that my feet moved naturally with the beats of the music. I loved it. It wasn’t just dance for me anymore; I was making music with my feet. I could feel the music moving through my body and my feet were my expressive tools.
My taps gave me a whole new form of expression. I could escape for hours into shuffles and pickups, into patterns and rhythms and sounds that my feet produced without much thought. It’s almost like my feet just know what to do. When I step onto a hardwood floor and I hear the click of my tap shoes, my heart skips I beat. I step into place and my feet just go. You don’t need an instrument when you have your feet. I became so enamored with this art that I decided to teach myself everything I could. I watched Youtube videos to teach myself more advanced steps and I practiced constantly wherever I went. To this day, whether I am in a grocery store, classroom or in my kitchen, my feet are always moving. I am not one to sit still. It’s like my feet have a mind of their own and they always want to dance.
My tap shoes give me the opportunity to do what I love. There is nothing like the feeling when I slip my shoes onto my feet; so many new discoveries and sounds await me, and I can’t wait to see what my feet find. Tap dance lives within me. It’s not just something I do for fun; it is my way of expression, freedom and escape. I am a dancer, a tapper and a musician. I will always be a tapper, no matter where I am in life. It’s not something that just leaves you; it rests inside of you. My feet will always be my music, and my shoes my instrument.
With love,
An avid tapper, music maker and a lover of rhythms and beats
