Tap Dancing at the Bluebird & The Lifelong Benefits of Dance!
An uplifting book talk paired with a dance sampler —soft shoe, swing, salsa—and dancing!
Join us for an lively event with author Christine Walker, dance teacher Starr Hergenrather, and exercise physiologist Suze Cohan in conversation about “Tap Dancing at the Bluebird,” Christine’s novel inspired by her love of dance, her grandmother’s Depression-era diaries, and the neuroscience of movement, music, and memory. The discussion will dip into American dance across the decades and how it reflects our multi-faceted culture. We’ll explore why dancing is good for the brain and the transformative power of dance for health, cognition, and feeling joyful. Starr will demo soft shoe, swing, and salsa and teach some steps. We’ll have a short party with music for dancing your own style.
Format: Book Talk, Dance Sampler, Dance Party + Intermission for refreshments & moving chairs. No tap shoes required. Bring your curiosity and desire to let loose and get in the groove!
Free Event
Tap Dancing at the Bluebird is an uplifting story of love, family, and friendship celebrating dance and second chances across a century of change in America. It pairs a coming-of-age adventure with a later-life tale, drawing readers across generations—1932, 1960, 2020—to discover lessons in the past for present challenges. The Tony Award-nominated choreographer Kimi Okada reviewed it as: “An epic novel about lives intertwined, unraveled, and re-woven, driven by the power of dance that shapes and transforms personal histories.”
Starr Hergenrather has been a Theatre Arts/Dance educator for 51 years and a lover of both all her life. She received her Theatre Arts degree and Teaching Credential originally from Colorado Women’s College in Denver, CO. In 1987 she received her Dance degree and credential from SSU as well as her California Teaching Credential.
Before moving to Sebastopol in 1983, she lived, with her best friend and husband Jeff, in Providence, RI, and eventually their 2 children, for 5 ½ years. Jeff’s medical internship took them to South Carolina where #3 child was born, Summertown, Tennessee, #4, then San Diego, CA (no more kids). She taught both dance and theatre everywhere they moved to.
“I have always been a fan of Tap Dance. Growing up watching Fred and Ginger and, in particular, Eleanor Powell, as well as Gene Kelly, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Buddy Epstein, Eddie Brown, Bunny Briggs, Cholly Atkins, Peg Leg Bates, The Nicholas Brothers, The Condos Brothers, and all the great tap dancers of the ‘30s and ‘40s, I just wanted to do everything they were doing. So, I studied them, copied them. I didn’t really know what I was doing. I never got to have dance lessons as a kid. In college, I’d ask dorm mates, classmates, if they knew how to tap dance and would glean whatever I could from whomever I could. It wasn’t until I was in my 30’s that I actually had my first real tap class. Oh, I was dancing, many other styles – jazz, contemporary, ballet – but not tap, not from a real tap teacher. When I moved to Sebastopol, I found myself a mentor – Jack Williams, an old Broadway song and dance man, a REAL tap dancer, and a really good one. I studied with Jack for about 15 years, or until he got too old to dance. His style is my style – Lancashire Tap, Percussive, swing tap. I often thought I was born in the wrong era. 😊”
Starr continues to teach privately and may start up another tap class in the not too distant future.