Getting the Groove

My friend Tim persuaded me to take a beginner's tap class with him; I was a true beginner and he was not. Everybody in the class was going shuf-fle, shuf-fle while he was going clickety-clickety-clack-clack-clack.

One night he showed up for class extra-dapper in a jaunty hat and suspenders. The clothes made the man - made his tap very artistic and expressive, anyway, and he was full of encouragement, cheering me on to do likewise. As I hadn't even attained to the clickety-clack phase yet, I just shook my head. "You are on a groove tonight," I said dismissively.

"Yes I am! But it's THE groove - and you gotta get on it!"

I understood, and replied with an inspired burst of first-rate tapping.

There really is only one groove, and the challenge is all about finding it in the first place. After that, it's in constructing roads back to it for when you fall out.