How to do a Double Pullback with Heel Cramp in Tap Dancing

A pull-back in tap dancing can be done as a single (executed on one foot) or as a double (with both feet engaged.) Sometimes a pull-back becomes a swap or change, because the dancer must brush back on the leg she is standing on and land on her opposite foot. The dancer begins the step with her feet in a parallel position. In the double pull-back with heel cramp, the pull-backs are not done simultaneously. The right foot brushes back first, immediately followed by the left foot. A heel cramp occurs when both heels are dropped in quick succession.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Tap shoes

1. Brush to the back on your right foot on the count of "a." A brush is executed, whether to the front or to the back, on the ball of the dancer's foot. The ball swipes against the floor as the foot is moving either to the front or to the back. Your right foot is still raised to the back. (For an explanation of counts and beats, see Tips.)

2. Brush your left foot to the back on the count of "1." This is the pull-back. To accomplish this, you must spring up and back on your left foot, which your weight is on, as you are executing the back brush on your left foot. You have just done a back brush on your right foot, which is still raised. Both feet will be in the air at the same time. This is not a simultaneous pull-back, because the back brushes are not done at the same time. You brush back on your right foot first, then immediately brush back on your left foot. You land on your right foot on the count of "a."

3. Remember that, when doing pull-backs, it is imperative that you keep your knees bent, so you can spring up and back while brushing( spanking) the ball of the respective foot to the back.

4. Step down on your left foot on the count of "and."

5. Drop your right heel on the count of "a" and drop your left heel on the count of '2."

6. Put together the steps to the double pull-back with heel cramp: Brush back, brush back (pull-back), step down right, step down left, drop right heel, drop left heel. The count is: "a 1 a and a 2." The dancer makes three taps--brush brush step, as well as step heel drop, heel drop--on each count. Remember to dance on the balls of your feet so you can easily do heel drops.

Tips & Warnings

• When you dance, you must count. Dance notation is broken up into five components based on one measure of 4/4 music. When you see or hear the count "1 2 3 4," it indicates that four steps are done on four counts/beats. This is the quarter-note or single-time count. When you see or hear "1 and 2 and 3 and 4," that is the eight- note couplet count; the dancer is doing two steps on one beat of music. When you see or hear the count of "1 and a 2 and a 3 and a 4 and a ... ," that is the eighth-note triplet count; the dancer is making three taps/sounds per beat. In the sixteenth or quadruple count ("1 e and a 2 e and a 3 e and a 4 e and a..."), the dancer is making five taps/sounds per beat. There are four beats in one bar of 4/4 music. Double time would mean that there are eight beats played in that time frame. In dance notation, that would be counted as "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and ..." After you have done a pull-back, the foot on which you are not stepping/landing (which is the left in this combination) is lifted and raised to the back; you then step down on it. When you first start attempting pull-backs, use the dance barre or the back of a chair for support. A single pull-back involves only one foot. The dancer would, for example, brush back and land on the right foot. The left foot is not involved. Again, it is essential to keep the knees bent when doing pull-backs. Watch Rod Howell's dance demonstration in the Resources section. He does a very interesting combination involving a double pull-back. He really spices it up by adding two toe stands after the double pull-back, then stepping on the right foot and then on the left foot. The double pull-back with cramp heel isn't as complex, because it does not involve toe stands, which are an advanced maneuver.

Resources

• Tap Dancing Demo by Rod Howell