Tapping at the Toy Library Fair 09.

Sunday March 15th, 11am.
Darling Gardens, Melbourne.


Totally adorable Small Kids. Happy Little Vegemites. And Nell in the background, borrowing the red coat and womanning the sound system. I brought my own equipment, and there were no malfunctions.


Gorgeous Middle-sized Kids. Under The Sea, a fairly complicated routine. This year each class had a brand new routine that they learned in just 4 weeks. The Middles love this one. Can we do it again? See Fixit paying close attention to his beloved family as they dance? (Edited to add that although he is talking to someone in this shot he was watching for the show and was also my number one roadie, hefting boards to and fro, and packing up on his own. So don't be misled by my flippancy, Fixit was 100% there for me.)


Totally talented Big Kids.


So clever.


Louie the Fly. Mortein genocide on all my innocent tap students. Check out Climber and [one of] his girlfriend [s] at the left of the picture, giving that extra bit of drama.


This is me wearing make-up. Doesn't actually happen a lot, and I got quite a few comments from people. Wondering if I should make more of an effort with myself now. Or if I was just freaking people out with my painted face. My FIL thought there was a stranger at family lunch that day.


Is that seriously what my butt looks like? Oh my God.


Cherub strikes a pose. It amazes me how relaxed all the kids are at the public shows. I always feel sick beforehand. They just get up and do their thing and have fun. Maybe it's because they get an icecream afterwards? Poor Climber. He was eyeing off the Mr Whippy truck all morning but Fixit said No because we were off to Grandma and Pa's for family lunch afterwards and lord knows there is no shortage of sugary treats there. But then Every Single One of his friends got to have a post-performance icecream and the poor kid was practically on his knees begging me to allow him to have one. I solved this dilemma by directing him to my Video-Cameraman (aka my Dad). Climber got the treat, parents kept face. Win-win.


I had to get one of the Mums to hold up a cheat sheet for the new routines, just so I always knew what was coming next. You can see her standing at the front of this picture, watching her son (they're both wearing black) and holding my paperwork. Although you can't see my head in this shot I am probably staring intently at her stomach. Autocue for tap-teachers, albeit a very low-tech one.


Hooray!