TAP DANCE

TAP

• Characterized by using sounds of tap shoes striking the floor
• Two varations: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap
• Sound is made by shoes that have a metal "tap" on the heel and toe

TYPES OF TAP

• Rhythm tap focuses on musicality
• Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is performed in musical theater

HISTORY

• Began in early 1900s
• African Americans began tapping out complex rhythmic passages
• By mid-nineteenth century, AA had combined their footwork with Irish and British clogging steps
• Eventually became Modern Tap Dance

CHARACTERISTICS

• Dancers make use of syncopation
• Improvisation
• Can be done with music or without (called a capella)

FAMOUS DANCERS

• Fred Astaire (sidekick Ginger Rogers)
• Bill "Bojangles" Robinson
• Sandman Sims (notorious for "sand dancing", competitive dancer)
• Sammy Davis Jr
• Gregory Oliver Hines