Tap dancing is relatively unknown in Mauritius. Most youngsters are more interested in modern dancing. However, once they see tap being performed by their peers, they also want to partake of this technique. ?Rhythm has always been in the blood through out the history of mankind whether it is expressed in the beating of African drums or Spanish castanets or via the feet such as in Irish Professional Dancing (River dance),? the tap dancing teacher, Pamela, says.

Tap dancing was born in the fifties or sixties in the streets of North America at the same time as the advent of Black American jazz music. Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly were by no means the best tap dancers of their time but they were the most publicised dancers of the Hollywood film industry, which was not accessible to Black Americans in those days.

Pamela is one of these people who live for their passion and are always ready to share it with others. The latest show she organized with her ?pupils? at the Cercle de Rose-Hill last weekend proves this. She has managed to pass on both her savoir-faire and professionalism to her ?tap dancing pupils?? But, above all, she has succeeded in taking her audience back on a wonderful trip through time to the golden age of jazz!

The teacher has always been attracted to the creative arts whether on canvas at secondary school or in dance later on. ?One has to be above all a good technician to teach any dance. Then, the artistic feel is the cherry on the cake.?

The ?girls? are aged from 11 to 39 and tap dancing could be considered ?old-fashioned? by them but they must have realized that this dance definitely does not belong to the past. Tap dancing is a matter of rhythm and feeling. The dance movements are very jazzy. The dancers wear special shoes that have two pieces of metal fixed to the bottom of the soles. ?My teacher/guru used to shout to us in the class: ?Make it sound dainty like the pitter patter of the rain or make it thunder like a herd of cattle??? Pamela remembers.

She may soon be saying the same thing to her pupils at David Studios where she?ll be teaching tap dancing to children of 11 and above. Those who want to experience more of the magic of tap-dancing in the near future, take note!