Encore Performance/Tap Pups:

CLIENT DESCRIPTION:

www.tappups.com

BRIEF:

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“Vicki Riordan writes with a song in her heart, and she taps into all the emotions, joys and challenges that inform women’s lives. Her dance program changes lives; her book will, too.”

–Jeffrey Zaslow, New York Times bestselling author of

The Girls from Ames and co-author of The Last Lecture

It’s never too late to follow your passion, find true happiness, and live the life you want.

For Vicki Grubic Riordan, founder of what has become the largest adult tap dance studio in America and the Tap Pups program, this statement could not be more true. 

Billy Elliot meets The Golden Girls in ENCORE PERFORMANCE:  How One Woman’s Passion Helped A Town Tap Into Happiness (Atria Hardcover, April 2012).  This is the story of how “Miss Vicki” saved herself financially and emotionally as a single mom trying to make ends meet through teaching dance, and uniting the entire community of Harrisburg, PA in the process.

Young Vicki Grubic grew up with a love of and talent for dance, and by age 18 she owned and ran her own dance studio in the small town of Steelton, PA.  Soon after, she gave up her dance career to pursue other dreams:  love, marriage, and a family.  But when her marriage abruptly ended and she was left struggling to support herself and two sons, Vicky returned to her roots in Pennsylvania, and to teaching dance.  At age 62, she opened a studio teaching adults, and what has started as a student body of 50 has grown to 500.  Students range in age from 21 to 84, the average age being 57!  These students make up Vicki’s Tap Pups, America’s largest adult tap group consisting of four dance levels—Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and the All Stars, a traveling troupe. 

Talking points:

• How her pivotal life decisions—to end a bad marriage, to raise two children alone, to follow her passion—were all made from a position of strength, and how she maintained a fun-loving personality throughout, refusing to live as a victim of circumstance.
• The strong collaboration between Vicki and her son, Brian, who helped navigate the world of marketing and publicity to build the Tap Pups program, as well as the rest of her family’s devoted dedication to the studio and Tap Pups.
• The inspirational stories of growth among the women of the Tap Pups, whether taking months to finally get a step right or finding new purpose in life through tap after illness, losing spouses, facing retirement or empty nests, and the strong friendships they have forged.
• The 3R Project, an organization Vicki and Brian Riordan created to help the local YWCA of Greater Harrisburg’s Domestic Violence Shelter.  Dancers provide “Comfort Bundles” of blankets, towels, and other supplies to women and children in need at the shelter, and proceeds from the Tap Pups Spring Show go to this organization every year. 

ENCORE PERFORMANCE is not just Vicki Riordan’s story, but the story of the special women and men who call themselves Vicki’s Tap Pups and have found true happiness through tap dancing, just as Vicki herself did.  Vicki’s students have come to tap dancing from all walks of life, all ages, and all skill levels.   They are wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, grandparents, business owners, lawyers, doctors, married, divorced, and widowed.  But they have formed a common bond through the camaraderie of learning and performing, and the pure love of making noise.  At a point in life where most people retire and slow down, Vicki’s Tap Pups are donning black and white spectator tap shoes and makeup and performing live in front of huge crowds, including opening for Chubby Checker, Patti LaBelle, and Joan Rivers. 

The book features Microsoft tags throughout linking to extraordinary videos of interviews with Vicki, asides from students, and performances from the Tap Pups.  You can find more information about the Tap Pups at www.tappups.com.