Fun! Your Upstairs Neighbor Is Practicing Their Tap Dancing For Showdown!
Campus CultureStudent Life March 27, 2026 The New England Classic
THE ROOM ABOVE YOURS — As Showdown grows closer, Boston College dance teams frantically prepare for their dance performances. Fuego members work tirelessly to hide their top-secret dance theme (Latin culture). Sexual Chocolate practices with its surprise on-stage guests: the nuns of St. Mary’s convent. Most relevant to you, Boston College On Tap members tap away on your ceiling all day and all night.
“I used to wear my Dr. Martens all the time,” said victim Anne Oyed (MCAS ‘28). “Now, I can’t even look at a pair of hard-bottom leather shoes without being filled with white-hot rage. And don’t even get me started on the music choices. Who thought Creep by Radiohead would make a good tap routine? But hey, maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about, maybe I’m not special, maybe I don’t belong here.”
The tap team has been practicing incessantly for weeks in preparation for their showdown performance. Five times a week, they meet in O’Connell House and release a bunch of ants onto the floor as a tap warm-up. Members are expected to practice for multiple hours at home nearly every night.
The work of a true tapper, though, is never-ending. The culture of the tap scene demands constant devotion. If you’ve ever seen someone tapping their foot in class, chances are they are probably a secret tapper. Most just partake on the weekends in college, to take the edge off, but some students are already recovering tap addicts. Signs that someone is a recovering taddict include an avoidance of music, a preference for slippers, and incredible calves.
When Oyed’s upstairs roommate, Tiffany A. Perr (MCAS ‘28), was questioned, she stated that “people don’t get the struggle. They don’t see the blisters, the charley horses, and the way this lifestyle eats people alive. I used to have a boyfriend, but I didn’t have enough time to date him and practice enough. He was hot, but at least I’ve been there, tapped that.”
Investigations into the tap team have revealed some strict requirements. Members are only allowed to drink tap water. There is a very small list of approved hobbies for members, including collecting syrup from trees and covertly using a device to listen into a third party’s phone calls. Members are also supposed to get the attention of other members with a gentle strike on the shoulder.
At press time, Oyed was seen planning to sleep in her boyfriend’s room to escape the sound of tap dancing. The New England Classic, however, has discovered that Oyed’s boyfriend lives directly below a dorm room that exclusively houses members of Boston College Irish Dance. 
