Palmer dancer aims to break tap record

PALMER — From a dancing family with 15 children comes Colby Nielsen, a performer and teacher taking on the Guinness World Record for Most Taps in a Minute.

Like many boys at that age, as an elementary and middle school student, Nielsen played basketball, baseball, football and soccer. He ran track and did cheerleading in high school, and even dabbles in golf with his stepdad, Hans Deemer.

But instead of Michael Jordan, Peyton Manning or Babe Ruth, Nielsen has come to call Michael Flatley (Lord of the Dance), Michael Jackson and Mikhail Baryshnikov (a Russian ballet dancer known by some as the greatest in history) his idols.

“They all own the stage better than anyone,” Nielsen said. “Michael Jackson was obviously more of a pop star, but his dancing ability and his ability to control a crowd stands above most everybody.”

Nielsen began dancing in 2001 at age 14, inspired by four of his older sisters, who were then dancing at a studio in Eagle River. When Sonja’s Studio of Dance opened in Wasilla, Nielsen’s older sister — he’s the second oldest — came back to the Valley to dance, and talked her brother into joining her.

He admits his motives weren’t all about dance at the time, though.

“I went and watched, and there (were) a bunch of high school girls, so I decided I was gonna take dance,” he said.

Now, Nielsen teaches six different styles of dance in 13 classes at Mat Valley Dance Studio in Palmer, including break dancing, tumbling, hip-hop, jazz, ballet, tap and pointe.

It’s a family business, he said, one his mother Michelle actually became interested in after watching her children dance. .

“My mom always, when we were kids, told us we had to try everything once, and if we didn’t like it, then we could stop,” he said.

“Secretly I was excited to take it, but you know I was a stubborn little kid that didn’t want to,” he said.

Nielsen said he “surprisingly stuck with it,” since he and his classmates had to dance to Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” on the first day, “which was kind of embarrassing.”

So, when the Irish Lord of the Dance group traveled to Anchorage in 2002 — Flatley was not in attendance — Nielsen keyed in on a note in the program about Flatley’s records. One of them was Most Taps in a Second.

“I’ve always loved tap and I’ve always wanted to be a fast tapper, but right after I read that, I decided that I wanted to break his record,” he said.

What Nielsen is most concerned about now, however is Most Taps in a Minute. The current Guinness World Record is 1,163 taps, made by Anthony Morigerato.

“I’ve thought about it over the years and I’ve never really put the effort into doing it, even though I’ve become a lot faster tapper,” Nielsen said, in reference to breaking the record. “I decided this summer, if I’m gonna do it I might as well do it, like, what am I waiting for?”

So, at the end of September, Nielsen submitted his application to Guinness and got busy tapping. The review process requires a six-week waiting period, he said, unless he paid a $750 expedite fee, which is a bit out of his budget. To officially break the record, Nielsen has to bring Guinness adjudicators and their equipment — used to slow down the recording, for example, to count the number of audible taps — up to Alaska. He must pay for their airfare from London, housing, and individual wages.

Currently, he has raised a little more than $1,160 of his $9,500 goal to cover those costs. His claim was reviewed this week, according to the Guinness website, he said, and he is awaiting further instruction via email.

As encouragement for people to donate, Nielsen is offering various perks to his sponsors, based on how much they donate. Some of those perks include taking a class or full workshop from Nielsen, receiving a customized beanie, choosing a song for his “thank you” performance, and more.

Nielsen has even offered to engrave the names of sponsors who contribute $500 or more on the taps he will use to officially break the record — unofficially, he’s already done it, he said.

So what happens next?

Nielsen said he’s still thinking about what he’ll do if he is able to officially break a tap record or two, but he’s hoping it will at least boost his resume, so he’ll have opportunities to perform and teach weekend conventions in the Lower 48, while keeping his job at the Palmer studio, if necessary.

There’s another record he has a dream of reaching, set again by Michael Flatley — become the Highest Paid Dancer in the world.

Nielsen said he’s not too optimistic about his chances, but he still thinks about being able to travel around the world performing, like Flatley.

Teaching though, at least for now, works for him.

“I love seeing kids learn and grow and get better,” he said, “and pushing them and hearing them groan when I make them do something hard.”

To support Nielsen in his push to break the tap records, visit his Indie GoGo page at bit.ly/1yAcTQG.

Contact Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.