Tapping Tina's Terrible...
...Turned Terrific Tuesday!
Written by
Vanessa Desiano
Illustrated by
Microsoft Office Free Clipart
Tapping Tina was new to the town of Balletville. She and her family had to move to a new town, so that her father could be closer to his work. Tina felt terrible about leaving all of her friends back in Tapville. She felt anxious and nervous about starting dance at her new dance studio, even though she knew she was an excellent tapper and would fit right in. Tuesday could not come soon enough for Tina, she was ready to make friends at dance!
It was finally Tuesday, and time for Tina to start her first day of dance class at her new studio. As she was getting dressed for dance, Tina's hands were shaking and sweating. She felt like she was going to burst from the anticipation. "Would the other children like me?" she thought. "Will they be friendly or will they not accept me?" Either way, she was going to find out soon enough.
As Tapping Tina walked into dance class, all of the other children stopped to look at who was making so much noise. "What is that terrible sound?" screeched Bossy Betty. "I've never heard such a clatter in dance class before," cried Ballerina Beth. Ballerina Beth went back to dancing, but Bossy Betty could not stop staring at the new girl who was making so much noise. "Look at her shoes," whispered Bossy Betty to the other children. "She looks like she has party shoes on. Where does she think she is going in those?" she added. Tapping Tina instrantly turned red. She could not understand why Bossy Betty was making fun of her tap shoes. This is what everyone wore back in Tapville. Everyone was wearing BALLET shoes! Now she knew she really wasn't going to fit in.
Tina was on the verge of crying when Ballerina Beth came over and took her hand. She brought her to the ballet barre, and explained that in dance class, they only do ballet. Tina was very confused. She had never seen ballet before. She has only tapped. Her confidence of being a great dancer plumitted to the floor when she found out that they do not tap in Balletville. "Don't let Bossy Betty bother you," said Ballerina Beth. "I think your strange shoes look fun! I was just so startled by the noise, because we are not used to hearing anything in ballet class. A perfect ballerina dances lighter than air." "Well," began Tina through her sniffles, "I am glad that you like my tap shoes. You can borrow them sometime if you would like." "Did you call them tap shoes?" asked Beth. "Yes," said Tina. "They are called tap shoes, because you tap your feet on the floor to make all different kinds of sounds and rhythms."
At the ballet barre, all of the other children became very interested in Tina's tap shoes. They began asking her a ton of questions about how they work and if they could try them on also. Tina began to feel a relief wash over her, as she realized that the students were beginning to accept her and her shoes. Tina couldn't help but see Bossy Betty standing in the corner looking upset. "Would you like to try them on also?" Tina asked Betty. "Why would I want to do that?" asked Betty. "Well, sometimes, trying new things could be fun," replied Tina. "Why don't you give it a try?" As Tina took off her shoes and gave them to Betty, Betty was a little reluctant to give in to her curiosities. After a little more coaxing from the children standing around, Bossy Betty finally put on the tap shoes.
Betty felt wonderful! She couldn't believe how much fun it was to have these strange, new shoes on her feet. "WOW!" cried Betty. "Pretty amazing, aren't they?" responded Tina. "Maybe you could teach us all how to tap," suggested Betty to Tina. "Yeah! Maybe you could even tap out the rhythms for us to dance ballet to for our Spring Recital," added in Beth. Tina could not believe it. Her terrible Tuesday quickly turned into a terrific day. She had made new friends in dance class, and they were all excited, even Bossy Betty who is now known as Blissful Betty, to have Tapping Tina teach them everything she knows.