The tap dance shoes

The tap dance shoes history:
The history of tap dance in USA-America,show as fellow:
In the mid-1600s in America, before tap dance shoes were invented, the bare soles of slaves walking rhythmically across the wood decks of river boats combined with the energetic steps of the Irish jig and the Lancashire clog. These movements that originated worlds apart, merged and evolved into the tap dance beat. That beat would take to the minstrel stage during the 1800s. Thomas D. Rice (1808 to 1860), who performed in the role of “Jim Crow,” took tap dancing onto center stage and to a formal place in history for tap by the turn of the century.

1910 to 1920

It was not until the period between 1900 and 1920 that tap dance emerged as a dance form in its own right. With it, tap dance shoes were born. In the earliest days of tap dance, pennies or hobnails were hammered into the toe and heels of shoes, to create the tap sound as performers danced. Before 1910, tap dancers wore shoes made with leather uppers and wooden soles, so that the wood tapped out the beat. After 1910, it became the fashion to apply metal taps to the bottoms of tap dance shoes.
Bill Robinson & Shirley Temple

By the time that Bill Robinson (1878 to 1949) became famous as “Bojangles,” tap dance shoes were part of the total package. Robinson wore tap shoes with wooden soles and heels. His dance partner in a memorable 1935 film called “The Little Colonel” was Shirley Temple, who popularized eyelet-style tap dance shoes, with large, laced-through bows. In the film, Robinson and Temple demonstrate the “stair step routine” invented by Robinson, which showcases them tapping up and down a staircase. Robinson and Temple would go on to show off their fancy tap footwork and shoes in three other films, “The Littlest Rebel” in 1935, and “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” and "Just Around The Corner" in 1938.
Astaire-Rogers

Tap dancing was featured often in movies made between 1935 and 1970, with the focus on glamorous costumes and shoes. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers tapped their way through the 1936 classic, "Swing Time." Astaire's standard of perfection included black patent leather shoes. Quite apart from the formidable dance routines, Rogers had to contend with wearing high-heeled tap shoes. She made every dance routine look effortless, even though--on at least one occasion--her feet bled from the strain. Her white satin-covered shoes turned red.
Tap Shoe Evolution

The movies made tap dancing look magical and glamorous, and the demand for tap dance shoes grew accordingly, bringing about new design features over the years.
Traditionally, leather soled flat tap shoes are considered best, especially for beginners, and not rubber soles because they tend to stick. Canvas and synthetic materials are also used in place of leather. Most taps have adjustable screws to create different sound effects, and they should be of equal width as the heels and toe of the shoes. Styles have evolved to include lace-up Oxfords, Mary Janes, the Jazz, the heeled tap, and the tap sneaker.
Tapping Into Fame

The legendary choreographer and director,Tommy Tune, began his award-winning career as part of the chorus on Broadway in the mid-1960s. At six-foot six inches, he was probably the tallest dancer to take the stage. He went on to tap dance in two notable movies, "Hello Dolly" in 1969 and "The Boyfriend" in 1971. Meanwhile, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, the high-kicking Rockettes were also keeping alive the tap dance tradition, all at least 5-foot six inches tall, and stepping perfectly in time. For aspirants to Broadway and Radio City Music Hall, Broadway-style high-heeled tap dance shoes are sold with taps already installed as are sturdy yet flexible tap dance shoes designed to take the beginner all the way to Broadway and film fame.
Electronic Tap Shoes

The 1989 film “Tap” stars the dancer Gregory Hines. It illustrates the history of tap dancing. The film famously includes Hines performing an electronic tap dance sequence, wearing a special pair of electronic tap shoes. Al Desio, the inventor of the shoes, built electronic transmitters into the tap shoes. The transmitters were connected to synthesizers so that when Hines tapped, he was able to create different sounds. The film was directed by Nick Castle Jr., the son of the legendary Hollywood choreographer, Nick Castle (1910 to 1968) who worked with Shirley Temple, Fred Astaire and many other dance stars.
National Tap Dance Day

In 1989, a joint United States Senate/House Resolution declared that May 25 be
celebrated as National Tap Dance Day. The significance of May 25 is that it was the birthday of Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. Robinson and his tap dance shoes are honored in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia with a life-sized statue.

