1. Tap Dance
A Brief History
FINE ARTS
Savion Glover, 2004

2. Rhythm in Motion
One of the few dance forms in which hearing the dance is as important as seeing it
The dancers creates rhythms, or patterns of beats, using metal taps under the toe and heel
Most tap dance is choreographed, but it may also be improvised

3. Tap Styles
Tap styles include “hoofing,” “class acts,” and “flash acts,” among others
Hoofing emphasizes intricate footwork (Savion Glover, Gregory Hines)
Class acts emphasize full body movement, with an elegant flair (Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers)
Flash acts combine tap with acrobatics (Nicholas Brothers)
Frank Sinatra & Gene Kelly doing a soft
shoe at the Press Photographer’s Ball, 1948

4. What are some famous steps?
toe: tap the ball or pad of the foot against the floor, use your ankle not your whole leg.
hop: standing on one foot, jump up and land on the same foot.

5. What are some famous steps- continued…
riff: standing on one leg, swing the other leg to the front, first hitting the ground with the ball of the foot, then with the heel.
ball heel: strike the ball of the foot on the floor and drop your heel.

6. It is a combination of two distinct cultural styles
Roots of Tap
It is a combination of two distinct cultural styles
Tap is uniquely American, and has its roots in slavery
Plantation slaves, forbidden to use drums, beat out rhythms with their feet, hands, or with bones
Plantation masters introduced clogs, jigs, and reels from their Irish and English backgrounds .

7. ROOTS CONT.
Slaves picked up the steps, altering the arms to be much looser, and combining them with their own rhythms
Slaves danced for themselves as well as for the entertainment of their masters and guests

8. Early Tap
Tap continued to develop in the theatre, beginning with the minstrel shows of the early 1800s.
At this time, dancers did not wear taps on their shoes---those were not invented until 1910
Master Juba ( )

9. William Henry Lane “Master Juba”
Learned Irish jig and other dance styles in early 1800’s in the five points section of New York city.
Out of this created his own style that would ultimately become American Tap dance.
One of the first performers that danced in shows with white people. Most shows were still segregated.

10. Bill “Bojangles” Robinson
Vaudeville (late 1800s-early 1900s) also showcased tap dance
Bill Bojangles Robinson was the most famous tap dancer of this era
The first of many African-Americans who popularized tap; one of first to have regular work in mostly white theatres
Danced in Shirley Temple films in the 1930s

11. The Nicholas Brothers
Another tap act of the 1930s and later were the Nicholas Brothers, Fayard and Harold
They were known for their elegance---they always wore suits when they performed
The brothers were “show stoppers” at the Cotton Club, the hottest nightclub in New York

12. Nicholas Brothers Continued..
They also appeared in movies including Down Argentine Way (1940) and Stormy Weather (1943)
They had amazing acrobatic abilities, which including jumping over each other’s heads in the splits, so were known as a “flash act”

13. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
Astaire and Rogers were a team who popularized tap within musical theatre
They added the element of ballroom dance to the mix; used balletic elements including graceful arms as part of their style
Top Hat (1935) was one of their more famous movies

14. Ann Miller
Ann Miller was one of America’s top female dancing stars in the 1930s-1950s
Ann’s claim to fame was her speed: she was listed in Ripley’s Believe It or Not as the world’s fastest tap dancer. A speedometer attached to her feet recorded 598 taps/minute in 1942!
She danced in many movies including Kiss Me Kate (1953), and did Easter Parade with Fred Astaire

15. Contemporary Tap
Gregory Hines and Brenda Bufalino are two famous tap artists who became
prominent at the end of the 20th century.
Gregory Hines starred in White Nights with
Baryshnikov in 1985, as well as many other films. He passed away in 2003.
Brenda Bufalino has her own tap dance company, American Tap Dance
Orchestra, and a school in New York City.

16. Savion Glover
The best-known contemporary tap star is Savion Glover, who choreographed the Broadway show Bring in da Noise, Bring in da Funk, which won a Tony award in 1996
He made his Broadway debut at age 12 in the show The Tap Dance Kid

17. Tap continues to be very popular;
people of all ages around the world
study and perform it. George Bush, sr.
created a law declaring May 25 National
Tap Day in the US. The date was chosen because it was Bill Bojangles’ birthday. Every city around the country (and some in other countries) prepares a celebration featuring large numbers of tap dancers such as the ones seen here.