Tap Dancing Provides escape, self-expression

When someone wants to learn to dance, usually ballroom, salsa or square dancing comes to mind. One dance that is a lot of fun to learn, but sometimes forgotten about is tap dancing.

“I have taught tap dance for four years,” said Christine Pirtle, owner of Studio C Dance and Arts. “This will be our fifth year starting in August.”

Pirtle teaches tap dancing along with Kay Worthington. Together, they have about 50 young students a few teens learning tap. Anyone can start to learn the dance at 3.

“We also have competitive tap teams that go to various competitions around the Tulsa area,” Pirtle said. “These girls typically work on one dance the entire year and work towards perfecting it.”

What makes it unique from other dance styles is that the person is creating music with their feet.

“I challenge anyone to tap dance and not feel happy while they are doing it,” she said.

As with any dance, this fun style starts out with a few basic steps and becomes more complex with experience.

“More often than not, tap dance is usually done with upbeat, fast music, but I have also seen it done to slower songs,” Pirtle said.

The day this dance brought her the most joy was when she first learned how to do tap. The instructor had been going through a difficult time in life and took a break from dancing.

“I remember the day I decided to take a tap dance class again and for that hour, I forgot about all my problems and sadness,” she said. “I still find to this day, for children and adults alike, the studio is a place where all the stresses of the world disappears.”

Studio C Dance and Arts is located at 8361 N. Owasso Expwy., Ste. I.

Posted: Tuesday, June 28, 2016 1:58 pm | Updated: 1:46 pm, Thu Jun 30, 2016.