Some facts about tap dancing

　　In cities, black people cannot go to dance schools like white people. Instead, they often learn from each other, "steal" each other's dance steps, and compete with each other. This form of "competing" with each other still exists in today's performances.

In 1921, the Broadway performance format that combined singing and dancing was created, which further developed tap dance. The development of tap dance has taken a huge leap in modern times. It has been widely used in various occasions such as club entertainment, touring performances, Broadway singing and dancing, and Hollywood movies. It has become a "traditional folk dance" representing the United States and a dance with global influence.

And it has in turn influenced some of the original folk dances, such as Irish dance, which in turn absorbed the techniques and performance forms of tap dance, forming a highly entertaining stage performance that combines tradition and modernity.

This type of tap dance performance prominently reflects the development and packaging role of the modern entertainment industry. It makes full use of stage lighting, scenery, music, overall planning and emotional incitement, forming a more ornamental and entertaining performance. Some of the more successful ones include Australia's tap dog dance troupe.

Tap dance has a very close connection with music, and there is even a saying that a great tap dancer is also a musician. General dance teaching mainly involves imitating movements and then matching them to music when the teacher demonstrates.

In the teaching of tap dance, teachers often say when giving demonstrations: IT LOOKS AND SOUNDS LIKE (it looks and sounds like this), which shows that it is more important not only to look, but also to listen to and feel the rhythm. It's not enough to learn the dance postures without knowing the rhythm. If the rhythm is right, the dance postures don't need to be completely imitated accurately.

In the early tap dance competitions, the judges even sat under the wooden stage and did not look at the dancers at all, but just listened to the priorities of their rhythm. The most important thing was whether the rhythm was clear.

As tap dance develops, dancers can produce more different sounds in various ways. The earliest dance shoes were made of a whole wooden sole and heel. Later, they were divided into two parts, the front and back. Later, iron soles appeared.

Some people also deliberately loosen the screws of the iron palm to make more noise. Nowadays, there are more methods, some dance on the ground sprinkled with sand...some dance on electronic drums, pursuing more sound effects.

A good tap dancer, no matter how fast the rhythm, how complex the steps, or how soft the sound, must be clear. With good musicianship, you can also perform completely improvised along with the music. Another tap dance master, BABY LAURENCE, can create 32 or more types of rhythms in 16 bars.