A tap dance teacher who trained in Alsager is celebrating 40 years of her tap dancing classes. 

Macclesfield resident Sue Capper, started teaching tap dancing lessons in the town 40 years ago this month. 

Sue trained as a teacher back in the 1970s when she did her three year teacher training course at Alsager College of Education where she was a student from 1973 until 1976. 

Pam and Sue (fourth and fifth from right to left) with fellow tappers.

She currently teaches tap at Marlborough Primary School in Tytherington, where the anniversary do will be held. 

Our sister site, Macclesfield Nub News met with Sue to congratulate her, and find out more. 

"It feels unbelievable to still be doing them," said Sue. 

Macclesfield: Have you danced with Sue over the years? (Image - Sue Capper)

"The best thing of all is watching my girls performing together, and how fantastic they have all become, from when we began to now.

"And the fact that we have all become friends, even some of the newest people, we are all friends inside and outside the class."

Sue is a fully qualified dance teacher, who used to work as a performing arts teacher at Tytherington High School from 1977 until 1981. Sue then had her first child in 1981, and it was after that when her career in tap took off. 

SUE'S SHOES: The maximum capacity - or 'tapacity' - is 12 tappers per class. (Image - Macclesfield Nub News)

Sue began to offer all-round dance classes for occupational therapy for Macclesfield Hospital staff in 1982. This led to her teaching modern dance and ballet at Macclesfield Adult Education Centre, which in turn led to someone asking her to do a tap class at St. Paul's Church Hall. 

40 years later, she is still teaching tap. 

"Tap is very good general exercise, providing you don't have certain issues. It is aerobic to a certain extent," she explained. 

Sue has also been a part of Macclesfield's Barnaby Parade.

"It is also good for memory skills, as you have to remember the routine. As you get older, it is very good for the brain as well as the body.

"For many years, the Macclesfield Adult Education Centre enabled me to run and develop most of the sessions I was teaching and I shall be eternally grateful to the staff involved at the time."

While now at Marlborough Primary School, for the majority of the 40 years Sue taught tap at Ivy Bank Primary School. (This was until new floor was put in, that didn't quite have that satisfying tap sound we all know.)

Marlborough Primary School, of Tytherington Drive.

Over the years, she has also held classes at All Saints Church, Mafeking Hall, Ryles Park School, Bosley Primary School, in Wildboarclough, and numerous unmentioned venues in-between. 

At one point, Sue taught six classes a week. While life has got in the way for Sue and her dancers, they still squeeze in three classes per week. 

The current Marlborough Primary School tap classes are an advanced group and intermediate group, but neither session is competitive. She also runs a dance class there called 'KeepFit'. 

Sue is grateful for the support she has recieved over the years. (Image - Sue Capper)

The school hall has a safe wooden floor that has that satisfying tap sound. 

"It is a great venue for tap," said Sue. 

"The school has been very accommodating. 

You may also know Sue from Macclesfield Folk Club from when it started in 1974. She has also been a private music tutor at All Hallows. (Image - Macclesfield Nub News)

"To celebrate the anniversary, we are going to host an event on May 14 to invite anyone who has ever been 'A tapper with Sue Capper', to come and join us for an evening of memories for a tap down memory lane. 

"We will be inviting people to bring their shoes, stories and photos."

The get-together will be a £5 suggested donation to raise funds for East Cheshire Hospice, as they have lost dancers along the way who went to the Hospice over the years. 

Sue's anniversary party will raise funds for Macclesfield's East Cheshire Hospice. (Image - Macclesfield Nub News)

The fundraising aspect of the anniversary event is a homage to the group's fundraising over the years. 

The group has historically raised money for scanners at Macclesfield Hospital, with 'tapathons' held every Christmas. 

In 2005, they also tap danced to fund a medical centre in Bangladesh. 

Sue and her tappers have performed all over Macclesfield. (Image - Macclesfield Nub News)

"Thank you for supporting me all this time and being wonderful people," added Sue. 

Tap class attendee Pam Jones has come to Sue's classes since the start. 

"Sue's dedication and enthusiasm that keeps us coming, especially in the winter months when nobody wants to come out," proclaimed Pam. 

"I remember Sue's classes first being advertised as fun tapping, and 40 years later I can still say that is what it is." 

Fellow attendee Gayle Yeandle said: "Sue is very much a pillar of the Macclesfield community."