For David Rider, performing in the national touring company’s production of the Broadway hit "42nd Street" was the chance of a lifetime. But the 20-year-old hoofer from Hyde Park is not hanging his hopes on the kind of discovery that catapulted "42nd Street" ingenue character Peggy Sawyer to stardom.
He has a still higher calling in mind.
Last month, Rider enrolled in a seminary in Cheshire, Conn., to become a Catholic priest. He left behind a promising career as a professional tap dancer — Dance Spirit magazine recently named him one of its "20 Hot Tappers 20 and Under" — and David Rider’s World of Tap, the studio he founded (with his mom’s help) at the age of 16. It is a seemingly unlikely career twist, especially in an era when priestly ordinations continue to decline. After all, as Rider said, "The world I’m about to go into and the world I’m leaving are very different."
Still, he said, the decision was clear.
"I love the church, I love Catholicism," he said in an interview at his office. On his desk were a framed photograph of Gene Kelly, a small painting of Jesus and a plastic bottle of holy water. "I enjoy tap dancing."
…Growing up, he was a "lukewarm Catholic," Rider said. Masses were rare events and confessions even rarer. His parents, David and Kathy, a social worker and dietician, respectively, said they avoided doctrine.
"We’re children of the ’60s," Kathy Rider said. "We wanted to let them do their own thinking and draw their own conclusions."
The younger David said somehow he always sensed he would go on to become a priest. The turning point came in his junior year at Our Lady of Lourdes High School. He credits religion teacher Peter Lyons with helping him work through doubts that fogged his faith.
Then, "I was overcome by grace," he said.
Once he had fully committed to his faith, the priesthood seemed the only logical conclusion.
He kept his plans secret, enrolling at Fordham University in the Bronx to study theology. In November, he called his parents from the road to tell them he wanted to enroll in the seminary of the Legionaries of Christ as soon as he finished "42nd Street," after just one year of college. [Source]
Being that he is joining the Legionaries of Christ he will probably not be doing the theological tap dancing of dancing around theology so prevalent in the sixties and seventies and I doubt we will see the advent of liturgical tap dancing. Though the image of a priest tap dancing at the consecration for emphasis in lieu of having some chimes rung is pretty scary.
6 comments
What a ministry to young people this man could have! My own parish priest rides a Harley — he says that you blast through about 90% of the walls around kids’ hearts when you cruise up on a hog with a bumper sticker proclaiming “Love Jesus and follow Him.”
So this guy was a tap dancer and now he’s becoming a priest.
So he’s gay, right?
Yes, of course, Chuck: tap dancing makes you gay. Also choosing wallpaper with flowers on it, cooking with more than two spices, or making any hand motions while using the word “fabulous.”
Jeepers….
I find that oddly hilarious…
Isn’t tap one of the more masculine forms of dance? (as opposed to…say…ballet. I know there are male ballet dancers, but there is absolutely nothing masculine about wearing tights and a tutu.)
For your information David is not homosexual. I got to dance with him and the cast of 42nd Street back in December of 2004, at the King Center for Performing Arts in my hometown. David and the cast of 4 were very welcoming and outgiong. They even invited me to see the show and to audition later in life. I had seen the show and it was phenominal and I intend on auditioning for it professionally one day. Just because someone dances does not make them gay. There are plenty of male dancers out there who are not gay. So, please, before you make your judgement as to who is and who isn’t – ask yourself – should I be saying this. Thank you for your time.
Hello,
I know David personally and he is one of the most generous, real and honest persons I know. I am proud to have him as a friend and his life is no one’s business but his own. He is not gay, nor would I care. He is a sincere individual who has spent much of his life giving to others of his time and his talent, which he has so much of. He has more of a life than most young men his age and tap dancing does not make you gay, rich, poor, mean, or anything else. It is a trade like any other. You need to be good at it to make it to where he has at such a young age. This article says a tap dancing Priest would be scary, but it is not as scary as there being no priests at all. What ever David chooses in his life, he will do it with style, grace and with all his heart. I hope he chooses dance as his profession since he has already given so much to others and his aura of being a good person just rubs off when you are in the room with him. I am proud and honored that my child is one of his students. You should not judge someone who you never met just because of what you read in this article. Thank you.