For over a year a group of seven women and one man have been gathering each Monday night in Wyncote, PA. They take off work boots, loafers and high heels to strap on gleaming black tap shoes. They are the advanced tap class at the Adult Educational Program at the Cheltenham High School, led by professional dancer/instructor Audrey Bookspan.

 

The age range of the class spans over fifty years.

 

The group’s members include animated 50 year-old Nancy Anderson, a registered nurse who has been dancing for six years. Joy Guarneri, a youthful 48 year-old insurance company manager, is in her fourth year of dancing. Physician Stephanie Vancharat, age “50+,” has danced for two-and-a half years. There is also another physician, Ruth Lamdan, and instrumental music teacher Kathy Kilpatrick, both in their Stephanie, Joy and Kathy practice their steps.                                 fifties. The sole man in the

class is 80-year-old Irving Magaziney, an electrical engineer. According to Audrey, Irving moved quickly from the beginner level to advanced, and he brings considerable spirit to the class.

 

Last and not least (except in age!) is 27 year-old Kristie McNeil. Kristie, a civil engineer, asserts that her “baby-face can be mistaken for 18.” When Kristie disclosed her age, the other women joked, “We are her mothers!” Differences aside, all of these women take dance seriously, including for having serious fun.

 

Taking to the stage, they perform… “Gypso-Mania!”

Lined up across the auditorium stage, the class practices different routines, like their new one, “Gypso-Mania,” a high-energy song with a swing beat. The quick and small steps of their dancing contradict the intense staccato beats arising from their feet that fill the auditorium. They smile and laugh as they sweat. Just being in the room, one feels the wave of energy and the desire to become part of the exuberant music, movement and tapping.  

 

 At times, Audrey has to instruct over bursts of giggles and side-chatter. Still, with energy and enthusiasm they all work through each song, never asking for a break, never breaking their smiles.

 

This free-spirited love for tapping mirrors their teacher’s work ethic and personality. Audrey Bookspan teaches with humor and passion. “[Tap dancing] is hard work but a lot of fun,” she says. Intense about her craft, she conveys the essence of tap dancing to her students, “Make music with your feet… you shouldn’t need the music, you should play the melody with the tapping.” She breaks down complicated movements and rhythms that her class picks up quickly, vividly demonstrating the moves but not taking “center stage.”

 

“Play the floor like a musical instrument” Audrey encourages before joining in the routine. Her delicate frame moves on the stage with more natural ease than most people have walking. This 77 year-old woman does not miss a beat.

 

Much of Audrey’s life has taken place on the stage. She started performing at age three as an acrobatic clown in a dance studio recital. She studied at Hunter College and at the Julliard School, then received a B.A. in dance from Adelphi University before moving from New Audrey demonstrates the rhythm of a sequence.                                     York to Philadelphia.

 

In Philadelphia, Audrey was active in dance theaters and local ballet groups. She choreographed operas and performed solo. She began teaching dance at age fourteen when she was the dance instructor at a summer camp. She has led classes at the Cheltenham Adult Program for fourteen years.

 

Today, Audrey has taught almost every form of dance at every experience level.  And, as reflected by her advanced dance class in Wyncote, she teaches people of different experience and age in the same class. For Audrey, the act of sharing her craft is part of who she is Her students have different reasons for coming to class and sharing this art.

Nancy Anderson dances for the thrill of being a performer “I love the stage!” she exclaims. For Joy Guarneri it comes down to one word, “Audrey.”  Stephanie Vancharat was attracted to the class when she saw it listed in the Cheltenham Adult School’s catalogue of classes. “I never danced before. I always wanted to” she explains. Ruth Lamdan took forty years off from dancing, having danced from age 5-7.                                     From Left: Nancy, Ruth, Kristie, Joy, Kathy and Stephanie  Ruth returned to dancing            make music with their feet.

 for the pure enjoyment it

brings her. As Stephanie and Ruth demonstrate,

it is never too late to start or resume a hobby.

 

Everyone holds her and his own during the songs. While each has an individual style, they all stay with the beat, remaining faithful to Audrey’s prime commandment “Thou shalt have no god but rhythm.”  

 

The class will be performing at the Community Arts Festival held at Allen’s Lane Art Center in the West Mount Airy section of Philadelphia on June 10  from 12 to 5pm.