Teacher still tapping her way across the stage

“Has everybody caught their breath?” said instructor Carolyn Wood, laughing. “Wait until you’re 80.”

Wood isn’t the average tap dance instructor. At 80 years old, she combines decades of experience into teaching seniors tap dance techniques four days per week.

“I like teaching (seniors) because they get a sense of accomplishment,” Wood said. “They’re all between 55 and 91, and they’re good. Their attitude about it all is great.”

Wood performed her first dance routine at the age of 3 on Dec. 1, 1935 in Long Island, N.Y. Since then, the East Coast native has worked with dance companies and taught classes throughout the world, including “40 of the 50 states, Canada, Europe and South America,” she said. Wood said she has performed with numerous celebrities throughout her long dance career, including Rudy Vallee and Tony Bennett. She moved to Las Vegas in 1978 and started working in the real estate industry before reverting back to her passion a decade later.

“I came out here, got my real estate license, and I hated it,” Wood said. “One day, someone asked me, ‘Where are your tap shoes?’ I said they were in a suitcase somewhere and decided to try (dance) out again.”

Wood taught dance classes at the Reed Whipple Cultural Center and Prime Time Dance Company before working with seniors in the southwest area. Past students include children and professional dancers, but Wood said teaching seniors is among her most rewarding experiences.

“I have people who come in and say, ‘I’ve always wanted to tap, but I think I’m too old to start,’ ” Wood said. “It’s never too late to start. A lot of people’s lives have changed because of dance. It’s good to see (seniors) get out and start to move, (and) it makes such a difference.”

Cindy McLaughlin, 59, has been a student in Wood’s class for three years. McLaughlin said Wood’s teaching methods and the friends she’s made keep her coming back each week.

“We learned all the riffs, the steps, the technical terms and the right way to do it (from Wood),” McLaughlin said. “It’s the challenge and the friends that really make the class.”

Seniors in Wood’s class start at the beginner level with opportunities to move into a more advanced class. Wood said her students often perform shows throughout the valley at assisted living centers and various community events. Wood said she is constantly looking for beginners interested in trying tap.

Judy Burke, 71, has been a student in Wood’s class since September 2011. Burke said Wood makes the class not only educational but fun.

“The teacher is good,” Burke said. “We have fun, and it’s great to have a teacher who says, ‘We can do this.’ She’s wonderful.”

Wood said she could try other hobbies, but there is nowhere the longtime dancer would rather be than in a rehearsal space or on a stage.

“I don’t cook; I don’t sew; I don’t do a lot of things,” Wood said. “Dance is my trade, and I’m good at it.”

For more information on tap dance lessons at the West Flamingo Senior Center, call 455-7742 or visit tinyurl.com/75ejgl2.

Contact Paradise/Downtown View reporter Lisa Carter at lcarter@viewnews.com or 383-4686.