Tap Dance
What is Tap Dance?
Tap dance is an upbeat percussive form dance, where dancers use their feet to make movement and sound.
History / Culture
Except for Indian ritual dances the first popular art style is tap dance who's rooting lie in English clog dancing, Irish jig and rhythmic African improvisations that immigrant free Americans combined spontaneously during the 1840’s.
Characterised by rapidly tapping toes and heels, usually in shoes fitted with metal tips. Tap dancing evolved through both African descent and European minstrel shows, revues, vaudeville, musical comedy and film accumulating new sounds for the feet such as brushes, slides, hops, rolls, and complex accents for the upper body as it wants along.
The style began in the early 1800’s. However, it was not the same style that we are so accustomed to today. Tapping was done in leather soled and/ or wooden soled tap shoes or even bare feet. The main characteristics of tap are to create rhythmic sounds with the feet; it is referred to as percussive dance because of all of the sounds, beats and rhythms created with the feet.
The earliest tap dancing examples were not on stage but rather a type of social dance among the slave communities in the southern United States. The slaves are incorporated African dance movements that were known as juba dances and rang shouts with the idea of British clogging and Irish step dance. African American communities in the south began to develop what would become American tap dancing. It continued to alter as it merged with Irish dancing and then encountered the influence of jazz dance.
This type of tap was performed either with informal music or performed as a strictly standalone sound which came from the performers shoes. Impromptu performances would start up when groups of people gathered together for social reasons. These events would often take place outside where they would also include a board to lay down on the ground on which anyone could have ago at the style. Some of the strongest tappers could make tapping sounds with their bare feet which were often the case during this period of tap dancing history.Examples
Dance teams
Tap Attack
Tap Feaver studios
American tap company
Terminology
· Shuffle
· Pick up
· Flap
· Hop
· Wing
· Time step
· Beat
· Riff
· Heel beat
· Heel clips
· Stop
· Pull back
· Stamp
· Backwards shuffle
Competitions
There are many competitions that take place around the world. However there are far too many to put in this blog so here are two very large scale dance competitions:
· IDO World Tap dance Championships (Germany)
· The Tap City Tap Competition
Here is our own interpretation of tap dance mixed with contemporary dance:
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