
{"id":5534,"date":"2009-04-16T08:42:14","date_gmt":"2009-04-16T16:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=5534"},"modified":"2009-04-16T11:38:34","modified_gmt":"2009-04-16T19:38:34","slug":"recently-getting-lost-in-the-shuffle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2009\/04\/16\/recently-getting-lost-in-the-shuffle\/","title":{"rendered":"Recently: Getting lost in the shuffle"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Valarie Schwartz<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This story needs to be heard \u00e2\u20ac\u201d really \u00e2\u20ac\u201d I wish you could hear this story. As I climbed the steep steps to the second floor of the Ballet School of Chapel Hill, I could hear it \u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00c2\u00a0the sounds of the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble (NCYTE) calling me into the studio. The percussive sound of metal tapping on a wooden floor rates up there with rain on a tin roof in my book. <\/p>\n<p>The 33 young people of NCYTE (they pronounce it \u00e2\u20ac\u0153insight\u00e2\u20ac\u009d) auditioned to become part of the troupe, and their dedication and ability determines when and if they get to tour when their agent books them gigs like the one coming up in Chicago this summer, or the one in California (Ojai and Torrance) next winter, or the one they took two years ago to China. Since it began in 1983, NCYTE has been all over, including Germany, Mexico, Russia and many points in between. <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>In a rehearsal several weeks before the coming spring show, which this year is called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Good Vibrations,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the mirror that spans one wall of the studio had been covered with sheeting to help them get used to performing without seeing themselves. As I sat watching, listening and photographing them, it became clear that though Gene Medler serves as their director, the young people were in charge. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re empowered,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Medler said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I only step in if I feel like we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re jeopardizing the quality of the show.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>Medler was 28 before he began to tap, and once he did, he made a career of it. He came from Asheville to Chapel Hill for college in 1967, intent upon a career in physical education. He was in graduate school and doing a little freelance acting when he was asked to be in a video that showed a man learning how to tap dance. Five lessons later, the video was a wrap and he was hooked. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153My dad tap danced a little bit. He was an athlete and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d do a little clog behind the lawn mower or a jig in front of the refrigerator,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Medler said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I always thought it was kind of quirky but cool at the same time.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>In the beginning, he thought tapping would be nothing more than a hobby, but he was a natural and continued it. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nobody discouraged me. Even my dad said \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcgo for it.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>He coached both men\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fencing at UNC for a long time, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153but the dance bug bit me.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s made a career of both dancing and teaching \u00e2\u20ac\u201d his nine tap classes per week at Elon are packed \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and has helped many into successful dancing careers, among them Michelle Dorrance, now on tour with \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Stomp!,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and Derrick Grant, the director and choreographer of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Imagine Tap!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Both will make guest appearances in the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Good Vibrations\u00e2\u20ac\u009d shows. <\/p>\n<p>The young people of the corps come from all over the Triangle, but many are from Chapel Hill, like Elizabeth Burke, 16, who attends Chapel Hill High School and has been dancing since age 6. Her face and body had already said it before, without hesitation, she stated, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oh, I definitely plan to pursue this as a career.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>Medler later confirmed that she certainly has the potential and, with the right breaks, could make it. <\/p>\n<p>Another impressive dancer was Alex Vigotov, who during rehearsal for the first number they ran commented a couple of times that it didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t sound right. She heard when someone mis-stepped. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s proactive and assertive,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Medler said. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also determined. Alex didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make it into NCYTE until her third audition before a panel of judges.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153She was too young the first time; the second time, she was borderline and didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get in; the third time, she got in, and she has good talent and a strong work ethic. She works harder than anyone else,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and has become a voice of leadership. <\/p>\n<p>There are 11 boys in the troupe \u00e2\u20ac\u201d more than in years past. Hayden Fitzgerald, a senior at Cedar Ridge High School, has been tapping for 10 years. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of my favorite things,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a song-and-dance man, with chorus and theater as other pastimes. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve done a lot of fencing with Gene. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pushed me along.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Which is why Medler\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s there. The kids run the show \u00e2\u20ac\u201d they are pros, after all \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s their support. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s guiding it along,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hayden said. <\/p>\n<p>The shows are at 7 p.m. April 25 and 2 p.m. April 26 at the Carolina Theater in Durham. Tickets are $15 or $10 for seniors and students. See: <a href=\"http:\/\/ncyte.org\/ \">ncyte.org\/ <\/a>or call 560-3030. <\/p>\n<p>Contact Valarie Schwartz at 923-3746 or valariekays (at) mac.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Valarie Schwartz This story needs to be heard \u00e2\u20ac\u201d really \u00e2\u20ac\u201d I wish you could hear this story. As I climbed the steep steps to the second floor of the Ballet School of Chapel Hill, I could hear it \u00e2\u20ac\u201d\u00c2\u00a0the sounds of the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble (NCYTE) calling me into the studio&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-recently"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5534"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5545,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5534\/revisions\/5545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}