Tip-tap-toe

MGMA Connexion, Jul 2006 by Pope, Christina

Jackie Shoupe, FACMPE, MGMA member and practice administrator, Orthopedic Surgical Associates, Reno, Nev., connects with her daughter

After juggling college and work and finally graduating at age 40, Jackie Shoupe was looking for something fun she could do for exercise with her 16-year-old daughter, Christie. She found it in the tradition of Kred Astaire, Gene Kelly and Sammy Davis Jr.

A beginning tap dance class - and nine years later, the mother and daughter now take classes three times a week at a Reno, Nev., dance studio and serve as substitute teachers on occasion.

"We've always been really, really close. My daughter is my best friend," Shoupe says of the 25-year-old office worker, "lap dancing is something we can share and help each other with. It gives us a good excuse to laugh at each other and stay connected."

Tap's percussive footwork and rhythmic patterns are a form of exercise that Shoupe says she doesn't have to talk herself into. The advanced classes the pair now take demand harder steps and longer routines to faster music. A 170-year-old American art form, tap dancing's rigor and elegance build Shoupe's confidence - and she doesn't deny that she's been told she has great legs.

Shoupe performs for family and friends each June and December and entertains senior citizens once or twice a year. Rather than doing routines to Broadway show tunes, Shoupe prefers "funkier" numbers done to contemporary music with jazz or modern dance steps. The public performances require a variety of costumes, ranging from the sequined and fringed to denim, and once even religious attire.

Shoupe recalls one ill-fated performance about five years ago to the song "You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me," with the halfdozen dancers dressed in nun's habits. Much to her horror - and the amusement of the 60 audience members- her long skirt fell off. Although the skirts were designed to be detached by the dancers midway through the performance, Shoupe's came off prematurely. The mishap earned Shoupe the nickname "the stripping nun."

Shoupe's office colleagues, as well as the physicians' wives, have attended her performances, but she stops short of inviting the physicians themselves. "No thanks," she says. "They are my bosses." Her loyal audience includes her son and husband, as well other extended family members.

As the incoming Nevada MGMA president, Shoupe will welcome MGMA members to her home state in October for the MGMA 2006 Annual Conference. Rumor has it she'll be happy to tutor attendees in a little fancy footwork while they are in Las Vegas.

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About the author

Christina Pope, MGMA senior writer, cpope@mgma.com