Tap dancing to the beat

Senior Mena Williams uses her love for music composition and teamwork to pursue her passion for tap dancing

BY ISABELLA MORALES, CO-ONLINE EDITOR

The sound of tap shoes clapping against the wooden floor has been engraved in the mind of senior Mena Williams since she was three years old. From the day that her parents enrolled her into a tap dancing class, Williams has been mastering her technique and ability to count beats to uplift those who watch her performances.

Although Williams did not join her current tap team at Thomas Armour Youth Ballet (TAYB) until the age of 11, she has found a strong sense of community there. From tapping at annual performances with her teammates to being motivated by her teachers and instructors, Williams’ devotion to the sport continuously increases.

“I have been a part of the TAYB Tap Team for so long that I could never imagine what would have happened if I never made the team so long ago. And when my sister made the team, I could not wait for her to see and do everything so we could enjoy tap dancing together,” Williams said.

Williams maintains a consistent routine to better her tap dancing abilities. Every Sunday for about three hours, the TAYB Tap Team goes through rigorous training, which entails doing wings, shuffles and pullbacks.

“We always start our practices with a warmup. If there is a performance coming up, we’ll make sure to rehearse for the show and practice our improvisation skills,” Williams said.

However, big performances require practice and dedication. Williams specifically tries to focus on memorizing certain dance routines. Watching her old performances on video and then attempting to redo techniques that are difficult to remember allows Williams to catch on to these skills that were once hard to do.

Although her teammates play a large part in helping Williams stay motivated, one of the main reasons she enjoys tap dancing is because she has a big passion for music. Her favorite types of music to dance to includes jazz and hip hop, as Williams hopes to pursue a career in music composition in the future.

“I think music helps me a lot when it comes to improvising because it is based mostly on rhythm. In turn, dancing has definitely helped me enjoy different genres of music,” Williams said.

Through her 14 years as a tap dancer, Williams has developed ambitions that inspire her to continue tap dancing with no hopes of stopping any time soon. Although she has faced difficulties along the way, such as her memorization, Williams is sure to always remind herself that by focusing her time on practice, she is well on her way to conquer these challenges and perfect her performance.

“Tap dancing is something that I truly love to do and I have always viewed it as a beautiful way of me expressing myself through art,” Williams said. “I just want to focus on enhancing my tap dancing techniques day by day. And for me, the sky’s the limit.”