Tapping to the beat of a different drum
By Angelite Caudillo
The Collegian
With the desire to dance, the
new Fresno State Tap Tones club members , both beginners and advanced,
being given the opportunity to learn new choreography and perform.
The purpose of the new tap dancing club is to provide students with the
opportunity to learn and develop tap dancing skills. Anyone is welcome,
no matter if you want to learn how to tap dance or already know how to.
Tap Tones was started by sophomore physical therapy/dance major Lauren
Waterworth and assistant professor of Theatre Arts Kenneth Balint. Waterworth
is the president of the club and Balint is the adviser.
Waterworth and Balint got the club approved last year, when they both
realized there were no tap dancing classes offered on campus. Balint had
told Waterworth how popular the classes were in the past and the two created
the club. “We needed some outlet for tap dancing,” said Waterworth.
Waterworth says she has been competing since she was three or four and
has been tap dancing for 16-17 years. “I’ve tapped danced
on Broadway,” Waterworth said. After explaining she tapped danced
“on” Broadway and not “in” it, she said she has
also tap danced in Disneyland and Disney World.
Freshman Interior design major Kelly Fox says she has competed in England,
Paris, Las Vegas and New York. “I love to dance and it’s the
only dance club there is,” Fox said. As a native of Escalon, Fox
said she also hopes to meet new people. Fox said she decided to join the
club so she could have a place to dance. “It’s a way to express
yourself and have fun,” Fox said.
Tap Tones vice-president, sophomore theatre major Anne Schroeder said
she has been tap dancing for three to four years. She said people should
join so they could have fun and it’s a great way to exercise. “I
really like to tap dance and there are no classes,” said Schroeder.
New to tap dancing, junior biology major Hiroko Kubota and junior dance
major Mieko Tanaka both said they wanted to try something new so joined
the club. Kubota said she hopes to learn basic steps and hopefully perform
in the future. “I’ve seen it on TV and thought it was cool,”
said Kubota.
Waterworth said one of her goals for the club is to get teachers from
around Fresno to come in and teach the group some choreography. As an
experimental year, Waterworth said the group already has requests to do
some performances.
As a great way to meet people and learn new skills, Waterworth said she
encourages people to join to try something new.
The club is meeting on Fridays from 3-5 p.m. this semester and all people
are welcome. For more information you can e-mail Lauren Waterworth at
[email protected]
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