Tap
Tap Dance
One of the most celebrated dance styles in the world today is Tap Dancing. Though it is thought that tap dancing has lost some of its luster because of new dance steps and cool modern dance moves introduced today, still it is the most challenging dance style that only those who has the heart to do it can. The basic element of tap dancing is rhythm. The timing of the steps with the music and the moves of the body are what makes this dance style explosive. Another key factor in Tap dancing is the shoes, special tap shoes that make the tap on the floor while dancing very audible.
There were many different definitions of Tap dancing and the earliest definition is “A step dance tapped out audibly by means of shoes with hard soles or soles and heels to which taps have been added” and “An action or discourse intended to rationalize or distract.”
Tap dance originated in the USA sometime the 19th century, approximately around 1928 when this dance style caught the attention of print media. The dance got its name from the sound produced by the metal plates on a tap dancer’s shoes while dancing. Somehow, tap dancing does not only make you a dancer by also a musician doing percussions just like Morton Gould who was able to compose “Concerto for Tap Dancer and Orchestra”. Tap dancing being one of the earliest types of American dances is considered a theatrical dance and was more popular among variety shows as well as musicians. The buck-and-wing and the soft-shoe were the famous versions of the Tap dance. Buck-and-wing is done by dancing vigorously using shoes with wooden soles while the later version was using another technique which is humor and with as it is performed without the tapping sound. The merging of the 2 versions gave rise to the metal taps where metal strips are attached to the shoe toes and heels to produce the tapping sound.
Another story was that slave holders in the Southern part of America forbade the use of drums during ceremonies and programs among slaves as this was feared to be one of the means of slave communication to stage a revolt against their masters. With this, the creative African-Americans in their desire to pursue their tradition of rhythm transferred these moves from their hands to their feet, thus the birth of a subtle but intricate and essential way to express oneself. The signature African-American footwork merged with the British and Irish’s clog moves to create a new style – the buck-and-wing, which later on became the Modern Tap Dance.
Tap Dancing’s early beginnings:
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1830’s – the earliest recorded origin of tap dancing. This happened at the Five Points of New York City neighborhood where a lot African-American dancers as well as different dancers of different immigrant nationals gather for a competition. It was said that this was the era of fame for Master Juba, one of the forerunners of the Tap Dancing.
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1900 until 1955 – Tap dancing became the main event in Vaudeville and Broadway. Before there was television, Vaudeville was the one that brought affordable entertainment. Many famous bands and tap dancers by being part of the Vaudeville show. This was also the time when tap dancing was a synonym to jazz dancing because jazz music was used.
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Late 1950-1970’s – Jazz and tap dancing evolved separately as different dance styles. Although there may be similar moves from these two dance styles, jazz and tap dancing later on evolved differently and independently as two unique and equally different dances.
Tap dancing can be considered as one of the most celebrated dances in history. As early as the 1800’s there were already famous persons involved and hooked on tap dancing. Some were instrumental in making the dance flourish more or made it more famous.
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Master Juba or William Henry Lane – he started with the African rhythm with the European jig and reel steps that gave rise to tap dancing. This was known as the Juba dance.
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Steve Condos – Introduced an innovative style in the percussion tap move which influenced not only Vaudeville but also Broadway and prominent dancers like Fred Astaire, Shirley Temple, Gene Kelly, Ginger Rogers, John W. Bubbles, Anne Miller, Donald O’Connor, Jimmy Slyde, Eleanor Powel and many others.
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Fred Astaire – One of the earliest tap dancers who introduced the ballroom look of the tap dance.
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Gene Kelly – Another famous dancer who introduced the ballet style into tap dancing. His ballet influences are still adopted today making the style introduced by Kelly the mainstream of tap dancing today.
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Arthur Duncan and Tommy Tune – famous dancers who made tap dancing very prominent during the 1960s and 1970s.
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Bill “Bojangles” Robinson – dubbed as America’s greatest tap dancer. America’s National Tap Dance Day is also celebrated on his birthday, May 25th. This was declared and signed into a law by President George Bush last November 7, 1989.
Early on, the most common tapping steps were shuffle, flap, shuffle ball change, cramp roll, flap heel, buffalo then later came the shim sham shimmy or the Lindy move, the Irish clog, Maxi Ford and many others. Actually, if you like to learn the dance, you should take the basic steps first and then the advance style. Because of the vigorous movements with high energy, tap dancing is also considered today as one of the substitute to the boring routines of the usual exercise that you have in the gym or on your CDs or DVDs. But most of all, tap dancing created a legacy to the African-American slaves that originally invented this move as a culture. More than the music and the dance, it created legends and famous persons out of these once minority of people.