The Value of Tap

Tap as a style, emphasizes rhythm and the ability to create patterns with your feet and while in motion. There are technically only 9 steps in tap dance, but with those 9 steps, there are infinite combinations that can be made. It is my belief that tap is very often not seen as technical in terms of western standards, but that simply could not be farther than the truth. The technique comes from the mental agility required to know what step comes next or improvise in the moment while simultaneously sticking to a certain pattern or tempo. It requires a level of foot strength and musculature to manipulate the feet to make the right sounds at the right time. It requires a level of physical endurance as you may be jumping a lot in a short amount of time. It requires a looseness in the body to allow for quick weight changes and steps, but also tension to make the sounds clear and resonant.  

The beauty of tap is that it allows the dancer to become the musician and the musician to become the dancer. It is truly music in motion, as I feel dance so often strives to be. It can also teach dancers about how to synchronize their movement to music and learn to recognize rhythm and patterns both in their body and in music. Tap teaches dancers syncopation and how to create polyrhythms or different rhythms that are playing on top of one another. 

In my opinion and experience, tap is not seen as an important genre of dance to study, and it often is not offered as a class in schools and programs. Perhaps due to the nature of the style or because of its lineage through the African Diaspora, it often is overlooked in dance curriculum. And even more troubling, it is very often not talked about that there are multiple kinds of tap, such as musical theater tap, rhythm tap, and soft shoe. Musical theater tap being a more codified style with emphasis on theatrics and moves that incorporate more of the body. Rhythm tap has a lot more in common with music than it does dance as it prioritizes patterns, syncopations, and improvisation. Soft shoe could be compared more to jazz as it does not require tap shoes but does still involve stepping and rhythmic combinations of the feet. Often times, these distinctions are not taught or spoken about in classes which, in my opinion, is to the detriment of the student and the teacher.