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'Tap secret' sets their toes twinkling
By TERRY JONES SPRING HILL -- Darlene Meyer has a secret, but some people are beginning to find out about it. Meyer, 55, a former dancer with the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes and two-time winner of Spring Hill's Stage West Community Playhouse HAMI award for choreography, is working with seniors, teaching them tap and jazz dancing. And she has had some marvelous results. "We call it our tap secret," Meyer said. "The ladies start out with their hands in their pockets and their eyes looking down, with no smile. After a few weeks, they are putting on makeup, smiling and moving their hands and arms around with a new-found confidence. They lose weight and start putting a pep into their step and their marriages." Meyer, with the help of her assistant Terri Marwood, started the Tap 'N Dolls with seven women in 1999. In three years the group has grown to 75. They perform at senior centers, nursing homes, activity centers and many other places where entertainment is requested. The oldest dancer is 80, and the youngest is in her early 20s. The average age of the group is 65. Meyer, who was born and raised in Vermont, started dancing at age 3. She moved to New York as a young woman to take advantage of the many opportunities the city offers dancers. Through the years, Meyer has earned professional degrees from Dancing Educators of America; Dance Caravan, a branch of the Professional Dance Teachers Association; the June Taylor School of Dance, and New York's Juilliard School. She is qualified to teach tap, jazz and ballet. In addition to being a Rockette, she has studied under Gene Kelly, Bob Fosse, Gus Giordano and Ann Reinking. She creates routines for the Tap 'N Dolls in her home's dance room. The routines spring from within the music and from deep inside herself, she said. "I put on a number I like and allow the music to move me to the routine I feel and see," she said. "I get visions of the routine within the music and work at it until it all comes together with all the moves. Sometimes it will take a while. Then there are times when it just flows very quickly. Then Terri and I teach the ladies." Meyer and her husband, Allan, moved to the Washington, D.C., area to raise a family and be near his work. They have two children and two grandchildren. Seven years ago, when her husband retired from the Department of Commerce, they moved to Arizona. There she joined a dance group that traveled to several countries and states to entertain military personnel on government bases. She compares the group to a USO troop. In December 1998, the family moved to the Spring Hill area. Meyer and Marwood train dancers at Charlene's School of Dance in Spring Hill. Marwood's credentials as a dancer and teacher include training at the University of New York in Albany, Demerest Studios and Patricia Livingston Studios, also in Albany. "Most of the studios cater to age 16 and below," Marwood said. "Few people learning to dance in later years go on to professional careers. However, our objectives are different. Our dance team develops self-esteem and self-confidence while staying fit and getting the thrill of entertaining others." Meyer has a financial arrangement with the management of the dance school. She pays rent based on a percentage of the fees paid by her students for lessons. The Tap 'N Dolls students pay $60 for 12 lessons and receive a dance card that is punched after each lesson. If the student leaves to travel and still has lessons on the card, for example, she can dance upon her return without losing money. "I could not do what has to be done without the help of Terri," Meyer said. "She is like having another right arm. Because of her exceptional talent and dedication, we are not limited to seven or 75 or even a couple hundred dancers. We can take someone with no experience or someone with lots of experience." Meyer said the group can perform just about anywhere. It does not charge a fee but does accept donations to help the women pay for their costumes. Anyone who wants to learn to dance and who wants to become part of Meyer's group should call (352) 684-9975 or (352) 684-1787. - If you know of someone in your community or neighbor who would make a good profile candidate for our Faces column, please send information to Terry Jones, c/o Seniority, the Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731.
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