Eleven year old Peter watches his older sister Sally practising her tap dancing in the back garden, and noticing he’s intrigued, offers to teach him some steps. “Now the basic steps are…” his sister demonstrates, and Peter tries his best to do them. “That’s really good Peter.” she says after ten minutes.

“No it isn’t… I’m rubbish.” he replies. “I just went thump thump thump… but when you do it, it’s tap tap tap.”

“That’s because you’re not wearing tap shoes.” she says, showing him the soles of her shoes. “But you can do the steps quite well for a beginner.” She gets him to try something a little more difficult, and again he gets the hang of it after a few minutes.
She’s really impressed but he’s less keen because when she does it, it sounds like tap dancing and when he does it it’s just thump thump thump. Sally tells him to wait and disappears inside the house. Peter practises until she returns. “These are my old ones so they might fit you.” she says.

Peter sits down and removes his trainers, before squeezing his foot inside the black tap shoe. “I think they’re too small.”
“Take your socks off… they’re too thick.” she suggests. Peter removes his sock and squeezes his foot inside. “Better?” his sister asks.

“Kind of… but won’t they rub without socks.” he replies as his bare skin rubs against the leather.

“I’ll get you some thin ones.” his sister says before she runs indoors and returns within a minute. “Try these.” she said, “They’re called ‘pop’ socks.”

Peter pulls the thin pop socks on before effortlessly sliding his feet inside the tap shoes. He fastens the buckles and stands up… and slowly goes through the basic steps his sister has taught him. A broad grin crosses his face as his feet finally produce the same tap tap tap sound as his sister’s, and they spend the next hour or so dancing on the patio.

Their mother is used to the sound of her daughter tapping away in the back yard… but on hearing what sounds like two pairs of feet, goes to investigate. “Oh it’s you Peter… I wondered who Sally was dancing with.”

“I’ve been teaching him some steps and he’s really good!” Sally proudly states, before telling Peter to demonstrate what he’s learnt so far.

“That is good Peter.” his mother replies, “Are those Sally’s shoes?” she asks, looking at his feet.

“Yes.” Peter replied. “My own shoes just went thump thump thump!” he explained, looking down at his feet. “These are much better.” he adds, tapping them rhythmically on the decking.

Their mother tells them that supper would be ready soon, so they have a last practice before going indoors. They have supper and Mother says it’s nice to see them doing something together for a change. As usual, Peter and Sally wash, dry and put away the dishes before wiping the dining table and kitchen worktops.

Later, Peter joins his mother and sister in the sitting room where they watch TV, and sits himself in his usual chair. “You’ve still got Sally’s tap shoes on I see.” his mother says, looking at his feet.

“Oh er… yeah.” Peter replied. “I forgot.”

“That’s quite a high heel for a boy, are they comfortable?”

Peter put his foot on his knee and pays closer attention to the heel. “That’s not high.” he replied, looking at his mothers feet. “Yours are loads higher.”

“They’re high for a boy.” his mother reiterated, “But if you can dance in them… they mustn’t be too high for you.”

Peter looked at his foot, clad in his sister’s feminine tap shoe and thin white pop sock. He hadn’t really given the style a second thought… but thinking about it, maybe they are a bit girlie.

“Hey peter… you should come to dance class with me this Saturday!” Sally interjects.

Peter doesn’t look overly keen. “It’ll be full of girls though.”

“Well yes…. but boys can go too.” Sally replies. “Just because it’s all girls doesn’t mean it’s only girls.” she adds. “Can he mum? Can he?” she asks.

“It’s up to you Peter.” their mother says. “If you want to go then you can.” She glances at his feet once more. “You certainly seem to have a talent for it.”