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Tap dance was born in the United States during the 19th century, and today is popular all around the world. The name comes from the tapping sound made when the small metal plates on the dancer's shoes touch a hard floor. This lively, rhythmic tapping makes the performer not just a dancer, but also a percussive musician.

Its evolutionary grandparents may well have been:

African dance to drum rhythms
African welly boot dance
Spanish flamenco, where nails are hammered into the heel and the front part of the dancers' shoes so that the rhythm of their steps can be heard
Step dancing
Clogging, for example from Lancashire, where there may be no accompanying music, just the noise of the shoes
Irish Sean-nós dancing (different from step dance)

History

From what is known, Tap dance began in the 1830s in the Five Points neighborhood of New York City as a fusion of Irish, Scottish and English step dances and possibly the African Shuffle. Perhaps the most influential of all was the Irish jig. Dancers from different immigrant groups would get together to compete and show off their best moves. As the dances fused, a new American style of dancing emerged.

Tap flourished in the U.S. from 1900 to 1955, when it was the main performance dance of Vaudeville and Broadway. Vaudeville was the inexpensive entertainment before television, and it employed droves of skilled tap dancers. Many big bands included tap dances as part of their show. For a while, every city in the U.S. had amateur street tap performers. At the time, tap dance was also called jazz dance, because jazz was the music that tap dancers performed with.

In the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, the best tap dancers moved from Vaudeville to the movies and television.

During the 1930s tap dance mixed with Lindy Hop. Flying swing outs and flying circles are Lindy Hop moves with tap footwork.

In the 1950s, the style of entertainment changed. Jazz music and tap dance declined, while rock and roll music and the new jazz dance emerged. What is now called jazz dance evolved out of tap dance, so both dances have many moves in common. But, jazz evolved separately from tap to become a new form in its own right.

No Maps on My Taps, the Emmy award winning PBS documentary of 1979, helped begin the recent revival of tap dance.

Characteristics of tap dance

Tap dancers make frequent use of syncopation. Choreographies typically start on the eighth beat, or between the eighth and the first count. Another aspect of tap dancing is improvisation. This can either be done with music and follow the beats provided or without musical accompaniment, otherwise known as a capella dancing. Hoofers are tap dancers who dance only with their legs, making a louder, more grounded sound. This kind of tap dancing, also called "rhythm tap", is typically found in cities or poor areas. The majority of hoofers, such as Sammy Davis Jr., Savion Glover, and Gregory Hines, are black dancers. Dancers like Fred Astaire provided a more ballroom look to tap dancing, while Gene Kelly used his extensive ballet training to make tap dancing incorporate all the parts of the ballet.

Steps in Tap Dancing

The simplest step is the toe tap, using the ball of the foot to make a sound. The same sound can come from the heel, although often it is not as loud or pronounced. These steps can be combined to make a cramp roll which produces a rolling sound like a horse gallop. It is done by placing weight on the left heel, then step on the right toe, and finally place the right heel down, remembering to keep all one's weight on the left leg. By slighty jumping into the step and doing it continually, the proper sound is made. The next step in tap dancing is the shuffle. Standing on one leg, the other is brushed out by sliding the toe of the shoe against the floor, then brushed back in. Making the step faster must be done by making smaller movements that are closer to the body. There are actually many different ways to perform a shuffle. Broadway-style shuffles use knee movement to swing the foot into a shuffle. Hoofers perform shuffles in 2 different ways. The more common shuffle comes from movement in the upper leg and hip. The first sound of the shuffle is almost like a drop, while the second sound is the foot being pulled up. The other type of Hoofer shuffle is from the ankle. This is used in more impressive, fast tap dancing. The difference in the sounds of the brush and the pull back is almost none; this shuffle is more of a "double tap". The final simple tap step is the flap. This is like the shuffle, but instead of brushing the toe back, the toe steps, i.e. brush-step. Both the shuffle and the flap make two sounds. By combining the tap/heel, the shuffle, and the flap, many other tap steps can be produced eg. shuffle tap-step ball change. The shuffle tap-ball change is a shuffle then a ball change. A ball change is like two toe taps, one on the left foot and one on the right.

Alternate View:

Because there are a variety of styles and techniques in tap dancing different tap dancers will have different ways of naming steps and different ways of teaching steps. A beginning tap dancer might begin by simply lifting the toe (or ball tap) while leaving the heel on the floor, and then lowering the toe to the floor. Some tap teachers would call this a toe clip. Then one can try lifting just the heel and then lowering it. Some teachers would call that a heel clip. One of the most common steps as listed above is the shuffle which is made up of a brush and a spank or brush back. Another very common traveling step as listed above is the flap which is a brush and a step.

Famous tap dancers

Fred Astaire
John Bubbles (born John William Sublett)
Brenda Bufalino
Charles "Honi" Coles
Steve Condos
Lynn Dally, co-founder of Jazz Tap Ensemble
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Arthur Duncan
Buddy Ebsen (Jed Clampett on the Beverly Hillbillies)
Chloe Stevenson
Vera Ellen
Savion Glover
Gregory Hines of Hines, Hines and Dad
Maurice Hines, Jr. of Hines, Hines and Dad
Maurice Hines, Sr. of Hines, Hines and Dad
Jason Janas
Master Juba (William Henry Lane) of Five Points
Ruby Keeler
Gene Kelly
Tiffany The Best
Ann Miller
Fayard Nicholas of The Nicholas Brothers
Harold Nicholas of The Nicholas Brothers
Eleanor Powell

Bill Robinson (aka Bojangles)
Howard "Sandman" Sims
Jimmy Slyde is a Jazz influenced tap dancer whose style is reflected in his name ('slide').
Tommy Tune
Erin Sharp
Jamie Williams of Tilly and the Wall
Chuck Green
Bunny Briggs

External links

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 == History ==
 '''Tap dance''' began in the 1830s in the [[Five Points]] neighborhood of New York City as a fusion of Irish, Scottish and English step dances and possibly the African [[the shuffle|Shuffle]]. Perhaps the most influential of all was the Irish [[jig]]. Dancers from different immigrant groups would get together to compete and show off their best moves. As the dances fused, a new American style of dancing emerged.
 Tap flourished in the U.S. from 1900 to 1955, when it was the main performance dance of [[Vaudeville]] and [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]. Vaudeville was the inexpensive entertainment before television, and it employed droves of skilled tap dancers. Many big bands included tap dances as part of their show. For a while, every city in the U.S. had amateur street tap performers. At the time, ''tap dance'' was also called ''jazz dance'', because jazz was the music that tap dancers performed with.
@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 In the 1950s, the style of entertainment changed. Jazz music and tap dance declined, while rock and roll music and the new [[jazz dance]] emerged. What is now called ''jazz dance'' evolved out of ''tap dance'', so both dances have many moves in common. But, jazz evolved separately from tap to become a new form in its own right.
 ''No Maps on My Taps'', the Emmy award winning PBS documentary of 1979, helped begin the recent revival of tap dance.
 ==Characteristics of tap dance==