What is Tap Dancing?

What is tap dancing?

Tap Dance is a percussive style of dance involving the striking of the feet on the floor to create expressive rhythms. It can be performed with or without musical accompaniment and is considered to be a musical art form on its own.

In this article:

1. The origin of tap dance

2. The different styles of tap dance

3. What skills do you need to tap dance?

4. Beginners tap dances with Benjamin Bailey

5. Intermediate tap dances with Benjamin Bailey

Before Tap Dance itself was created in America, the mid 1800’s saw the emergence of cutting contests between percussive dancers. They would showcase fusions of dances such as Buck and Wing, Jigging, clogging and more, drawing on inspiration from African and European dance styles to outdo each others rhythms in competitive fashion. 

Master Juba was one of the first artists to tour the world and receive rave reviews from his performances boasting percussive steps with remarkable precision, timing and complexity. 

Tap Dance as a style is said to have developed and spread out from Five Points, New York and by the Early 1900’s, other famous dancers rose to prominence such as Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson, and his rival John W. Bubbles, the father of ‘Rhythm Tap’.

The 1930’s to the 1960’s saw the biggest surge in popularity of Tap in clubs and venues announcing many Tap Dance acts on their bills.

Meanwhile, the birth of the Hollywood Golden Age was in full swing. This era saw artists such as Shirley Temple, The Nicholas Brothers, Eleanor Powell, Fred Astaire and Donald O’Connor perform their talents on film creating magical films that are still so popular today.

Between the 1960’s and 1970’s, Tap saw a decline in mainstream popularity and the main practitioners of the traditional art form continued to work in the underground. Many attributed the decline to the rise of Rock and Roll music. 

In the 1980’s, tap went through a resurgence thanks to the opening of new tap shows on Broadway and in West End of London. Shows such as The Tap Dance Kid, 42nd Street and Crazy For You were revived. Tap was a massive hit once again. New movies had also been made featuring greats like Sammy Davis Junior and Gregory Hines. Tap, The Cotton Club and White Nights are some examples.

Ever since the 1980’s and with the creation of the modern internet, Tap Dance has seen a global community form and has been thriving ever since.

The world of Tap Dance is vast and full of a variety of different movements and expressions. People around the world have given names to specific styles within the genre. The main two styles people talk about would be Rhythm Tap and Broadway Tap. 

Rhythm Tap focusses heavily on musicality. Rhythm Tap Dancers tend to use their toes and heels and work on their own combinations and musical expressions. You will often see them improvising as well treating their tap shoes as an instrument. A rhythm Tap dancer would often be considered as a percussionist inside a Jazz band.

Broadway Tap is largely focussed on unified dance concepts and is often incorporated into musical theatre shows. You will often see Broadway Tap Dancers kicking their legs, Dancing basic time steps on their toes together in groups and incorporating balletic and Jazz dance moves into routines. 

If you imagine a dance ensemble creating elaborate formations and patterns on stage using their entire bodies – that’s Broadway tap. 

Neither of these styles are mutually exclusive. 

Many great tap dancers in history have experimented heavily with both. Such examples include Ann Miller, The Nicholas Brothers, Fred Astaire, Eleanor powell and Teddy Hale. 

Other notable notable sub-genres within Tap Dance: Flash/Acro Tap, Jazz Tap, Soft Shoe, Classical Tap, Hoofin’ Style, Relax Tap and more.

In Tap, it is generally helpful to have a good sense of rhythm.

If you are in general good health and fitness then that is ideal. You do not need to be particularly athletic starting out. An ability to sway from side to side to transfer your weight is an advantage. Stepping, Hopping and Jogging is also helpful for learning fundamental steps.

When attending a Tap Dance class, we recommend that you wear loose, comfortable clothing that is suitable for movement.

While technically you do not need Tap shoes to start learning, it is essential that you do invest in a pair for studio classes as you are likely not to be heard over your classmates if dancing in soft shoes.  

Tap dance for beginners

In the Beginners Tap Dance course at City Lit, you will learn basic tap dance steps such as shuffles, flaps, cramp rolls, time steps and more to develop your vocabulary. 

In addition,  you'll learn best practices for standing, weight placement, posture and tips on improving balance and coordination whilst moving around the studio. 

Students will develop their musicality by learning new rhythms and begin to start sequencing combinations together in a fun and friendly atmosphere! 

Our beginners tap dance courses are great for absolute newcomers to dance or those looking to build their confidence further before joining the Improvers course.

Intermediate tap dance

In the Improvers Tap Dance course at City Lit, you will build on the foundations of tap through your ability to recite a good number of steps. This course will start to add variations to the basics through dropping the heels and adding musical cross phrasing. 

You will also explore topics such as pick ups, wings and pull backs in depth in a safe and encouraging environment. 

This course is well attended and student experience levels are varied. Multiple choreographic variations are incorporated into a single session to create an orchestral atmosphere. Studying a diverse set of rhythms. Improvers will see their collection of steps grow every term!

Tap has become one large global family. No matter where you go, if there are tap dancers present, start performing the Shim Sham or B.S. Chorus and your peers will likely jump in and join you!

I would encourage everyone to research Tap and its history. The success stories that followed artists is truly inspirational for people of all walks of life. Historical struggles for change in civil rights and equality cannot be understated as part of its story. Tap Dancers helped shape America and the rest of the world through the power of entertainment.