Meghan is tops in taps

The music plays, and Meghan DeGraff dances, whether recently in rehearsal in a yellow-paneled studio at Eleanor's School of Dance in Colonie or last November in Germany for the World Dance Championships.

Her family, parishioners of Holy Spirit Church in East Greenbush, joined Meghan there to support her as she competed in the World Dance Championships.

It was her biggest competition of the year -- and she came out on top, earning first place in the junior division for tap dance.

Tops in taps

"It was great," said Meghan, one of the youngest girls to compete in her category. "You know you can do it, but you only get that one chance to perform your best. When you get on stage, you dance for the people and have them see how you really are. You get to express your emotions through dance."

Meghan's mother, Sheryl Alessi, enrolled her in a tap-dance class at the age of three. From the beginning, Meghan, a student at Goff Middle School, knew that she loved it -- and ballet, lyrical, hip-hop and jazz.

Ten years later, the slight, red-haired dancer spends more than 20 hours a week in training. She pulls full-day Saturdays and takes classes almost every night of the week -- except for when she goes to religious education class and Friday nights, which she spends with friends.

Time-step

Time-management skills are crucial for the dancer and her family. But, for Meghan, that's fine. Dancing is what she loves.

Ballet serves as the foundation for many of her other classes; without a ballet base, she said, it's harder to progress. Her teachers "speak" in ballet terms in her lyrical class, and the balance she learns benefits her when she has her tap shoes on. The grace of ballet lies under the curved lines she makes with her arms and legs in other styles.

"Ballet forces you to get better in jazz and tap," said Meghan. "If you don't take that, you're not going to progress in your talent."

Competition

Meghan will take her routines -- up to 20 of them -- on the road during a number of spring dance competitions in Albany, Connecticut and -- most importantly -- Florida for the Nationals.

"You get to meet new friends and build relationships with other studios," said Meghan.

Competition was stiff on the journey to Germany last fall. Thousands of dancers from studios across the country competed in for the chance to go. In Germany, 67 girls were whittled to six, who danced one final time before a panel of judges. Meghan remembers the white-knuckle feeling of waiting for her scores -- and the rush of happiness when she knew she had won.

"I didn't ever think I would," Meghan said.

Dance future

Meghan's most immediate goal is to compete in the World Championships next fall. When she's a professional, she hopes to be involved with the dance videos she sees on television, choreographing challenging routines for hip-hop artists.

"She always says she'll be on Broadway," said Mrs. Alessi. "I think she will."

In Germany, Meghan got a taste of stardom when she did a TV commercial in which she taught a hulking boxer some tap steps.

"During the middle of it, he picked me up and put me on his shoulders," she laughed. "I felt like a star. I felt like I was on 'American Idol.' It was like I was on the top of the world!"

(The dance competition in Germany gave Meghan, an eighth-grader, a chance to experience firsthand what she has studied: medieval times and World War II. "You go to social studies and learn about this," she said; "but getting to go there and experience it" provided a new dimension.)

(2/17/05)