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There
She Is... Ms. America!
When
I was a little girl, my dream was to be Ms. America. “There
She Is” I could hear Burt Parks, all dressed up
in his tucks and tails, singing to me as I walked
the runway.
How I wanted to perform! I use to dream
about the many ways of expressing myself and my talent
in the pageant. Would I sing? Would I tap? Would I
ballet or do jazz? How could I fit it all in? What a
hoot now that I think back on it.
Do you all remember
-- those of you who are old enough -- that beautiful
black slim evening dress Barbie wore (I’m
talking Barbie doll here)? It was a bustier, fitted
to her body and ruffled at the bottom. That was the
dress I was going to perform in. I could see myself
on stage at the microphone, singing “One
Love” from
West Side Story.
Then... when I had the audience eating out of
my hand, I would rip the dress off (I never quite
had this part figured out), and underneath... wha-la
was a “June Taylor Dancer” in full leotard.
Now
for those of you who are not old enough to know the
June Taylor Dancers, they performed on The Jackie
Gleason Show, and they were HOT! Of course, if you
don’t
know Jackie Gleason... oh well, I guess I’m showing
my age. So, as Jackie Gleason so famously said, “Let’s
go on with the show.”
So there I was, a Ms. America
contestant, dancing like a “hot” June Taylor
dancer, performing to “There’s
No Business Like Show Business!” I used to imagine
myself in that black leotard, fish-net tights, white
socks on my feet (that’s how we did jazz back then),
moving to the rhythm. I had imaged this to perfection,
in my dreams, from hours of watching the “Senior
Dancers” at the Vera Marchette’s School of
Dance in my hometown.
Then, when you thought you’d seen the best of
my talent, I would exit the stage, only to return
with a jump rope. My next move was to passionately
tap my heart out for you with this incredible dance
number I did with a jump rope to “I’ve Got
Rhythm.”
Wait, there’s more!
(Click
here for the complete article)
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