About a year ago, Ellen Keane walked across North Prior Avenue in St. Paul to check out Can Can Wonderland after teaching her adult “Tappy Hour” tap dance classes at Celtic Junction. As she chatted with the bartender over one of Can Can’s adult ice cream beverages, and told him about her classes, he said, “Wait just a minute. I gotta get the boss.”

Steve Pennington, owner of the indoor amusement park, said Can Can needed Tappy Hour.

“I’ll bring the shoes, you provide the floor,” Keane told him. Tappy Hour, from 4 to 6 p.m. Fridays at Can Can Wonderland, started in February 2017 “and the people kept coming,” she says.

The free tap sessions draw 25 to 50 people weekly and recently moved to another part of the building to a bigger dance floor. Keane figures there are 10 to 15 new tappers every week and a small core group of six or seven who are there for every class. “They’ve decided this is their thing,” she says.

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“Every Friday, I am always somewhat shocked to see the surreal sight of a room full of tap dancers,” Pennington says.

The lessons are free, but there’s a $2 admission to Can Can, which also has mini-golf, old-fashioned arcade games, food and drinks (including the aforementioned tasty adult ice cream beverages).

Keane, who teaches tap with her sister through their nonprofit, “Keane Sense of Rhythm,” has a couple of boxes of tap shoes. As dancers arrive for Tappy Hour, those who don’t have tap shoes rummage through the pile of footwear for a suitable pair.

Keane takes the stage and leads the hoofers through the steps. A few simple kicks and shuffles, then she puts it to music. Throughout the two hours, she adds steps, a spin, a move, a groove. She heads to the back of the class to make sure everyone is a happy tapper.

Folks on the dance floor who have tap experience are happy to help beginners.

There are no hops and leaps, Keane says. “It’s about the experience. We make people feel welcome.”

Don’t go expecting “Bye, Bye Blackbird” or other tap standards. Keane’s playlist for the class consists of Bob Marley, Herb Alpert, KC and the Sunshine Band, James Brown and Michael Jackson. “I work really hard on my playlist,” Keane says. Songs come from a number of different decades “with lots of different tempos and feelings.”

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The Lectric XP electric bike is a bit crude, but has quality where it counts No experience is necessary and no age limits — on the low or the high end. Keane says two women ages 89 and 90 took the class because they were dancers when they were younger.

Two Tappy Hour regulars are a couple who have been married 30 years. Keane says the woman tried all of their married life to get her husband to dance. He wouldn’t — until she persuaded him to go to Tappy Hour. Now, they own their own tap shoes.

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