Tap Dance Teacher Blog

So I was getting concerned that my students were getting bored or at the very least getting tired of doing my across the floor combos each week. Or maybe I'm the one who was getting bored - either way i wanted to spice some things up. I'm not a particularly social person and I've been guilty of treating my students somewhat like robots at times, forgetting they are each individual people with their own thoughts, feelings, etc. When I was younger my mentor, Gregg Russell, had to call an end to a rehearsal I was conducting for his tap company because it was 1 or 2 in the morning and I was so focused on making the dance perfect I had lost track off the fact that I was working with real humans who get tired - especially that late. So I thought of a fun across the floor idea to try out. I told my students they would be creating their own across the floor combination. Now this is not a big deal - I've done this before - nothing new here. But wait! The catch was that the combi...

So from time to time I do some out of the ordinary things in my tap class. I may do a completely different class structure, I may use some really strange music, or I might try a whole new style (just did that the other day). In the past when I've done these things I've noticed you can VERY quickly lose your class for any number of reasons. "What is that weird music?" you might hear or "Why are we doing this?" with that wonderful teenage tone:) In short whenever you deviate from the norm, it throws students off. Big time! And in general they don't like it. Unless it's tap games week, but other than that they are not fans of sudden change (most people fall into that category). What I have found though, that largely mitigates this opposition to change is to simply talk to the kids at the beginning of the class and give them a heads up. If I'm using strange music, I will literally say straight up "I'm going to use some really strange mu...

I just had one of the most successful in-class sessions of my entire teaching career. Why? What did I do differently this time? I shut my mouth! Before I get into the details let me give some quick background: We were working on Waltz Clog Pullbacks. I have explained to the class before how to do these and the kids have had mixed levels of success with them (some get them, many don't). Usually I will explain how to do it and then give them all time to work on it while I go around giving individuals pointers to help them get it. The results of this are usually some slight improvement. This time I did it differently. I had a contest with the kids based on them mimicking me. Basically I did a waltz clog pullback then counted them in and they all did one together. If they all do it right (for the most part) and most importantly if their sounds are all together, they get a point. If their sounds are almost all together it's a tie, and if their sounds aren't together I get a...

Okay so in my last post I wrote about new warm-up: I have all the kids get into a line.  Then I teach them a short simple pattern - step heel, step heel, step heel, stamp.  All the kids do it together first, then the first kid in line does it solo.  Then all the kids do it together again, after which the second kid in line does it solo.  And we continue to alternate from group to solo until we get through the entire line.  If I think the kids still need more work on the pattern we go through the line again This simply doesn't work long term for warm-up. Why? Because we cover at most 4 patterns (at most). There are simply too many steps to cover that we will never get to. Also this usually takes a while so it becomes a mix of warm-up and technique. The net result is that the number of steps the kids actually do in a class is greatly reduced. Yes they are getting to really hear their own feet and yes that's helping to make their steps sound better, but too ma...

After 25 years of teaching tap dance I think I've been doing warm-ups wrong the entire time.  Granted there is no official right or wrong way to do warm-ups, but I measure their success by how well my students can execute the steps we do in warm-up each week. Before we go on I want to share my thoughts on the purpose of a warm-up.  In most cases I don't think it's really about "getting warm" or "warming up the muscles".  At least not for the young kids I teach who can break out into a full-on run with no preparation whatsoever, or who can drop into the splits without first stretching for a few minutes.  I'm a little older so for me it does serve a bit of the "warm up the muscles" before we torture them purpose.  But the kids I teach are good to go.  So why do it? I do it for 2 reasons: 1.  Reinforce basic steps.  There is no substitute for repetition.  If you do 100 step heels a week I promise your step heels will sound infinitely be...

In my never-ending quest keep class interesting, for both me and my students, I tried something new a couple of weeks ago.  We had partner week. For warm up I pulled a student up in the front of class to be my partner (if there was an extra one to be had - an even number of students meant I was on my own).  We did a simple pattern like 4 toes together then I did two stamps and then my partner did two stamps.  The fun and interesting part is that it was all done on the fly.  I didn't go through which partner would do what part ahead of time other than some general guidelines: 1.  Sometimes you and your partner will tap together and then do separate parts (like I explained above). 2.  Sometimes you and your partner will do separate parts first and then tap together (I do step heel stamp, my partner does step heel stamp, and then together we do three step heels and a stamp). 3.  When reverse a pattern or switching to the left foot, the partner on...

Every so often you see a student for whom everything suddenly clicks and like a rocket they take off to unbelievable heights.  I had the fortune of recently seeing this in not one, but two students at the same time. Often when a tapper reaches the top of the class I recommend they straddle classes by continuing to take the current class and also taking a class that's the next level up. The straddlers typical have a hard time in the harder class but are usually ready for the challenge.  What I almost never see is a straddler who takes the harder class and just eats it up straight away.  I recently had two tappers do just that.  For one of the tappers I could see this coming - she's been tapping well and has been very focused in class.  The other one has always been a good student but her amazing jump came out of nowhere for me. And Man is it EXCITING!  It's so fun to see kids suddenly make a huge jump forward like this.  As tap teachers we struggle...

