Local volunteer tap dancing organization celebrates 35 years

Class Act Tap Company performs hundreds of free shows all around the country each year

ROCKWALL, TX – August 3, 2021 — There it was! Right there in the newspaper. A prominently displayed photo of a glamorous older lady, calling the readers to join her in a senior tap group and promising a future dancing with big bands in Las Vegas. The article beckoned to women over 50 years of age with the dream and the passion of being a show dancer. The year was 1986. Unbeknownst to us, this article was our start on a 34-year journey!

Her call, however, was not exactly what was expected by the crowds who showed up at the announced time and place. While many left immediately, the “dedicated” stayed. And that included the present Class Act co-directors, Estelle Florey Carter and Mary Sue Thornton. When all but the ultra-dedicated had dropped by the wayside, there were but five remaining of the literally hundreds who had come. After practice, over ice cream concoctions one hot night in August of 1986, these five made the decision to go off on their own for a different journey – one that would lead them into three decades of volunteerism. On that fateful night, August 6, 1986, Class Act Tap Company was born.

After literally months of practicing with members gathered by word of mouth, the debut performance was given to a music club at the old Whittles Music Company on Oak Lawn Avenue in Dallas. The floor was carpeted so the members, eager to give their first performance, carried sheets of plywood, which they taped together to make a semi-suitable tap dancing floor – hard surface, at least, which is a requisite for tap dancing. Among other routines, the members performed “One” from the show Chorus Line – they are still performing the number and it never fails to bring the house down.

Encouraged by the success of that first performance, the group continued with simple put-together costumes and dedicated their services wherever they could find a need, to retirement communities, veterans’ activities, churches, senior centers, hospitals, charity and civic events, etc. As the group grew, so did the many and varied audiences, including high-visibility venues, leading to the need for multiple ready-made costumes and accessories and more dance types, including music from movies and Broadway, military and patriotic, rock and roll, Latin, Irish, country and western – really any type of music that suited the many varied shows they were doing each year.

Striving to meet the needs of many groups for which they were invited to entertain, new members were collected with the wide exposure. Starting from five members, the group continued to grow. The past tap dancing experiences of the members were varied – some danced only as a child and quit to focus on other pursuits, some danced all through their years in school, some had taken tap dancing classes late in life to fulfill a life-long bucket list item, and some came with no tap dancing experience but a dream to perform and a desire to learn. One was a former New York City Rockette. Several were ex Kilgore Rangerettes including Estelle Carter, a Captain in the Rangerettes for two years. Some had enjoyed their experience as cheerleaders, majorettes and drill team members in high school. All wanted to stay active, have fun, and commit themselves to volunteering, volunteers looking for the slot they could fill with a talent, learned as a child or just inborn. Those talents were lent for 30-minute shows to any group in need of entertainment. After all the practice, you could not honestly pick out the dancers with previous dance experience because the group melded and danced as a unit. Class Act is really more than a tap dance company – it is a sisterhood with members supporting not only the community through their volunteer service but also supporting each other through the many life experiences that are bound to come along at our age.

Although all of this entailed hard work and weekly practice, there was also camaraderie and lots of fun. Yes, fun, fun, fun! Appearing every year in the annual Spectacular Follies show at the Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts; opening in Branson, Missouri, at the God and Country Theater; on stage with Fabian and other stars; entertaining at the Ms. Texas Senior America pageant; traveling to Atlantic City to entertain at the Ms. Senior America Pageant; entertaining at the Lincoln Day dinner with President George W. Bush as keynote speaker; ushering for Debbie Reynolds; entertaining the crowds at KAAM Big Band Dances; meeting RAF pilots in from England at the British Flying Training Museum and Terrell Air Force Base WWII Reunion; appearing for several years in Tyler at Camp Fannin; entertaining movie stars of the movies’ heyday at the Gene Autry Museum in Gene Autry, OK; entertaining at the WFAA-TV Family First events with John McCaa and Gloria Campos; and dancing at the Mother’s Day Luncheon with First Lady Laura Bush as the keynote speaker, among other memorable events. But the glamor of those “spotlight” shows fades with the memory of a lady in a wheelchair in a nursing home grabbing your hand after a performance and thanking you for coming to see her, when a handicapped child at a parent’s night-out sponsored by a church smiles and laughs with joy for the first time in a long time and gets out on the floor and dances with the group, and when a veteran thanks you for caring enough to entertain at an event honoring veterans. Those are the real memories and meaning of volunteering – going where no one else goes, going where we are needed. Through our first-hand experience and stories we have been told from our shows, we are proof of the fact that music and dance are therapy for the wounded heart and body.

Class Act produces a two-year calendar every two years for family, friends, and supporters. The calendar photos tell the story of the group of ladies who donate two to four hours of practice time weekly and approximately four hours of travel and show time for each performance. The group does approximately 150 shows per year and some members volunteer their time multiple times weekly. One weekly practice reviews dances and readies members for shows. A second weekly practice teaches new members the tap routines. Members do as many shows as their schedules allow but are expected to do at least one show each month.

Class Act Tap Company is proud of the many honors received over the past 35 years, including selection by the Eisemann Center for the Performing Arts for their 10th Anniversary Celebration Show, First Place in the West End Cabaret Talent Competition, First Place in the senior age division in the Show Stoppers Competition, selection as a Hometown Hero by Clarice Tinsley, and many commendations from veterans’ groups for our service to their causes. Class Act also is proud to count among its members Jill Rumbley Beam, the Ms. Texas Senior America 2015, and Suzy Griffin, Ms. Senior Allen. Jill is also the reigning and founder Ms. Senior Texas USA and is also in the Ms. Senior USA Hall of Fame.

The group is thriving with over 3,100 shows under its belt. Class Act now numbers almost 40 members; the average age of the members is approximately 70 with the oldest member being 87.

With the advent of the COVID-19 virus, many of the venues at which Class Act historically performed are closed to visitors or entertainers, are not having meetings of their members, or have been rescheduled as future events. Until the situation changes, Class Act is temporarily doing outside shows so the care facility residents can view the show through their windows or performing live or by recording on shows viewable on Zoom or other web-conferencing communication tools. Just recently, the members of Class Act have started doing some inside shows.

Tappers and organizations are invited to contact Mary Sue Thornton at 214.528.9255, 214.415.8623, or by email at mthorn2805@aol.com to arrange a Class Act performance. To inquire about membership in Class Act, check out our web site at www.classacttap.com.

By Estelle Florey Carter and Mary Sue Thornton. Photos from www.classacttap.com.

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