The Jump Rope

Sometimes people have have hidden talents that are never developed. This story is about one special young lady with a special talent that was developed and enjoyed by many audiences.

The Jump Rope

 

When our youngest daughter Tamara was 10 years old, she took a jump rope class at school and she got very good at it. She was on a school jump rope team that put on very good synchronized performances for the public. Tamara had been clog dancing for a while and she started doing simple clog dance routines and jumping rope at the same time which was fantastic. Tamara entered a Lions Club talent contest in Tulsa, Oklahoma where she performed her special act. She won the first prize trophy in her age group and the Grand Prize Trophy for the contest with an $1100 cash prize. Over the next couple of years, she had progressed to doing advanced clog dance routines while she jumped the rope. She choreographed an advanced jump rope/clog dance routine to “Next To You, Next To Me” which she preformed at nearly all our exhibition dances. The people in the audience were always amazed that anyone could have the hand foot coordination to perform this phenomenal dance while jumping rope. The word got around and she was ask to perform the act at the National Clogging Convention at Nashville, Tennessee. We all had a great time in Nashville.

 

When we were in Branson, Missouri, she was practicing the jump rope clog routine in our motel parking lot and a talent scout for the Shoji Tabuchi Theater stopped and asked Tamara to come to the Theater and talk with them. They offered her a job doing the act on the show but she would have to live in Branson. Since this was our wild child and we had to live in Bartlesville for my job, we nipped it in the bud and declined the offer.

 

I watched her performance at least a hundred times and it amazed me every single time I saw it. Many other cloggers tried to perform the feat to simple clog dance routines, but to my knowledge no one was ever able to do it. So our daughter is unique since she may have been the only advanced jump rope/clog dancer ever.

 

Always remember, the family that plays together stays together. Enjoy activities together with your children and you will make memories that you will cherish when you grow older. I’m very proud of both of my daughters.

Tamara doing her advanced jump rope clog dance routine at an exhibition in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

One of Tamara’s moves in her advanced jump rope clog dance routine.

Another of Tamara’s moves in her advanced jump rope log dance routine.

One move move in her advanced jump rope clog dance routine.

Thanks for reading The Jump Rope,

Hawg Jaw Bill