Tap Dance Teacher Blog

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 "...