Tap Dance

In this combination, the dancer puts together a brush (done diagonally) with heel and ball drops, but she does it while she is making a full turn, either to the left or to the right, depending on...

A cramproll is frequently done in military dance routines because the sound of the cramproll approximates the sound of a drum roll. A basic cramproll is defined as two quick steps followed by two...

A cramproll is described as a rapid dance movement that combines steps and heels. Sometimes the cramproll is referred to as a cranch or a crunch. The sound that a cramproll makes approximates a...

The Swiffle is also called the Tessa Backdraw and is named after dancer Tessa Grady. This combination is, indeed, an example of quick and close footwork. Slowly combine the steps, one by one, and...

The dancer can travel to the back as she executes the shuffle heel step heel combination. This is close footwork, where the dancer is required to quickly make several different taps, sometimes on...

This tap dancing break is named for dancer Bill Bartlett. It is a complex and lengthy combination, and involves a lot of close footwork---a six-tap riff, for example, as well as heel drops, heel...

The shuffle is the basis for many tap-dancing combinations. In this step, the shuffle precedes a heel drop and a toe tap to the back. If you choose to add two more steps--a step and another heel...

Shirley Temple was the curly-haired, dimpled darling of the movies back in the 1930s. She was a prodigious tap dancer, with dance skills far beyond her years. She also had that imitable little...

A running cramproll is also a double cramproll done in quick succession as the dancer moves to one side or the other. A cramproll can be preceded by steps, flaps or shuffles. Some camprolls are...

A crunch in tap dancing is also known as a cramproll, which occurs when a dancer drops both heels in quick succession. In the swiveling crunch, the dancer is going to drop her heels three times,...

The cramproll with heel dig is not done on alternating feet. The dancer continues to do it starting on the right foot. The dancer can, however, travel backward on the step, which begins with a...

A tap-dance riff can be as effortless as a two-step riff--brush and scuff to the front--or as complicated as a 24-tap combination, in which the dancer creates 24 sounds. The dancer must maintain...

The steamboat step in tap dancing requires that the dancer execute a half-turn to the right while doing heel drops, and then execute the rest of the turn while doing toe drops. The dancer must...

A riff, particularly when it entails thirteen taps (sounds), is the quintessential close footwork example in tap dancing. There are no broad or big sweeping brushes or shuffles. The foot (or both...

A riff step in tap dancing epitomizes close, intricate footwork. The dancer is going to execute several steps in quick succession. The riff occurs when the dancer strikes the ball of her foot...

The variation in this six-tap riff occurs when the dancer steps down on her working foot (the foot/leg that the steps are being done on) rather than doing a heel dig after the first heel drop in...

There are numerous ways in tap dancing to do riff combinations. The one described here is a seven-tap riff. That means you are going to make seven taps or sounds. A riff occurs when the dancer...

It may strike a dancer as a wee bit ironic that a certain cramp roll is described as a "close" cramp roll, because all cramp rolls require intricate, close-to-the floor footwork. This one may...

When a dancer does an "Irish" in tap dancing she shuffles on one foot, hops on the other and then steps to the front and in front of her other foot (this would be a front Irish) or she steps to...

Eleanor Powell was an American film actress and dancer in the 1930s and 1940s. She was considered the world's greatest tap dancer because of her footwork, which was likened to a machine gun....

A cramp roll is considered "reversed" when the order of heel drops is changed. Instead of stepping onto your right foot and then onto your left foot followed by a heel drop on your right and then...

The jazz time step doesn't feature a lot of standard tap-dancing steps, such as shuffle ball-changes, although there is a flap (brush step) found in the combination. This step has a "jazzy" flavor...

In the Alternating Drawbacks step in tap dancing, the dancer will be brushing to the back in front of her other foot. A crisscross step results. A basic drawback consists of brushing to the back,...

The Hollywood Roll step in tap dancing is a backward moving combination. The dancer combines back brushes (spanks) with heel drops and heel digs. If the dancer chooses not to move backward then...

The strut step is a cramp roll; however, it differs from a basic cramp roll in that the dancer steps down on and then drops the heel on the first foot before stepping down on and dropping the heel...

