TAP DANCING

In tap dancing, the dancer is the musician and the shoes are the
instrument!

 Tap dancing is the combination of

Irish clog & step dancing with the
rhythms of West African
drumming.

In the mid 1600’s, Scottish and Irish

laborers brought their social dances with
them to America. Slaves were inspired
by the rapid toe and heel action and
added it to West African step dances. The two styles slowly
influenced each other forming a hybrid that was both fluid and
rhythmic.

 The term “tap” started being used around 1902.

There are two main types of tap dance: rhythm (Jazz) tap
and Broadway tap. Broadway tap is more about the dance. It is often
done in musical theater. Rhythm tap is more about the sound of the
tapping.

There were two popular techniques. A fast style that used wooden-
sole shoes, or Buck-and-Wing, and a smoother style that used
leather-sole shoes, called Soft-Shoe.
Eventually, people started to hammer pennies or nails into the toes
and heels. The metal plates, or taps, were later added to leather-
soled shoes and started being used in a style that combined
elements of both techniques by the 1915.

The taps can be tightened or

loosened to change the sound or
“tone” of the shoe. It also means
that any pair of hard soled shoes
can become tap shoes! This makes
for some awesome costume tap
shoes in productions.

 There were many movies made with tap dancing numbers

from the 1930s to the 1950s.

Tap numbers became an important part of both movies and

television. There was Shirley Temple
who “tapped” onto the screen at 6
years old. Gene Kelly, who
introduced a style of tap heavily
influenced by ballet. Fred Astaire and
Ginger Rogers, who combined tap
and ballroom to create beautiful
dance scenes that were often
captured in a single take.

 The first rule of tap is to keep your knees relaxed and your
weight in the ball of your foot.
 Some of the best tap dancers are:
 Bill “Bojangles” Robinson (1878—1949) You may recognize
one of his most popular routines, where he danced up and
down a staircase!
 Jeni Le Gon (1916-2012) was one of the first black women to
become a tap soloist in the early 20th century. She wore
pants instead of skirts. So, she developed an athletic,
acrobatic style. She used mule kicks and flying splits.
 Gregory Hines (1946-2003) was a dancer, actor,
choreographer and singer. He is one of the most celebrated
tap dancers of all time.

 In United States, National Tap Dance Day falls on May 25 every

year, and is a
celebration of tap
dance as an American
art form. Every year,
around 6,000 tap
dancers tap dance
through the streets of
New York City in the
Macy's Thanksgiving
Day Parade.