Tap Dancing in its formative years was born when the time step was conceived and the time step was rearranged and embellished by many dancers who wanted to add there own personal touch. Each tap-dancer could be recognised by the time step they performed. In the beginning each dancer would start with the time step, which also was a way of conveying tempo or speed of music to the band, then they would perform there particular routine.
It was not long before just about every tap dance step had been used up and this is when the tap dancing started to take on a new form. The additional steps like 'wings', 'over the tops' and 'falling off a log' became known as flash steps, used mainly by dancers who wanted to out do other dance acts. Most of these moves involved the dancer appearing to be nearly tripping him self up and this made an exciting performance, as you would be wondering if he would make it on his feet till the end.
Most of these exaggerated steps usually came into play towards the end of the act as after these vigorous flash steps you were in no condition to do any thing else. Also there was a tendency for the bands to have a loud finish, this would inevitably drown out the taps made by the artist.
Through the evolution of tap dancing can the specialist tap-dancer who had a particular trademark step or combination of steps. The best example of this was the slide, which was performed by many and mastered by few. It involved appearing as though you were dancing on ice and the same principles applied, as in the flash steps. You always wondered if he would ever fall over. There were also sand dancers, acrobatics and even influences from Russia. The great few who were able to master all of these skills were later to become masters who were well respected by all, in the entertainment business and most of all the tap community.
The Slide
American tap dancing set it self apart from any other form of tap or clogging dance any where else by the fact that it was born and developed in the evolving jazz era. The rhythms which played a big part in the jazz and tap evolution were due to the historical forced integration of African slave labour, who loosely interpreted the European step dances like the jig and clog, coupled with religious African so called "juba" dances and "ring shouts". The syncopated jazz rhythms were incorporated into the dance, where as the other forms of clogging were performed to comparatively straight time, and so this sets American tap apart from most other forms of tap dance.
In the 1930's Tap made the transition from the theatres to the big screen, unfortunately many of the masters were past by in favour of white entertainers. Although they were highly talented, they did not represent the Afro-American jazz tap of the time. Tap was brought onto film but it was heavily choreographed and the technique of adding the taps after the dance was filmed removed the "what you see is what you hear" aspect. This produced incredible audiovisual tap sequences, but the live heart of jazz tap was lost. In the 1950's tap lost is popularity, due to many reasons some of which were the changing style of music and the trend towards classical ballet dances sequences in films.
Tap still existed in the clubs and theatres for a while although its loss of popularity eventually contributed to its almost total decline. In the 60's a number of events stimulated renewed interest in tap by the emergence of a few tap related shows on Broadway. Then a while later in the early eighties a few films staring Gregory Hines put tap back onto the map. As the popularity in tap increased, there was a call for in to be recognised as an art form and this was done by a vote of Congress in 1989. National Tap Dance day May 25th was born and is celebrated in many countries on and around this date.
Tap has now been brought up to the 90's and beyond through to 2000 plus with shows that have a contemporary funk feel as Gregory Hines once said "Tap is here, it's now", just as it was in it's day although not quite as popular. The knowledge of the history of tap has been is passed on by a few tap dance companies who include historical information while they teach. It is important that new young tap dancers are made aware of the efforts of past and surviving tap masters in an effort to pass on valuable historical memories of tap dancing through stage and screen in its heyday. Tap rhythms can be used to express any type of popular music that is with us today. No matter how tap evolves in the future its exponents will always be "Tap dancing in the shadow of the masters."
