Tap City showed that you didn’t need two arms – or even tap shoes, to be part of the hoofers sharing rhythm in downtown Manhattan yesterday. Young people of all shapes and sizes clapped and stomped in a seemingly effortless display of coordination. The conductor, wearing tails and flip flops, and appropriately named Tony Waag, kept the pace lively but clearly had no problem with enthusiasm. Even in the dripping heat, the colorful crowd beamed energy from face to foot as the city elders looked on with approval. Tap dancing started on this very spot a couple of hundred years ago, when Irish and Africans and clog-wearing immigrants got in the groove to survive. The Snap, the Flap and the Shim Sham Shimmy were for many the beginning of their American dream.

I hip hopped on my bike intending to swing by my current favorite sculpture at Union Square when I was lured by the sound of belly dancing music. Astor place was full of fortune tellers, goth fashion stalls and witches waiting for center stage. The third annual Witch Fest was brewing, having cast a spell on local authorities to ensure their festival would proceed despite the lack of ‘indigenous content’ required for a street permit. Connections to the occult also gave them license to add a K to magick. The girls were having fun but I preferred flying on and taking inspiration from the dreams of ‘Think Big’ who will be looking to the heavens until October. In a city where anything goes, a double shuffle in those size 12’s will be fantastick enough…