Happy feet

EAST COUNTY — As Bruce Colby sits, legs crossed and hands folded, at a table at a brick and white-columned banquet hall in Bradenton, his body twitches ever so slightly.

That’s because Colby’s toes pump up and down as he flips through a scrapbook depicting his performances in musical theater and other productions from the last several decades.

The fidgeting, he says, is unavoidable after a lifelong hobby of tap dancing.

“My feet are always going,” Colby says.

At 66 years old, Colby isn’t your typical tap dancer, given his age and gender.

“I’ve been dancing on and off for over 50 years,” Colby says. “I really get a kick out of it.”

Colby, who takes lessons from adult tap instructor Bonnie Gray, taps with her group, called the Starfire Tap Dance Co. He’s the only guy in a group full of women.

“The ladies really keep me in line,” he says.

Although Colby would rather dance in a T-shirt and blue jeans, he humors the ladies’ enthusiasm for coordinated outfits.

“They all laugh at me for that,” Colby says. “It doesn’t mean much to me.”

The tap group has earned many awards, and Colby has distinguished himself by consistently winning high scores in the adult solo division of the recent tap competition season. He even won the best solo title at the finals in July.

“The audience loves Bruce,” Gray says. “When we go to nursing homes to perform, they say, ‘I hope you brought that man with you.’”

Practice venues for the group rotate from Premier Dance Studio in Lakewood Ranch, to Manatee Central and Renaissance on Ninth, both in Bradenton. Colby attends lessons at least twice weekly.

It’s great mental and physical exercise. But, he says, performing is what keeps him going.

“It’s most fun to be on stage,” Colby says. “I’m kind of a different person on stage. It really makes you feel good — someone clapping, laughing.”

Plus, he enjoys being a role model for younger male dancers — to show that tap dancing can be fun at any age.

Colby admits that as he’s aged, the steps and routine memorization don’t come as easily as they used to, but he still has fun.

“I plan to keep going as long as I’m able to,” Colby says.

TAPPING IN
Bruce Colby’s tapping addiction began early, when he was about 7 years old while living in New Jersey.

“I remember I could do several clicks with one foot,” he says. “I had a loose ankle or something. I thought it sounded pretty good. I thought I’d try it out.”

Colby’s tap dance lessons began.

He switched to Fred Kelly Studio when he was 11 so he could learn from other male dancers.

He later danced with Fred Kelly’s son, Mike.

“We did numbers as a team,” Colby says.

He danced at the World’s Fair in the 1970s.

Colby considered a career in dancing, but instead chose something with more security. He eventually enjoyed a successful career as a health care administrator in the area. He earned sociology and psychology degrees from Northeastern University and a master’s in gerontology from the University of South Florida.

TRIVIA
One of Bruce Colby’s former students?

John Travolta.

“I taught him tap and gymnastics,” Colby says. “He must have been an adolescent at that time. I never expected that out of him. He was a bratty kid, at that age anyway.”