well, my folk. as I was raised by a single mother. I think she associated tap-dancing with a (to her) low-brow form of dance. much of it is - some tap dancers are all feet, no arms....or maybe she thought if it as a kind of chorus line uniformity. dunno. But ballet was classical and approved of, so that's where I started, and in my teens moved over to modern dance, because I had a better body for modern than ballet, and because I liked the bare feet over the restriction of toe-shoes, and because it was a very creative and newer form of dance minus (at its best) the "prettification presentations" of ballet. Ballet being the foundation of all dance in the way that one romance language may make you capable in another one. In my late teens I began to branch out with all sorts of dance forms, taking class in NYC with some wonderful teachers, as well as with great teachers at National Music Camp (Interlochen Michigan) and Bennington College (Bennington Vermont). When at 16 I went out in my first musical theater tour, I was able to dance the original choreography for West Side Story, and playing Anybodys, I got to dance the best stuff, as the only girl in the Jets gang. super great!