This the tap dance in Ammerica hiptory.And the same time,tap dance history in Asia:Because of its widespread spread in the United States, it has also become popular in Asia.

In the 1940s and 1950s, as the United States prospered, American culture began to spread to the world. Dance, movies, literature, songs, etc. have all achieved widespread success.
In this era, tap dancing began to be popular in Japan and Korea began to gain
popularity. Japan and Korea began to become popular in the 70s and 80s with the
popularity of tap dancing, and reached its peak in the 1990s.Influenced by Japanese and Korean culture, Hong Kong also became popular in the 1990s, such as tap dance, chacha dance and break dance.

Influenced by Hong Kong film and song culture, various dances, including tap dance, became popular in mainland China in the mid-1990s. At this time, due to the prevalence of Hong Kong culture in mainland China, fashion began to become popular. People are used to wearing leather shoes with iron plates on their soles, or they buy leather shoes with iron plates nailed to them. This is how Chinese tap dance shoes have entered people’s lifestyle circles. By the beginning of the 21st century, with the improvement of people’s living standards, people began to attach importance to entertainment and life. Tap dance began to be one of the main dance types of many dance training institutions and entered many people’s lives. life.

With the popularity of tap dancing, various high-level performances are constantly being staged in theaters around the world. Along with the popularity of tap dance, a performance of tap dance appeared at the most famous New Year's Eve party in China, and the popularity reached its peak!


Tap dance style genre
Tap dance has undergone nearly a hundred years of development, forming different styles and schools. The oldest genre should be considered to originate in the United States, the early genre called HOOFING. This first-class school originated from the lower classes in the United States, without many stylized restrictions. Dancers don't pay attention to the posture of the body, but show off the complex techniques of striking the rhythm at their feet. They often gather in the streets to compete with each other.
The overall dance style is relatively simple and casual.
Later, in the long-term development, this genre was continuously affected by many factors, and gradually formed a very rich dance form, and became arepresentative of the United States and a strong "black taste" tap dance genre. For example, the influence of cowboys in the American West, such as the influence of the traditional black drumming rhythm and so on. Perhaps the most important influence is the influence of jazz.
The tap dance that was later incorporated into the Broadway stage performance can be called the Broadway style tap dance. The overall style is singing and dancing, singing and dancing are integrated. In addition, there are a lot of humorous choreography, generally permeated with a cheerful atmosphere. In order to enhance entertainment and appreciation, Broadway tap dance began to pay attention to modifying the dance posture of the body, such as the swing of the hips and so on. Some of the more "earth" and "ugly" dances have been removed. In addition, the use of props and scenery have been added to tap dancing on Broadway to meet the needs of stage performances.
During the time when Hollywood musicals were popular, tap dancing also made its way to the screen. It basically continued the Broadway style and brought countless joys to movie audiences.

The Irish-style tap dance is a school of its own because it retains a strong Irish folk
dance tradition. Its important feature is that it retains the body's dancing posture and steps in Irish folk dances: the upper body is basically kept upright and straight, the footsteps are mainly calf movements, and the arm movements are simple and mostly straight. The dance steps are full of jumping, lively and cheerful. Music also uses traditional Irish folk music. Irish-style tap dancing is a unique genre that is different from American tap dancing.

Tap dance is a dance native to the United States that has been developed for nearly three hundred years. Tap dancing appeared in the southern United States in the early 18th century. It was originally a fusion of traditional music and footstep dance from the British mainland and West Africa that was introduced to the United States. Irish jig dance (a form of music and dance) and West African gilby dance (religious and footstep dance in life) evolved into the American jig and Juba. These changes are combined into a dance form also known as "Jig". This form of dance was used by black and white dancers of the burlesque rap group in the early 19th century, and developed tap dance into a popular stage entertainment art in the 19th century. Early style tap dancing wore hard-soled shoes, clogs or boots with studs. Metal flakes only appeared on shoe soles at the end of the 19th century, and then became popular among young people and appeared on the

Broadway stage.

American tap dance
American tap dance, in the ethnic integration of the American continent, combines Irish clogs dance with traditional African music and the original dance during the sacrifice. In the form of freedom and relaxation, the pursuit of complex expression of rhythm. As an improvement of the new continent of African national art, American tap dance inherits the primitive freedom contained in the nature of blacks. "TAP IS NOT MAP" has been promoted as the essence of American tap dance. Bill Robinson, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, played a huge role in the development of tap dancing. In 1989, on May 25th, his birthday, the date of the International Tap Festival was set. The monumental significance of which is self-evident.

