User:Ashley2920

History of Tap Dance

Tap dance has evolved from a number of different genres of dance. It is a combination of Irish step dancing, English clog dancing, and the rhythms from African drums. In tap dancing there is also a movement that has become popular through Swing and Lindy hop. There is also a gliding movement which is very similar to the waltz. In a degrading way the dances of mock slaves were introduced to early vaudeville shows. Dancers would paint their black and dance around the stage imitating the slaves. In the early 1980’s Thomas Rice performed a tap dance on the premiere of the first blackface show. His performance was different from all others because he had placed hard metallic soles on the bottoms of his stage shoes. His movements were soon copied by other dancers which allowed tap to become an accepted form of comedy. During the 1900’s tap became more popular and the style of jazz was added to it. When jazz was added to tap it became an art form different from all the rest. Arms started to be added to the moves that were being done by the dancers’ feet. This was done to characterize the dance and add gestures to the song being played. For some African-American tap has been a controversial issue because tap was an imitation of slaves and a way of making fun of them. Some African-American’s have protested against the popularity of tap dancing because until the mid-1960’s it still had references to black slaves. Today a popular African-American artist Savion Glover is making tap more popular throughout the United States. He is revolutionizing tap dancing to include hip hop rhythms and the beats from rap. Savion Glover has performed tap numbers on broadway. He has introduced tap steps to be done to a variety of different beats and speeds. Some tap dancing movements have emerged and are still around today. Some of these steps are as simple as a tap on the round. Some of the most famous steps that have emerged are the ball change, shuffle, brush, flap, side tap, and the cramp roll. The more simple steps can be combined to make more complicated movements. Tap dancing has been around for a couple of generations and still has many more to come. Tap is something that has emerged and changed over the years but it is still around with the same movements. It is a sensation and passion for hundreds of people all over the world.

~Ashley 2007♥