Master tap class inspires dancers
Joyce Jackson
Issue date: 3/11/10 Section: A&E
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Jones has taught tap, jazz, ballet and country-western dance at Brookhaven since last August. She also teaches at the northeast campus of Texas Christian College in Fort Worth.
Jones said she started dancing when she was 8, at first didn't like it, and later gave it up.
"I realized that my body wasn't going to do jazz and ballet anymore the way it used to," Jones said.
Jones has had her own dance studio and began teaching tap at a community center. She's a certified nurse practitioner, too, and is one of three co-founders of the non-profit Legacy Tap Project, located in South Lake.
"Their mission is to preserve historical choreography through documentation, performance and master classes, predominantly from the early 1900s," Jones said. "A lot of what we do is bring in the master tappers. They set up workshops. In the fall, there will be an intensive class."
Jones got the class started with some warms ups, such as "Shake it out," which gave the students a chance to bring their knees out and release their foot. As the hour instruction progressed, the tapping grew louder and more uniform.
Jones then divided the class into three small groups, A, B and C, where each group did a few steps one at a time, then together as one large group.
Jones had some advice for aspiring tap dancers: "Stick with it. Have fun and know that you can do it forever."
Some of Jones' favorite tap dancers include those from Texas: Debra Bray of the Rhythm Junkies, Acia Gray with Tapestry, a group in Austin and Barbara Ryan Phillips of the Third Coast in San Antonio.
Missi Armstrong, one of the students in Jones' class, said she learned some new movements and patterns. She's only been dancing for six weeks, but hopes to continue.
"I take private instruction from Barry," Armstrong said.
Barry Gazaway, another student in Jones' class who teaches ballroom dancing through Continuing Education, took her class to trying to incorporate tap into a ballroom routine.
"As I go forward, I look for opportunities to perform," Gazaway said. "I was going to take a silver fox trot and add tap - the whole Fred Astaire thing."
Gazaway said he has always wanted to take tap dance.
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