BodyWorks Fitness And Dance Studio: What is Tap Dancing?

Tap dancing earns its name from the metal plates that are fixed to the bottom of the dancing shoes. Dancers use these as percussive instruments to tap out rhythms as they dance.

Tap dancing has developed from several different sources, including:

- English Clog Dancing (http://www.clogfest.org/Home.html)
- Traditional Irish Dancing (think Riverdance!- http://dance.about.com/od/typesofdance/p/Irish_Dance.htm)
- Spanish Flamenco (http://dance.about.com/od/typesofdance/p/Flamenco.htm)
- African Welly Boot Dancing (http://www.zumazuma.com/shows/south-african-gumboot-dancers/)
- African American Soft Shoe Dancing

These have evolved into the two main types of tap dancing that we know today.

Hoofer or Rhythm Tap

Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson

Ivory Wheeler and Dianne Walker in the 1989 Broadway musical 'Black and Blue'
http://valeriekthurston.weebly.com/week-of-december-4-black-and-blue.html
Dianne Walker's interview in Dance Magazine, Feb 2005
http://www.dancemagazine.com/issues/February-2005/Teachers-Wisdom-Dianne-Walker

This kind of tap is danced very close to the floor, with a lot of emphasis on the footwork and very relaxed upper body and arms. It is often danced a capella (i.e. without musical accompaniment) and improvisation is relied upon rather than choreographed movements. This style was originally developed by the African- American slaves and is considered part of the jazz movement.

Savion Glover- the choreographer behind 'Happy Feet'
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/28/movies/28happ.html?_r=0

Broadway Tap

Also known as Show Tap, it has more emphasis on using the arms and body along with the rhythms and footwork. This style gained prominence when it was performed on Broadway and in movies. Perhaps the two best known examples would be: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, who had a ballroom-style of tap dancing...