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How to Help Your Students Master Wings in Tap
While the wing is an exciting step, it can be challenging for students because of its complex technique and coordination. Here, a few tap dance educators share a variety of tips and tricks that have helped their students master the move and not just “wing it.”
Generation Tap: Meet 9 Rising Tap-Dance Stars
From coast to coast, today’s rising tap talent is taking to public spaces, social media, TV series, movies and more to share their passion for percussion.
Jared Grimes Returns to His Tap Roots With The Tap Dance Kid
“Even when I’m far away from tap,” says Astaire Award–winning hoofer Jared Grimes, “I’m never really far.” While his resumé runs the gamut from MTV to Cirque du Soleil to Mariah Carey, Grimes is returning to his roots with The Tap Dance Kid.
Chicago Human Rhythm Project's Rhythm World Finally Celebrates Its 30th Anniversary
What happens when a dance festival is set to celebrate a landmark anniversary, but a global pandemic has other plans?
How to Celebrate National Tap Dance Day With Your Students
May 25 is National Tap Dance Day, honoring a distinctly American art form and the birthday of one of its finest practitioners, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. Here’s how three teachers are acknowledging the day with their students.
When Dancers Double As Musicians, How Do They Approach Both Art Forms?
Percussive dancers of all styles are passionate about their musicianship: how they shape their sounds, interact with other musicians, think about their instruments and compose intricate rhythms. In addition to movement, musicality informs their identities as performers and choreographers.
How to Bring Tap History Alive in the Studio
Teaching tap history can bring the art form alive in new ways for students, teach them about important people and events in American history and make them appreciate the larger context of what they're learning.
6 Living Legends on the State of Tap Education Today
As the new year sees tap dance trying to maintain this positive momentum despite the ongoing restrictions of the pandemic, we invited several of the field's living legends to meet on Zoom and discuss how they perceive the current state of tap dance and tap education.
Karida Griffith Is Teaching Dance Educators How to Talk About Race
Griffith designed a six-week professional-development program—Roots, Rhythm, Race & Dance, or R3 Dance—for teachers of any style seeking ways to introduce age-appropriate concepts about race and dance history to their students.
How This Tap-Dancer-Turned-Composer Stays True to His Jazz Roots
Tap dancer DeWitt Fleming Jr. spoke about his collaboration with jazz saxophonist Erica von Kleist and the creation of their album.
Beloved Master Tap Teacher Gregg Russell Has Passed Away at Age 48
Gregg Russell, an Emmy-nominated choreographer known for his passionate and energetic teaching, passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, November 22, at the age of 48.
Q&A: Break-dancer, Skateboarder and Interdisciplinary Artist Bill Shannon
The documentary CRUTCH chronicles Bill Shannon's innovative performance career, which has included break dancing, skateboarding and multimedia installations around the world.
Going beyond: The added value of Project-Based Language Learning
While watching student presentations a few years ago, I felt something was missing. What if students actually executed these projects instead of merely envisioning them?
Experts Break Down the Tap Jam—And How Best to Play Your Part
Pullback, shuffle, and Maxie Ford are tap terms you've probably heard all the time. But what about shed, cypher, and trading?
Risk for Reinjury
Fear of Reinjury Could Make You More Prone to Hurting Yourself Again. Here's How to Avoid It