To tap or not to tap...silly question!!
Well, I think Fred Astaire or Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson must have felt the same thing when they were climbing the steps of fame with the amazing talent they had in tap dancing. Tap dancing is dance which features tapping sound created by the metal plates fixed to the shoes of the dancer at the heel and the ball. Just like any other dance, this dance includes various steps which make it unique. In case you are aspiring to be a tap dancer and make others tap their feet, may be you should not miss the tap dance steps coming up!
Basic Tap Dance Steps
Step heel refers to a step that is taken with the ball of a foot coming down (on the ground), followed by the heel. This leads to creation of two separate and distinguishable sounds.
In this step, the foot is placed on the floor in a fast movement. The heel and the ball of a foot strike the ground together, at the same time.
Shuffle refers to a rapid forward and backward movement in front of the dancer. This is normally done in a single beat, in the time required for one beat.
The part of a foot in front of the ball and around is struck on the ground behind the dancer.
This step involves striking the ball of the foot on the ground in front of you.
A simple jump, done on one foot and then landing on the same foot refers to a hop.
Ball change consists a pair of steps where the dancer takes a step backwards followed by one forward.
All of you must have heard about the phrase spring in the step. Well, this step is like that. Resembling the hop step, it is done in the same manner except for the fact that you land on the opposite foot from which you hopped.
In a drop you would the same thing as the 'spring', but will have a flattened foot and the knee is well bent.
To do the flap, brush forward on the ball of your foot and then step on the ball of your foot.
It is like a straight shuffle, however, it is taken on a side. It involves less tap striking on the ground.
For doing a cramp roll, the dancer jumps up and lands on his feet. But the way he lands on his feet is that he first lands on the ball of his right foot, then the ball of his left foot, followed by his right heel and eventually left heel.
Well, these are the fundamentals of tap dance and the shuffle is what you would most commonly see. Furthermore, to make this dance more interesting, these basic and primary steps are combined with each other, most of the time with shuffle. In addition to that, not only are these tap dance steps combined, they are altered too. This modification is done through altering the rhythm or adding beats.
Variations of tap dance include foot movements accompanied by claps. Those dancers who purely use their feet while tap dancing are called hoofers. They basically do the rhythm tap, having its roots in cities. That's all for now! Have fun tap dancing!