Thank you Capezio new posting 3/18/17

This will be getting ahead of myself in my chronology but I think it's worthwhile to update my letter I just mailed to the CEO of the Capezio dance company.  It gives an honest portrayal of finding a moment here and there of fun.

March 17, 2016

Office of the CEO

Capezio

One Campus Road,

Totowa, NJ   07512

Dear Sir,

“32 ZAPS: ç’est finis

Last Friday, March 10th I put on my Capezio “fluid” tap shoes and tapped my way in and out of the radiation room - my last of 32 zaps for breast cancer. With my shapeless cotton johnny untied and loose around my shoulders, this vision - vaguely resembling a costumed modern dancer, tapped a solo dance sans music. With my three beginner tap lessons behind me I tried the shim sham but hadn’t perfected it yet. So I went to the f-lap, f-lap, f-lap and then many small tap-a-taps. The radiation techs were so happy, all smiles and of course, they gave me a round of applause. After my treatment, I received a diploma!”

This is what I wrote to my private Facebook group updating my cancer journey.   Last July, 2016 I bought my first pair of Capezio fluid tap shoes in NYC at the Lincoln Center store.  A former college friend had been begging me to try tap lessons.  We are now 61 and 70 years of age and thought it would be fun to get together and tap now and then with our old college dance instructor.   Within a week of my purchase I was diagnosed with HER2+ breast cancer through a routine mammogram. This is a very aggressive, invasive cancer requiring a full 52 weeks of chemotherapy as well as 6 ½ weeks of daily Monday-Friday radiation treatments that continued while getting infusions every three weeks.

There wasn’t time to even think about starting a tap class with all the medical appointments I was facing.  However, during the six weeks of radiation treatments, my college dance instructor was just 30 minutes away.  So three times my friend and I went to tap immediately following my radiation.  I called it ZAP & TAP!   The radiation team was so thrilled that I could even try to do some dance after my treatments that they encouraged me to wear my tap shoes on the final day of treatment - one week ago from today.

It wasn’t easy to tap.  At nearly 62 and a woman of a certain girth, it’s really hard to look at yourself in full length mirrors - but I did it.  My friend and I had our private lessons with our old friend and teacher and when I got tired about 25 minutes into the lesson I just stopped.  Oh, but what fun we had.

I want to thank your company for 1. Making the “fluid tap” shoe which is affordable for someone like me, a beginner and certainly not a dancer. 2. Making the shoe in larger sizes to accommodate wider width feet and 3. Creating joy in my cancer treatment life.

I have shared my story of Zap & Tap with so many friends I just felt you should know what joy it has brought me to lace up my black fluid tap shoes fresh out of their bright red box and for a little less than an hour forget about my scars and my burns and my poisoning.

I'm one flap-ball change away from the no-hop senior group of tappers routine.  And I’ll use the Syncopated Ladies Tap Dance salute to Prince as inspiration for my future recital.

Sincerely,