Hats & Taps

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Merry Mary - The New Number Ten

Mary became Hats & Taps' new, and tenth member in October of 2011. She is a natural at teacher Carol's "Tap & Flirt" with the audience style! She brings a huge smile with every performance that shows her sheer enjoyment of tapping and pleasing all the people around her.

Mary is a trooper! She works hard and taps almost every day. In her own words, I "took up tapping in late 2009 after attending a performance that Marie was in. I could see how much fun she was having and I wanted to be there." Mary took beginning tap from Richard for about 4 months and then started with Carol's beginning class at Mission Oaks in 2010.

Even peeking through the hats, you can see that big grin that says, I'm having so much fun! Mary is a strong bike rider too and continues, "the Thursday afternoon hours didn't work for me, so Carol, bless her heart, allowed me to tap with her Monday night group. Boy, was I over my head. For some reason, they put up with me and my 1st performance was with the Hi-Steppers at Mission Oaks in October of 2011".

Mary with the Hi-Steppers and her first show.

"But the best part was when Carol said that she was no longer going to teach at Mission Oaks....why do I say it was the best part? She asked me to be with Hats & Taps - WOW, I felt like I was asked to Homecoming by the Football Captain."

"Being with Hats and Taps has been one of the best experiences I have ever had. The group is so open and welcoming that I felt like I belonged immediately."

Well Miss Mary happy feet, the rest of the gals feel the same way. We are so happy to have you with us. You are truly a delightful addition to the group!

Marching In March

Hats & Taps celebrated St. Patrick's Day month with two March shows. Carlton Plaza Memory Care, on the 14th, and Eskaton Monroe Lodge, on the 16th, greeted us with glee.

Shirley helped with the music and took pictures for us at Eskaton Monroe. We appreciated both very much!

The group had fun performing Carol's McNamara's Band as well as five other lively numbers.

We marched first to Straighten Up and Fly Right, followed by Choo Choo Ch'Boogie and Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.

Our group was impressed with how well both our audiences sang along to Irish songs of yore.

You can always tell how much fun we're having by the smiles we share!

Even with our backs turned, we can catch some wonderful smiles!

Like Liz and Lois here.

Thank you to all our enthusiastic audience members.

The responses we get make us want to do even more jigs!

Monday, February 27, 2012

Seeds of Love at Ralph Richardson

Friday, February 17th, a special treat awaited Hats & Taps.

Carol, and the group, was presented with this charming poster of appreciation. Ralph Richardson is already one of our favorite places to perform. What an unexpected and very pleasant surprise this was! We love it! Some of us are already thinking about the next

costume inspired by this poster.

You never know where seeds of love will take you!

Before we knew about the poster we danced six numbers. Below you see us doing Choo Choo Ch' Boogie. If you can see our faces,
you can tell we are having a lot of fun.

Smiles abound as we board this entertainment train.

Our smiles hardly compare, however, to the ones we see on our audiences faces!

Once again, Connie and Ruth pay tribute to Black History Month
and sing the African American Anthem.

Hats & Taps proudly presented "Tribute to our Armed Forces" as our final number.

Ruth, our rock, entertained the kids well while we changed costumes.

We are so happy when all ten of us are able to perform together. Carol cleverly choreographed "Tribute" and paired us up with the appropriate hats to honor all our armed forces.

Always thankful to our Hats & Taps teacher, Carol, there is another teacher Carol to thank as well. Many of these pictures were taken by Ralph Richardson's teacher, Carol. We thank you so much for the pictures, your words of support, and for, yet another special treat, the marvelous Smilebox composition you put together for us! Memories like this are treasured always!

Thanks to everyone at Ralph Richardson and all the kids
for a very special day!

Saturday, February 25, 2012

We Love Kids!

February 16th, Hats & Taps danced at Cordova Meadows School.

Our Lois arranged this delightful grade school venue. Connie added a little bit of a history lesson for Black History Month, and she and Ruth sang the African American Anthem. The children soaked it up and stared at us with their beautiful faces.

We soaked up their hugs after the performance.

In line for Anchors Aweigh are

Lois, Connie, Marie, Carolyn, Liz, Carol, Mary, Rhoda and Linda 2.

Thank you for having us, Cordova Meadows!

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Catering to the Crowd

Hats & Taps' first performance for 2012 found us at Jackson's Catering, another new venue, on February 8th. The Wives of the Civil Engineers requested Hats & Taps for their luncheon's entertainment. What a great audience they were! We were a little worried about our space constraints prior to the performance. All went well, however, and fun was had by everyone. Even Jackson's neighbors from the Salon next door peeked in for an eyefull of fun.

Carol, Liz, Linda 2, Mary, Linda 1, Connie,

Lois, Carolyn, Rhoda and Marie

Huge thank yous to both our hosts! The aromas from the kitchen will bring us back for more than tapping our toes and smiles from all the ladies made us feel light on our feet as we left for home! Mary caught all ten of Hats & Taps this day. Good catch, Mary!