In the era of Hollywood musicals, American tap dancing, as the most fascinating dance part on the big screen, is familiar and loved by people all over the world, bringing American tap dancing to a peak. From the cute little Xiulan to the two famous dancers in Hollywood, Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, they are fascinated by their tap dance performances in the film. Hundreds of millions of viewers. Famous films include Gene Kelly's "SINGIN IN THE　RAIN", "An American in Paris"; Fred Astaire's "Royal Wedding" and "Dragon "The Band Wagon"; Shirley Temple's "Captain January", "Little Rebellion" and so on. After the age of musicals, American tap dancing has also entered a low ebb.
It wasn't until the 1980s that the appearance of rhythm tap dance king Gregory Hines showed a new American tap style on the big screen and realized the revival of American tap dance. His success also enabled those black tap dance masters who were suppressed in movies because of racial issues in the past to finally show their superb tap dance skills to the world. Famous films include "TAP", "Bojangles" (Bill Robinson's biographical film) and so on. Afterwards, the youngest tap dance master Savion Glover took rhythm tap to a higher level. The Australian tap dog combination has also created a

new world for American tap dancing.

JAZZ dance is also based on the complexity of the beat rhythm at the foot. It only

emphasizes the cooperation and performance with JAZZ music, which is also an important

force in the development of tap dance in this era. Its representative first promotes the greatest female tap dancer Brenda Bufalino.

British tap
The British tap emphasizes the graceful body movements of ballet. There are more rotations, sliding steps... etc. in the dance steps. The dancers often give people an aristocratic atmosphere when performing, and the British tap is in the rhythm. This part of the splitting sound changes less, but there are more repeated syllables.

Irish
Irish Tap Dance

Irish tap dance, the real name should be "Irish dance -Hard shoes dance". Irish tap dance is first of all a traditional art form of the Irish nation. American tap dance is
called Tap dance.Tap dancing is a characteristic of Ireland, and it is the quintessence of Ireland. It combines artistic performance, elegant dance moves and amazing physical fitness of dancers. The whole world is blowing the trend of Irish dance. Next, let us lead you into a world of Irish dance and let you clearly understand this popular dance.
When Irish dancers dance Irish dance, they do not have upper body movements, their hands are naturally drooping, close to the hips, and the lower body feet always maintain a cross position (45 degrees). Irish tap has the difference between soft shoes and hard shoes. In soft-shoe dance, boys and girls dance differently. Because the shoes of soft-shoe dance boys and girls are different, girls are a bit like ballet shoes. Make a sound, and the heel part of the boy's shoe is hard, so it can make a sound.

Irish Tap Dance

Irish tap dancing, as a traditional Irish folk art, is truly recognized and valued from the performance of "The Dance of the River". Those dancers who love this kind of art have integrated more advanced tap dance concepts into their national traditions and completed the sublimation of Irish tap dance. In the Irish dance dramas that you have seen, we will see that the dancer's upper body will have a little movement, which is an improvement made by the dancer. In the traditional Irish dance, only the lower body is moved. Irish tap dance king Mike. Fryley (Michael Flately) is the most famous Irish dancer. "Dance of the River", "Dance of Kings", "Dance of Fire", and "Tiger of Celtic" are all famous Irish tap dance dramas.




