How to Dig, Scuff & Toe Step in Tap Dancing

Video Transcript

"Okay now before we continue on and learning a couple combinations and different things like that there's 2 or 3 last little things that I want to add in there that will come up in tap dancing combinations and come up all the time. We learned the basics which are you know the brush, the strike, the hop, the jump, the step, the stomp. What we're going to learn now are 3 things one is called a dig, one is called the scuff, and one is called toe which is very easy and explanatory let's start with the dig. A dig is done with only the heel of the tap shoe you don't want to mess around with the toe at all, and all you do is bend your knee and drop it into the floor like that. The toe never touches the floor a dig is simply digging your heel into the ground and you can't really put weight on it well you could if you really want it to. But that's all a dig is when an instructor says dig you dig you can rotate between left and right like that so it makes a nice sharp heavy sound, like a stomp but not as loud. Another thing the other move to do with the heel is called a scuff and it exactly what it sounds like when you scuff a floor it's because your heel has gone like that, a scuff is a brush that's done with the heel it's like brush but it's with the heel. And it helps a lot while for example, I'm using my right foot while I scuff with my right foot I'm bending my left knee a little bit if you do it straight leg your not going to get the extension of the leg as much as you want to. And the last part is when somebody says toe all you do is take the toe of your tap shoe and do it like that right behind you, looks like this, just this part of the tap shoe that goes right to the end of the shoe, there's that little metal that goes just pass the toe where your toe is inside your shoe, and you just pop it once on the floor like that, so again there's dig, scuff, toe."