So basically from late January through June/July I have ben working on recital routines in my classes.  I did take a few weeks off here and there to work on technique but by and large I was working on routines.  Naturally when that happens I find the students (and my) technique suffers.  So as summer classes ramp up I have decided to focus almost exclusively on technique including omitting my longer combinations I usually do at the end of class.  I figured I'd share my summer class format with all of you: First 10 minutes - Warm-up or as I call them "Drills".  I've never liked the term warm-ups for tap even though I use it.  As I get older it applies to me more and is more of a process of actually getting the body moving and warmed up but for most kids I teach - they come from other classes and are ready to go.  I prefer to call them drills because it is a chance in my view to drill steps they already know as well as easy steps and keep them strong....

I like my students to be self motivated but sometimes we all need a little push in order to pull out our best work.  Try a deck of cards.  An old deck of cards, preferably (or a cheap deck).  Here's how it works: Split the deck of cards in half based on color - half red, half black.  Now have your students perform the dance or combination they're currently working on.  While they're dancing you walk around watching their feet, face, arms, etc.  If you notice good footwork from a student, hand the student a black card (yes, while they're tapping - they are talented and will be able to dance just fine with it in their hand, though the card will get a bit mangled).  If you notice anything else done really well such as sharpness of movement, great expression, or nice body lines, give them a red card. That's it!  You'll be amazed how hard the kids will work for a simple playing card.  Also there is no punishment or taking cards away.  Mo...

I'm sitting here writing this in my nerdy Atari pajamas and my "I'm not a morning person." (it's true) t-shirt after a 45 minute tap workout.  Faced with a gradual decline in my tap skills I figured it was time to take action.  But how did I get here in the first place? First and foremost I teach less "live" classes than ever before and most of that time lately is cleaning routines.  When I tell people I'm a tap teacher they often comment how I must be in great shape.  Unfortunately that's not the case.  The longer I teach, the less I tap.  That's because I'm spending more and more time listening and correcting my students' feet instead of working on mine.  I'm not saying I don't tap at all, but my total actual tapping time for 18 "live" classes this week (some are a half hour, some an hour) was probably 1 hour.  That's it.  My focus is cleaning my students' formations, arms, and feet, not my own.  Tea...

Over the years I've learned a valuable lesson about abandonment.  In tap, especially choreography, it's a good thing.  Sometimes, despite your best intentions, you just can't create choreography you love.  Sometimes you've spent hours brainstorming and have an incredible idea but when it comes to actually making it real, it just seems to flop.  When this happens you have two choices.  Keep going or scratch it and start anew.  Most times I think starting anew is the best way to go. I remember I had a brilliant idea for a tap piece that would be done almost entirely behind a large piece of fabric.  To create visual interest, since you couldn't see the tappers' feet, I was going to have them use objects to push against the fabric to basically tell a story of sorts.  I spent many hours planning this and at our first actual rehearsal we gave it a shot. Total Failure. Due to a variety of factors the shapes were not at all distinguishable from the ...

So sometimes students need a little motivation.  A goal of some kind.  Kids are naturally competitive so I try to harness that trait and direct it in the direction of hard work and improvement.  I often have little contests.  It's me versus the whole class (this keeps them working together as a team, and of course they would just love to beat the teacher).  Now of course this isn't fair, and I tell the kids that straight out.  But I also tell them how incredible they would be to beat me when the odds are stacked against them (they do win more than half the time).  Some groan of course, but most are up for the competition.  Basically I do whatever step we need to work on by myself, and then they do it all together after me.  If they are exactly together and do it right (heels up etc.) they get a point.  If they are almost all together, it's a tie and no one gets a point.  If they aren't together or do it wrong, I get a point. They ...

Everyone is aware how much computers have worked their way into nearly every aspect of our lives.  Teaching tap is no different, at least for me.  Granted I'm a bit of a tech-nerd, but nevertheless some of the tools available are REALLY helpful (and occasionally hurtful). Currently I use a macbook when I teach for a variety of reasons. 1.  Speed control - There is an app called Djay (See the sidebar for a link) that allows me to control the speed of the music I play which is very helpful to adjust for students who need to go slower or want to go faster.  It also has cue points which allow me to jump into any specific spot in the music just clicking a button.  In addition to that it automatically calculates the BPM of each song and allows me to sort by it so I can make up a combo and then look at the BPMs to find music with a speed that would work well. 2.  Garageband - I use this for choreographing and rehearsing routines.  It is not the bes...