Tap dance costume
The colors of the costumes are mostly green, white or orange. Dancers avoid using red because it is related to the British Association. In modern times, all colors will be used. Male dancers usually wear softer costumes.
The styles of dance costumes are very different from tradition in modern times. In the 18th century, dance teachers wore hats, tuxedos, knee-length breeches, white stockings, and black shoes with silver buttons. After the revival of Irish culture in 1893, traditional Irish clothing began to be adopted. Today, male dancers wear either breeches or trousers.
In the 18th century, female dancers were mostly dressed in ordinary coarse cloth dresses or dresses they wore to church on Sundays, decorated with flowers or crosses tied with ribbons. After 1893, the typical dance costume was a hooked cloak with a headscarf, wearing a white dress with a belt inside. Another alternative to cloaks is shawls. By the 1930s, cloaks were gradually becoming less used, and shawls gradually evolved into shawls worn over black clothing. This modern shawl is triangular in shape, and a brooch or pin is used to fix the shawl and the suit worn on the show. Until the 1980s, dancers were usually tied with a string that hangs down to the waistband. The end of the rope was tassels. Dancers usually also wear coats or vests.
In the early 19th century, this technique of edging was relatively rare in clothing. However, the degree of use was gradually increased, and even its complexity increased.
The designers are inspired by the origin of Irish ancestors, including Irish stone crosses and communion cups, which are the source of their creative inspiration. The patterns on the clothing are continuous, symbolizing the continuation of life and the eternity of human beings. Designers design more modern patterns. Another more modern innovation is the use of silver and gold threads in the sewing of the trim. Each dance school has different performance costumes. Children usually have one or more clothes, depending on the level of their performance. Many schools have one set for beginners, and another set for intermediate levels. Adult dancers who have been dancing for less
than five years also have other costumes, usually skirts and shirts or jackets, rather than dresses.
When the dancers reach a certain level in the competition, they may have their own set of unique costumes. Dancers' costumes are usually sewn in Ireland or England, and are lined with velvet and silk, with colorful laces. Owning a set of unique costumes of your own represents that dancers already have superb skills in Irish tap dancing. Dancers usually wear their own unique dance clothes to participate in solo competitions (individual/solo competitions); in group competitions (team competitions/figure dancing), dancers wear standard school costumes to represent their level .
Sound dance shoes
In terms of dancing shoes, some early documents describe that dancers are barefoot. Soft shoes were not used until 1924 when girls danced reels, jigs, and slip jigs. Soon, male dancers also began to use soft shoes, but they abandoned them in the 1970s. At this time, hard shoes have gradually matured in style and technology. Dancers use fiberglass toe and hollow shoes with hollow heels. This change in material allows dancers to nail the buckle to the heel and make a louder sound to create a drum-like rhythm so that every audience can hear their melody. This change has also affected the emphasis and content of many dances (before, dancers would put coins between the bottom of the shoes and the toes to increase the sound effect).
Basic footwork
Straight kick: knock on the ground with your toes and then lift (only lift the ankle).
Kick forward: Knock the ground forward with your toes, and then lift (lift only the ankle).Kicking backwards: Knock the ground backwards with your toes, and then lift (only lift the ankle).
Kick with: Bend your knees, hit the ground with your heels and then quickly lift up.

