On Tap Dancing

Here's an enjoyable though fuzzy looking film clip of Eleanor Parker and Fred Astaire tap dancing in the 1940 classic Broadway Melody, just click on the movie screen to view! Introduced to tap dancing at age 5 as a "dancing buttercup" in Miss Bagley's Kindergarten Class, I soon found myself watching Shirley Temple movies on television and dreaming of learning how to tap dance like Shirley. Mama brought home Shirley Temple paper doll books for my entertainment. (Once I'd cut Shirley and her outfits out of the book, I never really enjoyed paper dolls). After the "dancing buttercup" period, Mama enrolled me in Virginia Dell's School of Dance where I remained through the third grade. I took up dancing lessons again in high school, years later while living in Washington, DC, a group of friends and I took a tap class. Honestly, I am not a very good tap dancer and usually forgot the routine steps---though I do admire and love all of my dancing heroes!