Tap dancers rally together in world record bid

Forty-four tap dancers, young and old, took to the Montgomery Town Hall on Sunday as part of a national attempt to get as many people tap dancing at the same time across the country, to break a Guiness World Record.

The tapathon is steered by the Performers Project and schools around the country take part each year. This year, the Sally Gartell Academy of Dance, based in Montgomery, joined the nationwide attempt.

Sally said she loves taking part in the tapathon each year, and so do the children she teaches. Money raised from the sale of T-shirts for the event goes to Children In Need – last year, they raised £48,000.

"We have been taking part for five years now," she said. "The kids love doing it. The last time we did it, I think we were about 200 people off the world record.

"The world record currently stands at 7,596 people tap dancing at the same time. It is a different routine each year and we try to get as many people involved as we can.

"We have adults and children taking part who already dance at the school and then they bring along friends and family.

"This year the routine was to a Take That song but we had to do it twice for the world record attempt, so it was about five-and-a-half minutes long.

"I had the mayor, Haydn Andrew, attend to officiate the attempt. I think what is nice is the parents get involved.

"We even had a two-and-a-half-year-old do it with her mother and sister this year. Hopefully we have broken the record this year.

"I have had dads join in which is nice because it is normally only mums taking part.

"It is a great thing to get the community involved with."