In order to shake things up a little in class and make things a bit more interesting I tried something new this past week.  I had each student make up their own "step" which had to consist of 7 sounds with the counts 1 & 2 & 3 & 4.  Furthermore, it had to start on the right and end on the left and be repeatable.  Other than that they could do whatever they wanted with it and many did some really cool and creative things (after teaching over 20 years it's nice to see other people's creativity, especially students).  I gave them some time to work on it and get it down and helped a few kids that were stuck.  For those kids I simply tell them to make a sound, any sound.  If they stamp their feet (for instance), then I tell them to give me a number between 1-4.  If they pick 2, then I say "there's your first two sounds, stamp stamp, now make another sound and pick another number."  That usually gives them a start. So once they get their "...

So I've been in a "back to basics" mode this year trying to strengthen my students' basics skills like shuffles, buffalos, cramp rolls, etc.  In so doing I've found that if you manage to put some of these simple steps in just the right order your students will end being really challenged by them (depending on level of course).  For instance in one class I did buffalo shuffle ball change cramp roll flap ball change.  Sounds pretty easy.  But for some reason the brain wants to do a flap ball change after the buffalo not a shuffle ball change, especially on the 2nd or third repetition of the pattern (I do this across the floor).  I also like this because it allows the kids to practice differentiating shuffle step and flap.  Some kids never ever have a problem confusing the two but others never seem able to internalize the difference.  I have tried a couple of tricks like: Flaps go Front, Shuffle go Side (usually) noting the letter F in flap and front an...

It's a bit cliche, but we often hear about computers someday taking over the world.  So how will they affect the world of tap dancing?  Well I hope to be leading that charge in a positive way.  I've been working with a software programmer for a while and if all goes well I may end up with a computer program than can "hear" a students feet and draw their sounds onto a video screen in the exact way they tapped them.  Thus showing them visually when a sound was missing, early, or late.  It's not a substitute for listening to their own feet, but I think it will help train their ears to be better able to pick out "off" sounds.   That's step one of course.  Step 2 is the computer understanding what mistake they're making and then telling them how to fix it.  Truth be told, if I had the money to hire as many good programmers as I need I could make that software right now.  So mark my words that's coming down the pipeline.   Now don't misunder...

Today was my first day back for normal fall lessons.  Luckily for me it was only two hours which makes for a nice easing-back-into-things start to the new season.  The kids were were attentive, eager, and in good spirits and who doesn't love to teach to that?  These classes are at a studio I'm relatively new to (just started there about 2 months ago) so the kids are still learning my terminology. I find the terminology a tough thing.  I tell the kids to learn and remember as many names to steps as they can because that way when they take from someone else they'll hopefully be prepared for their terminology.  However regardless of how hard I try to teach new students who have had other teachers my terminology, they tend to still revert back to the very first names they learned for steps. Anyone got a solution to that? Rod at http://www.unitedtaps.com

So yesterday I made an ambitious attempt to replicate myself 3 times through the magic of modern technology, and it worked!  Here's the story: I was scheduled to teach a production number at one of the studios I work at and all the kids were coming at the same time (as opposed to splitting them into groups and working with one group at a time).  Well I didn't want 3/4 of the kids just sitting doing nothing while I worked with one of the subgroups within the production, so I replicated myself.  The night before I was scheduled to teach I video-taped myself teaching the choreography for three of the groups.  The next day I put three of the groups each in separate rooms with a tv and had them learn the choreography off of the video while I worked with the fourth group "live."  I did have an assistant overseeing my youngest group that was learning from video.  So how did it go? Splendid!  Worked like a charm!  So in the amount of time it would hav...

So throughout my many years of teaching I've taught at many different dance studios.  Teaching at a new place can be exciting and slightly intimidating all at the same time.  One of the perks however is that for a brief moment in time you're the "new guy" and the kids are genuinely excited to take class from you and learn all the great things you have to teach. Like all good things though, this soon comes to an end.  Not that the kids suddenly don't like your class anymore, it's just sort of like that new toy that was the coolest thing ever when you got it and then a few weeks later it's just another toy. Nevertheless those first few weeks are a real joy and can really remind you why you got into teaching in the first place, or perhaps why you haven't left. Have you had the same experience? Rod Howell at http://www.unitedtaps.com

So invariably at some point I usually do a set warm-up.  It has changed throughout the years and most recently it has taken the form of some prerecorded "tap-like" sounds making the right rhythms over top a nice back beat.  This way the kids can hear how the rhythm of a step is supposed to go and then "copy" it as they do the step.  Humans are natural born imitators so why not use that to our advantage? So what's the downside?  Well, it depends.  Some kids get bored of repetition fast and others can handle a lot (unfortunately I can handle extreme amounts so my perspective is always skewed towards more).  There's no doubt that repetition has a place in tap training.  It's quite valuable to have the muscle memory to pull off a wide range of steps without having to think about it.  On the other hand, at some point their brains will shut down and they'll just go through the motions without really trying to make everything sound good. So what I tr...