Broadway Baby (7 page)

This
Mary Poppins
performance for variety night wasn't like any other performance I'd done in my time at Silver Shoes.

This was something that was mine, something that I'd pursued and worked hard for. It was me showing everyone that all my talk of the past few months was because of this; that the world of the stage was what I'd dreamed about and lived for.

So it was extra exciting. But it also made me extra nervous.

I was a mess backstage at the Entertainment Centre. I forgot my false eyelashes. And when I came back from the bathroom I thought I'd lost my
Mary Poppins
crew because there were so many other acts from other schools and companies rushing about and crowding the hallways.

When I tried to sing some quiet warm-up notes to myself, I felt like a frog had died in my throat. My voice sounded like a husky old ear of corn and no amount of clearing my throat made it better.

Then I couldn't get the braces to attach on my pants! They kept popping off and one sprang off, hit me in the neck and left an ugly red mark on my skin.

‘Cadence!' I turned to her, my eyes all big and wet from the panicky tears that were threatening to ruin my moment.

Cadence, the pro, turned my way like she was twenty years older than me and not just a few months. ‘Yes, Ellie?' she said.

I pointed at my neck, which was really meant to somehow sum up my whole freak-out. Lucky Cadence was smart as well as talented.

‘Well, that's easy enough to disguise,' she said, reaching for a tub of greasepaint and painting over the red welt with one swipe of her fingers.

‘Thank you,' I said, reaching for the snakes like my life depended on it.

‘Okay,' said Cadence. ‘I know how to fix this.' She grabbed my hand and pulled me stumbling out of the dressing room (one of my tap shoes was unbuckled and kept catching on my heel).

‘Where are we going?' I asked through a mouthful of snakes.

‘Ssshh,' said Cadence. ‘Follow me. We're not supposed to be there, but no one's around at this time just before they open the house.'

‘Where?' I asked. ‘What?'

Cadence peeped over her shoulder before dashing up the steps to the backstage area and creeping through the cracked open door.

‘Here.' She pulled me out through the dark silent wings to the empty stage, which was lit by one spotlight.

It was just like in my dreams. The dust motes floating through the air in their own secret dance. The rows of shadowy seats rising all the way to the back. The sweet musty smell of the curtains. The spotlight casting a warm yellow circle on the ground.

And me. Standing in the middle of my stage.

‘This is all you need to think about and feel,' said Cadence, still holding my hand but using her other arm to sweep about. ‘Fill every
inch of this stage with what you love about performing. This is your world and it doesn't care about false eyelashes and braces marks. You're here to perform and entertain, because it's in your blood. So just listen to what your heart tells you.'

I looked out at the auditorium. ‘Cadence,' I said softly, ‘who told you that? That's exactly how I feel.'

‘Sometimes,' said Cadence, ‘
you're
the only teacher you need and you just have to learn to listen to yourself.' She squeezed my hand. ‘I'll leave you alone for a bit. The stage is all yours.'

‘Thank you,' I said.

Her footsteps died away and I stood staring out at my pretend audience. I didn't make a sound and I felt very calm and peaceful.

Cadence was right. This was where I belonged and my blood and heart knew it, even if sometimes my mind didn't.

‘Pssst,' I heard from the side.

I blinked.

‘Ellie,' someone whispered. ‘Over here!'

Dazed, I turned to my left and saw three familiar faces peering out at me from the wings. The smallest, blondest one was holding a big bouquet of sunflowers, my favourite.

‘Quick,' Ashley hissed at me. ‘We're not supposed to be back here but Cadence said this was where you would be. We brought you some flowers for your big debut!'

‘And snakes,' Riley said from behind her.

‘And hugs,' added Paige, holding out the bouquet.

I smiled. There were other things, not dance-related, that your heart and blood and mind could tell you.

And this time, I listened.

Fun facts about tap and musical theatre:

• Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken words, acting and dance. Musicals as we know them began to be popular in the first quarter of the 1900s. A lot of musical films you might have seen would have begun on the stage.
  
• The first dog to play Sandy in the original Broadway production of
  Annie
  was saved from a pound and made a star. From then on, traditionally every dog who played Sandy was rescued from the pound.
  
