If you think Tap Dance is not cool, think again. Tap is not only cool but also a discipline that teaches a dancer about choreography, improvisation, and syncopation. Sounds complicated. It isn’t. But it does take practice and skill to learn it. Tap dance uses the sound of a metal tap, which is on the dancer’s shoes, heel, and toe. The sound is made by hitting the ‘tap’ on the floor or other surfaces (floor with sand, steps, pots, and pans). There are two types of tap dance: rhythm and Broadway. Rhythm focuses more on the musicality of dance, and Broadway’s focus is more on the dance.
Roots run deep in Tap
Tap has its roots in Irish stepdancing or clogging. Tap was thought to have started in the mid- 1800’s by minstrel troupes. As minstrel shows fell out of popularity, vaudeville shows picked it up. Many Shirley Temple movies star a gentleman named Bill Robinson, who was a very famous tap dancer they called “Bojangles” in the 1930s. Tap had a more recent re-emergence in the movie Happy Feet (starring Gregory Hines, another legendary tap dancer), in which a penguin tap-dances his way into the heart of his beloved. National Tap Dance Day is May 25 (which happens to be the birthday of Bill “Bojangles” Robinson). A still-famous touring Tap dancer named Savion Glover will be performing on April 25, 2015, at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts (in case you want to see it, the event details are here).
Famous Tap Dance Actors
Earlier, famous actors like Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly were tap dancers who favored a ballroom style. Tap dancing can be performed as a solo or group performance. It can be done with or without music, where the dancers create their own music through the sounds of their taps. Earlier group tap-dancing performances used choreography that was usually simple and easy to control. Groups have to work diligently together to synchronize their steps and sounds in performance. However, with the emphasis on more difficult, complex moves, group tap dancing is anything but simple or easy today!
Tap dancing is an excellent way to combine a love of dance, music, and performance! Catherine’s Dance Studio is offering tap classes to several of its students in the fall of 2014. If you are interested in pursuing tap as a student, contact the dance studio today. Many of the jazz classes are offering a tap component!