This riff combination is the brainchild of Denise Pennington. Remember that a riff occurs when the dancer brushes her foot to the front--brushing on the ball of her foot--and then scuffs her heel...

The stub toe walk in tap dancing is sometimes referred to as the side traveling clip walk because the dancer is moving to the side. When the dancer steps to the front, she steps not only in front...

When doing the crunch step in tap dancing, the dancer will be required to do several step-shuffle heel drops. Remember to dance on the balls of your feet, (never flat-footed), so you can easily...

In the Diller step in tap dancing, the dancer does several toe taps. A tap occurs when the dancer taps her toe (the ball of her shoe) to the front. Do not put any weight on the tap. Heel drops are...

Cramprolls bring to mind the sound of a drum roll. In a cramproll, the tap dancer drops her heels in succession. Prior to dropping her heels, she does a step or a flap (brush step) or a leap. Your...

Why this tap dancing combination is called the "Thing" is anyone's guess. This is a side to side step and involves close footwork, including back brushes, heel drops and toe jabs. As always, dance...

A riff occurs when a dancer brushes her foot forward followed with a scuff on the same foot. A basic front riff is brush scuff (to the count of "and 1"). However, in this step the dancer is going...

The going to church step in tap dancing involves a lot of close, floor work, including toe drops and heel digs. When a dancer is instructed to drop her toe it means that she drops the ball of her...

The triple cross and shuffle step is one of those lengthy combinations. However, the second section is simply a repeat of the first so if you learn the first section you're good to go. The primary...

The pacing step in tap dancing begins with the dancer facing stage right and moving to the right; however, as she executes this combination, she turns to the front and then turns to the left. The...

The double paddle and roll step in tap dancing constitutes intricate and close footwork, which may seem intimidating when a dancer first attempts it; however, once you get the hang of it you will...

The heel rattle three consists, simply, of a forward brush, a heel drop, and a back brush. Your right foot is free after completing the combination so you can do the heel rattle three again,...

The cramproll can be done in combination with flaps and back brushes as well as done while moving to the back. In the standing cramproll, the dancer will remain in place. When you are instructed...

This cramproll is jazzed up by adding a scuff. A scuff occurs when the dancer swipes the heel of her shoe against the floor in a forward motion. To do a cramproll, a dancer drops her heels in...

The double quickback step is intended to be done rapidly--hence its name. The double quickback is a back traveling step. The dancer is doubling the sounds that would be made in a single quickback....

The zigzag step in tap dancing is a good example of intricate, close footwork. The dancer is required to do a heel dig, back brush, step and then heel drop both heels, but not simultaneously. This...

The Cincinnati step in tap dancing is a backward traveling step. In the Cincinnati with double heel cramps, the dancer will add another heel drop (cramp) to the combination. The basic Cincinnati...

A basic stomp roll in tap dancing consists of four shuffle steps followed by a shuffle and three stamps. However, the step can be changed by adding heels digs, eliminating shuffles and doing three...

The final section of the ABC dance in tap dancing is the "C" part. The "C" section includes the following: heel digs, back brushes (which are a staple of the overall step) and stomps (which do not...

The first section of the ABC step in tap dancing is, of course, the "A" section, which consists of the following: back brush, heel drop, shuffle, heel drop step, L and R heel drops, back brush,...

The ABC step in tap dancing is quite lengthy. It has been divided into sections--A, B and C. Follow the instructions here to learn Section A of the combination. The dancer will make 16 taps and...

The ripple step is somewhat similar to the Cincinnati tap step except the Cincinnati step moves backwards and the ripple step only travels marginally to the back when the dancer steps down and to...

The machine gun step in tap dancing does indeed sound like the rat-a-tat-tat a machine gun makes. In this combination, the dancer will do a slap, which is different from a flap. A flap is a brush...

The Lancashire step in tap-dancing gets it name from the clog dance that originated in the late 1800s in the industrial city of Lancashire, England. The factory workers entertained themselves by...

Syncopated steps in tap dancing involve either a beat that's not normally accented or rests (stopping completely) where they aren't normally found in a combination. The syncopated riff step is...