Editing Tap dance (section)

== Characteristics ==
{{main|Tap dance technique}}
{{More citations needed|section|date=October 2023}}
[[File:Tapdance-japan-stationfront.ogv|thumb|(video) A man practices tap dancing in front of a station in Japan.]]
[[File:Teen Tap Dancer.jpg|thumb|upright|A teen tap dancer is performing a tap step known as a "toe stand" onstage.]]
Tap dancers make frequent use of [[syncopation]]. Choreography typically starts on the eighth or first [[Beat (music)|beat]] count. Another aspect of tap dancing is [[improvisation]]. Tap dancing can either be done with music following the beats provided, or without musical accompaniment; the latter is known as "''a cappella''" tap dancing.

Hoofers are tap dancers who dance primarily "closer to the floor", using mostly footwork and not showing very much arm or body movement.<ref name="Tap Dancing America">{{cite book |last=Valis Hill |first=Constantine |date=2010 |title=Tap Dancing America |url= |location= |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |page=388 |isbn=978-0-19-539082-7 |access-date= }}"Hoofer, a tap dancer who emphasizes movements from the waist down, and concentrates on the flat-footed percussive intricacies of the feet"</ref> This kind of tap dancing, also called ''rhythm tap'', was employed by slaves in America.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Edwards |first=Mary |date=2020 |title=Jamie A. Thomas and Christina Jackson (editors), Embodied Difference: Divergent Bodies in Public Discourse. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books, 2019 ({{text|ISBN:}} 978-1-4985-6386-4) |journal=Hypatia Reviews Online |volume=2020 |doi=10.1017/s2753906700003338 |issn=2753-9067|doi-access=free }}</ref>

[[Steve Condos]] developed an innovative rhythmic tap style that influenced the work of later tap dancers such as [[Gregory Hines]] and [[Savion Glover]]. The majority of early hoofers, such as [[Sammy Davis Jr.]], Glover, Hines, and [[LaVaughn Robinson]] were African American men.<ref name=":0" /> [[Savion Glover]] helped bring tap dance into mainstream media by choreographing ''[[Happy Feet]]'', a film about a tap dancing penguin. Another well-known tap film is 1989's ''[[Tap (film)|Tap]]'', starring Gregory Hines and many old-time hoofers.

Early tappers like [[Fred Astaire]] provided a more [[ballroom dancing|ballroom]] look to tap dancing, while [[Gene Kelly]] introduced ballet elements and style into tap. This style of tap led to what is today known as ''Broadway style'', which is popular in American culture. It often involves high heeled tap shoes and show music, and is usually the type of tap first taught to beginners. Examples of this style are found in Broadway musicals such as ''[[Anything Goes]]'' and ''[[42nd Street (musical)|42nd Street]]''.

"Soft-Shoe" is a rhythm form of tap dancing that does not require special shoes, and though rhythm is generated by tapping of the feet, it also uses sliding of the feet (even sometimes using scattered sand on the stage to enhance the sound of sliding feet) more often than modern rhythm tap. It preceded what is currently considered to be modern tap, but has since declined in popularity.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20210122162725/https://themovingarts.com/soft-shoes-dance/ A Brief History of the Soft Shoes Dance]}}''themovingarts.com''</ref>

=== Tap Steps ===
Basic tap steps are known as "one-sound steps" and are either weight shifting or non-weight-shifting steps. Common basic tap steps include heel drops, toe drops, heel digs, toe taps, a brush, scuff, chug, pull, hop, leap and step.<ref name="Michiels Hernandez 29–40"/>

In advanced tap dancing, basic steps are often combined together to create new steps. Many steps also have single, double, and triple variations, or can have a variation with a pickup, which is essentially adding an additional brush sound. Popular steps with many variations include pullbacks, timesteps, riffs,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Silao |first=Nia |date=2021-07-03 |title=RIFFS: A Theory of Instruction and Reference for Step Progression in Tap Dance |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23734833.2021.1954852 |journal=Dance Education in Practice |language=en |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=6–17 |doi=10.1080/23734833.2021.1954852 |s2cid=237548320 |issn=2373-4833}}</ref> and drawbacks.

Time steps is an umbrella term that is widely used in tap for any combination of steps that follows a specific rhythm or pattern. These consist of a rhythm that is changed to make new time steps by adding or removing steps. There are many variations of the basic time step, including the single, double, and triple time steps. Time steps consist of single- and multi-sound step combinations.<ref name="Michiels Hernandez 29–40"/>

In tap, various types of turns can be done, including step heel turns, Maxi Ford turns, cramp-roll turns, and drag turns. All tap turns can be practiced in both directions.<ref name="Michiels Hernandez 29–40"/>

Other common tap steps include the shuffle, shuffle ball change, double shuffle, leap shuffle, flap, flap ball change, running flaps, flap heel, cramp-roll, buffalo, Maxi Ford, Maxi Ford with a pullback, pullbacks, wings, Cincinnati, the shim sham shimmy (also called the Lindy), Irish, Waltz Clog, the paddle roll, the paradiddle, stomp, brushes, scuffs, spanks, single and double toe punches, hot steps, heel clicks toe stands, over-the-tops, military time step, back to broadway, toe stand turns, New Yorkers, and Shiggy Bops.