There are three ways:
(1) Stand on one foot.
(2) Standing on toes or feet.
(3) Poke quickly.
Follow the blow: Just like the kick, except that the heel is down when finished, and the tone is heavier.
Toe kick: bend your knees, tap the ground with your toes and then lift up quickly.
Toe beat: Just like a toe kick, except that the toe is lowered and the tone is heavier when finished.
Ball tap: Use your toe to tap the ground and lift it up quickly. There are three ways:
(1) Stand on one foot.
(2) Stand with heels or moving feet.
(3) Poke quickly.
Toe belly beat: like a toe kick, but when finished, the toe is lowered and the pitch is more intense.
Forward brush (forward brush): greater than forward kicking, swinging from thehips and knees.
Back brush: larger than a backward kick, swinging from the hips and knees.
Stamp: Stomp down with all feet, with the center of gravity on the supporting foot or the moving foot.
Hop: Stand on one foot, and land on the toes of the same foot after jumping.
Bounce: Stand on one foot, and gently touch the ground with the toe of the other foot after jumping.
Falling: Standing on one foot, and landing heavily on the toes of the other foot or all feet after jumping.
Jump: feet together and knees bent, feet together after jumping up, can face any
direction.
Stomping hard: Stand on the toes of one foot, push the foot forward and hit the ground hard with the heel.
Scuff: A flat foot stomped forward, then off the ground, the supporting leg bends the knee.
Shuffle: A forward and backward kick, several beats & 1 or shorter.
Kick and bounce: A forward kick is followed by a bounce. It is possible to advance or stay in place, and the action should be light.
Slap: A kick and a stomping step followed by a kick, with the focus on the action or
supporting foot.
Recovery step: Stand with your feet slightly apart, lift up the toes of one foot, and
then tap the toes on the ground to lift the heels.
Recovery step bounce: After the recovery step, there is a bounce, because the recovery step must be on the ground with both feet, so it cannot be repeated.
Resuming step one-leg jump: After resuming the step, follow a one-leg jump, which cannot be repeated.
Steps for recovery: Stand on one foot, bend the knees, lift the toes of the foot
upwards, tap the toes back on the ground, lift the heels, and land with the other foot.One-foot recovery step: It is the same as in the recovery step, but with the same toe on the ground, the cut cannot go backwards.
Wing preparation: Stand with your feet together and slide outwards, right foot to the
side, and rub the ground with the outer edge of the foot, leave the ground and kick the ground with the belly of the right toe inward toward the left foot. When finished, the right foot is on the left. Do toe beats beside your feet.
Winged 3 beats: (feet) put the feet together, bend the knees, rub the outer edges of the feet, quickly move the feet outwards, lift the feet off the ground when finished, kick the ground with the belly of the two toes, and touch the ground with the belly of the toes.
Wing-shaped 3 beats: (single foot) stand with feet together, bend the knees, wipe the ground with the outer edge of the foot, move the foot quickly outwards, lift the foot off the ground when finished, kick the ground with the toe belly inward, use the toe belly Landing.
Winged 3 beats: (change of steps) Like a single winged 3 beats, but landed on the belly of the other toe.
Winged 4 beats: (single foot kick with toe) Do a winged 3 beats with the right foot, and do a toe kick with the left foot behind the right foot.
Wing-shaped 4 beats: (pendulum) Make a wing-shaped 3 beats with the right foot, brush the step in front of the left foot, and wing-shaped with the right foot
3 beats, brush the step behind the left foot.
Wing-shaped 5 beats: with heel strike and heel-toe kick, right foot wing-like 3 beats, right heel strike, behind the right foot, left toe kick.
Wing-shaped 5 beats: (single foot with drag step) Right foot winged 3 beats left foot drag.

Tap dancing is a dance suitable for people of all ages. From a few-year-old children to 60 or 70-year-olds, wearing a pair of dancing shoes can kick out passion, movement and happiness. This is the reason for the rapid popularity of tap dancing.
Tap dancing can invigorate brain, heart, fitness and bodybuilding. Brain strengthening means that people use their large and small brains to control their limbs when tap dancing, especially the rhythm of each part of the foot, which can exercise people's thinking and coordination skills and enhance memory. Invigorating the heart, tap dancing not only requires watching, but also listening, so it can not only promote blood circulation throughout the body, but also make people feel happy. The third fitness, jumping and kicking, can move from the toes to the knee joints, which is quite good for the exercise of joint flexibility. Fourth bodybuilding, tap dancing can achieve the goal of losing weight.
As the saying goes, the old legs are old, and the joints bear the brunt. The tap dance exercises are the positions of human joints: knee joints and ankle joints. Tap dancing is a very good form of fitness and entertainment for middle-aged and elderly people. It not only activates joints, but also prevents excessive muscle relaxation.
Tap dance is not only good, but also easy to learn. If you want to dance, you can jump.
Can walk and tap dance. Tap dancing is not a mystery. It is not restricted by age, venue, partner, amateur or professional, nor does it require a basic dance foundation. As long as you have a true love for life, tap dancing can make you stomping from the simplest left and right foot stomping. Come with a beautiful rhythm and bring you real happiness. A Beijing TV station once recorded a little girl learning tap dancing on the spot. She had never seen tap dancing, but the little girl mastered the basic steps of
tap dancing in only an hour.
Of course, everything requires a certain method. Tap dance has 6 basic strikes: straight strikes, front strikes, back strikes, sole strikes, heel strikes and toe strikes, as well as some basic footwork such as stomping, single-foot jumping, and step changes. The other movements are actually these Various arrangements and combinations of basic movements. Therefore, Yan Ling suggested that beginners must practice basic skills, and then do some systematic training step by step. At that time, you can also jump like Kim

Kelly in "Song in the Rain"!
However, if the method is not correct, the knee is easily injured. Because tap dancing mainly relies on the impact force of the foot against the floor, if the basic skills are not good enough, and if you jump on the hard concrete floor, you will get a knee sprain. When tap dancing, follow the scientific method and practice step by step.