• Tap dancing is the fusion of British Isles clog and step dancing mixed with the rhythms of West African drumming. It began in the mid 1600s when Scottish and
  Irish workmen brought their social dances to the United States of America, where it was copied by slaves.
  
• In the late 1800s, there were two tap techniques used: a fast style using wooden-soled shoes, and a smoother style using leather-soled shoes. By the 1920s they had merged when metal taps were introduced to the ball and heel of the dancer's shoe. Before that, people would often stick coins on the bottom of their shoes to make a louder sound!
  
• Hoofers are tap dancers who dance mostly with their legs, making a louder, more grounded sound. This kind of tap dancing is called ‘rhythm tap'.
  
• ‘Broadway tap' is more common these days, and is a fluid style influenced by early tappers like Fred Astaire, who added elements of
  ballroom, and Gene Kelly, who used his ballet training to give tap athleticism.
  

Famous tappers

• Fred Astaire
  
• Gene Kelly
  
• Bill ‘Bojangles' Robinson
  
• Gregory Hines
  
• Savion Glover
  

Musicals with tap

• Singin' in the Rain
  
• 42nd Street
  
• Billy Elliot
  
• Mary Poppins
  
• All That Jazz
  

Movies with tap

• Chicago
  
• High School Musical
  
• Happy Feet
  
• Bootmen
  
• Stepping Out
  

Hey there, hoofers!

That is, of course, what they called tap dancers in the olden days. But tapping is just as much fun if you do it now! Here are some of the steps and musical terms you might come across when you first begin to learn tap – trust me, it's tricky first off, but if you do mine and Paige's trick of listening to the beats and letting your feet follow, it sure helps. Another great tip is that crisp, sharp taps are always better than just making the loudest sound you can. See you on Broadway, my beauties!

Love, Ellie

 

back brush
one sound, a broad movement that swings from the hip and ‘brushes' against the floor

 

ball change
two sounds, shifting the weight from foot to foot (two steps)

 

ball dig
one sound, the ball of the foot gives a sharp hard dig on the floor

 

grab off
four sounds, lift your right foot then your left, and then ball change

 

mezzo-soprano
the ‘middle' vocal range between a soprano (high) and a contralto (low)

 

minim
in music, a half note (two beats) with the stem facing up or down – it looks like this:

 

pick up
one sound, you stand on both feet, tilt up the toe of one foot and sharply tap back, removing your heel

 

repertoire
a collection of songs, dances, choreography etc. that a person knows and can perform if they are called upon to do so

 

semibreve
in music, a whole note (four beats) that looks like a hollow circle

 

side kicks
straight leg kicks out to the side

 

shuffle
two sounds, quick forward and back taps done to the count of one

 

shuffle toe heel turns
three sounds, one direction; twelve sounds to do a whole turn – like a shuffle but you put your heel down after the shuffle and complete a full turn

 

slap
two sounds, an ankle action where you tap forward and finish with a ball dig (keep your knees relaxed!)

 

slap ball change
four sounds, you slap forward and shift your weight with a ball change

 

split jump
splits in second position in the air

 

stamp
one sound, a flat foot drop, just like you're stamping

 

tap spring
two sounds, forward tap and then spring onto the ball (front) of the foot (like a hop)

 

time step
seven sounds! A common step made up of stamps, springs, shuffles and slaps, the weight shifting from foot to foot

 

toe heel
two sounds, a ball dig followed by you dropping your heel on the same foot

 

trenches
five sounds, a scraping kind of movement with springs and heel drops, and can be done to the front (hoofer) or to the side (over-the-tops)

 

triple threat
an all-round performer who can sing, dance and act very well

 

wings
three sounds, you jump/hop, brushing both feet out and in and then coming together, so it looks like your feet are fluttering once

Samantha-Ellen Bound has been an actor, dancer, teacher, choreographer, author, bookseller, scriptwriter and many other things besides. She has published and won prizes for her short stories and scripts, but children's books are where her heart lies. Dancing is one of her most favourite things in the whole world. She splits her time between Tasmania, Melbourne, and living in her own head.

AVAILABLE JANUARY 2016

AVAILABLE JANUARY 2016