The 'Stomp Hop Time Step' Tap Dance Move

Series Summary

Tap dancing has was created in the 1830’s from a blend of cultures in Manhattan’s original melting pot, the Five Points neighborhood (recently depicted in Scorsese’s film Gangs of New York.) Essentially a blend of African shuffle and Irish jig, tap dance became extremely popular in the first half of the 20th century. The metal plates attached to the bottom of the dancer’s shoes create a percussive rhythm which could either accompany music, or be used as an instrument itself. This popular form of entertainment soon found its way from amateur street performances, to Vaudeville, Broadway, and eventually film and television, where millions were inspired by the moves of Sammy Davis, Jr., Gregory Hines, Fred Astaire, and Gene Kelly.

A recent resurgence of tap enthusiasm came in the 90’s with the infusion of new dancers, such as Savion Glover, who began to incorporate a more personal style into their performances, and essentially made tap dancing “cool” again.

In this free video dance class, learn how to tap dance as an advanced tap dancer. An experienced tap dancer will walk you through several steps you need to know to move into the upper echelon of dancing. These free video lessons include steps like flap heels, running pickups and flap pickups. So take these tips and incorporate them into your routines.

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Emily Larew, here to teach you an advanced tap combination. You could actually use this piece, I've actually choreographed it to Christina Aguilera's "Candyman", but again, feel free to take these tap steps and use it to whatever song you would like to use it to. So let's get started on the first count of eight. So we turn around. We're going to start with our right foot in a stomp. So five, six, seven, eight. Stomp, hop shuffle, step, step. Then you're going to do a flap ball change. You ready, try it again. Five, six, seven, eight. Stomp, hop shuffle, step. Actually then from there, I want you to do a ball change left right. Ball change, we're going to do a flap ball change. Flap ball change, flap ball change. Do it one more time. Five, six, seven, eight. Stomp, hop shuffle, step, ball change. So did you see how I transferred my weight there and I went the ball change back front? So stomp, hop shuffle, step. Go back for a ball change, then your left foot is free and you'll know to use that one for your flap. Flap ball change, flap ball change. Left foot goes, you're going to repeat it for five, six, seven, eight for stomp, hop shuffle step, right, left. Now your right foot is free. Flap ball change, flap ball change. Let's do it. Ready? Five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Great work."