Chapman first stepped onto the dance floor at the age of four and has now been teaching for more than 45 years.<\/p>\n
When Molls Dolls began, there were just six dancers. <\/p>\n
Many of those original members are still dancing with the group today, Chapman said.<\/p>\n
Her focus has always been on everyone being able to dance, and the joy that comes from moving together.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want everybody to be happy and feel the joy of tap dancing. It\u2019s the most wonderful thing, and it lifts your soul,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
That philosophy has remained at the heart of Molls Dolls, even as the group has grown and achieved success on the competition stage.<\/p>\n
The group has won gold medals at the last three Masters Games, but Chapman is quick to emphasise that dancers do not need to be professionals to put on a good show.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody can dance,\u201d Chapman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s movement or tap dancing or everyone can dance and have fun and enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n
For some members, dancing has been a lifelong passion. <\/p>\n
For others, it has become a source of friendship, connection and mental stimulation later in life.<\/p>\n
Jewel Lewis has been dancing since she was 5. Now in her 80s, she has been part of Molls Dolls for six years and practises most days.<\/p>\n
She is also a member of an honorary subgroup known as the Old Dolls, made up of about eight or nine dancers aged over 65.<\/p>\n
The group has won gold medals at the last three Masters Games. Photo \/ Anna\u00a0Heath<\/p>\n
For Lewis, tap dancing offers far more than physical exercise.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s one of the best preservers of older people\u2019s cognition because it puts rhythm and timing and new things and camaraderie and friendship and all together in one parcel,\u201d Lewis said.<\/p>\n
She also credits Chapman with creating an environment where everyone feels welcome, regardless of age or ability.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s caring and empathetic and doesn\u2019t turn anybody away,\u201d Lewis said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time we leave a class, everybody feels like they\u2019ve contributed, and she\u2019s an amazing choreographer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen there\u2019s the camaraderie of the girls \u2013 and I\u2019m allowed to call them girls because I\u2019m twice the age of a lot of them \u2013 and they all help each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s really good for the soul.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sense of belonging is shared by dancers across generations.<\/p>\n
Karlyn and Jannaya are both members of Molls Dolls and were taught by Chapman when they were young children.<\/p>\n
For Jannaya, returning to dance with Chapman years after first learning from her as a young girl has made the experience particularly meaningful.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been coming to Moll\u2019s Dolls now for nine years, but I did start with Molly when I was three and a half in Dunedin and then stopped that and then rejoined nine years ago,\u201d Jannaya said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was cool to be able to go back to the same teacher that I had when I was just a little girl.\u201d<\/p>\n
Molls Dolls\u2019 next show is sold out, with three weeks still to go. Photo \/ Anna\u00a0Heath<\/p>\n
For Karlyn, the group offers something that extends well beyond the dance floor.<\/p>\n
She described Molls Dolls as a \u201cpretty special group of ladies\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve sort of got a ready-made group of friends that are always there for you,\u201d Karlyn said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a bit of a rough time with my daughter\u2019s health and they just surround you in love and it\u2019s really, really nice.<\/p>\n
\u201cAside from all the dancing and everything, so yeah, pretty special group of ladies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Back in the hall, the tapping continues \u2013 just three weeks out from their next sold-out show.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chapman first stepped onto the dance floor at the age of four and has now been teaching for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[7577,11730,1038,1061,4487,195391,4527,147939,156,71,209,57236,302,685,2190,306758,111,139,69,28142,4062,11165,10809,73393,165,61,12637],"class_list":["post-624069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-80s","tag-afternoon","tag-brings","tag-children","tag-christchurch","tag-dancers","tag-doesnt","tag-dolls","tag-entertainment","tag-from","tag-group","tag-hall","tag-its","tag-last","tag-long","tag-molls","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-quiet","tag-school","tag-silence","tag-sunday","tag-tap","tag-their","tag-to","tag-together"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}