Today, I’m proud to introduce our new columnist, Sarah Mason! Sarah brings a wealth of experience as a dance educator, ensemble director, and tap dancer to Dance Advantage and will be a regular contributor to the blog. Read on, and I know you’ll be as excited as I am to welcome her to Dance Advantage. Look for Sarah’s TAPography articles to appear bimonthly.
–Nichelle
Tap is such a loaded topic these days. Ask any hoofer, long-time tap teacher or dance aficionado what the state of affairs are in the tap world, and you get a different answer every time. For the pop culturist, tap is a gimmick, as referenced by So You Think You Can Dance and other reality TV shows. For the hoofer, tap is a way of life that many people in the dance world at large don’t seem to understand. For the die-hard student and pre-professional, tap is on the up and up with festivals, national TV appearances, Broadway, and more. And for the tap teacher… well, for the teachers it isn’t exactly business as usual anymore.
Over my last 20 years of teaching tap, the students have changed. The atmosphere in class is different. The expectations are different. And above all else, the attitude and commitment level are different. I could point a finger at the current generation of kids and their “entitlement syndrome”, but that certainly isn’t changing any time soon, and it doesn’t fix our problem. We can look at ourselves, however, and see what we can do to remedy the situation in our classrooms.
It is a very short list of tap teachers that teach tap in way that embeds it in the heart and soul and fosters a love for the art form at a profound level. Ballet teachers like that? Much easier to come by. Lyrical? Contemporary? Jazz? They’re a dime a dozen these days – teaching classes that are emotionally charged and full of gripping content that draws those elusive adolescents in and keeps their attention. Most tap teachers are ballet or jazz teachers that happen to teach tap, as well. Some are underqualified, some are even disgruntled about it – and it’s no wonder, as tap takes a back seat to ballet, jazz, hip-hop, etc. these days. So few kids call tap their “first love”, that it doesn’t warrant an investment in a good teacher by studio owners.
So what is it about tap that makes both teachers, students and studio owners apathetic? The happy dance… the feel good, tip-tap-toe signature has a big red target on it, just begging to be shot down by “critics” looking for meaning in their dance – including those young “critics” moving up through the ranks of the average dance studio. How then, can we as teachers instill the love of tap in our students in a way that ensures the future of this all-American art form? Here are some practical tools that I have tested and used successfully in everything from 3 year old classes to university courses, conventions and master classes. My preference has always been establishing long-term relationships with students and allowing their artistry to unfold over time, including founding and directing world-renowned youth company Footprints Tap Ensemble and establishing my own school, Pennsylvania Academy of the Arts.
How to Make Tap “Come Alive”
1. Do not use a graded syllabus.You are a good teacher, and you have a wealth of knowledge that your students are looking to sink their teeth into. If you must use it as a starting place, that’s fine. But please bring originality to your exercises, drills, etc. The format of my classes is always the same, however, at any given moment, I will allow myself to go in a completely different direction. Today, I had a great plan for a beginning/intermediate class, and I went off on a tone and dynamics tangent while teaching at Penn State. We ended up having a great conversation about tap shoes and how different styles are best served by different shoes. Really useful information for pre-pro college students! Let yourself feel the energy in the room and what needs to happen as you teach.
2. Remember where you came from. All good hoofers can give you their tap genealogy. During my childhood, I was taught by the fabulous Barbara Swanson, who was a protégé of Tommy Sutton, one of the three greats out of Chicago. My artistic mentor now is Heather Cornell, who was mentored by Buster Brown, Eddie Brown, Ray Brown, and more. Where did you come from? Where did your teacher learn? Giving students a sense of lineage gives them a sense of identity and purpose. They have a legacy to continue and someone’s history in their footwork. Don’t know where you come from? I’m happy to help you dig around and see what we can find. You’ll be amazed when you find out that just a few generations back, there were movie stars, headliners, vaudevillians and more!
3. Push the envelope. What is your ordinary pattern of teaching and choreographing? We all get into a rut of doing the same thing over and over again. Creative choreography concepts are hard to come by in tap when everything is “happy”… but it doesn’t have to be that way! One of the greatest pieces I ever choreographed was an über-slow waltz by Sarah Maclachlan exploring the concepts of death and the afterlife. IN TAP SHOES! There aren’t any rules that say you can’t try something new. Your kids will either think you’re crazy or they’ll adore you. Either way, you’ll have kept yourself fresh and kept them on their toes, watching for the unique and the unexpected things you throw at them.
4. Practice improvisation. My first improvisational experience could be graded as a nearly complete failure. At the age of 15, I was thrown into a circle with Jay Fagan, Bruce Stegman, Julie Cartier and a few others in front of the entire Chicago tap community. Not only is the moment one of the more humiliating memories in my life, but it is also preserved on video for all eternity. PLEASE, don’t allow your students to get caught in a situation like this. Far better for them to get their feet wet (so to speak) in class with friends than in front of a crowd or in a master class of strangers. I’ll be posting future articles about tap improvisation, so watch for more tips on how to incorporate this into your classes.
5. Stay hip. Use music they can relate to, even if it’s jazz. Give kids a REASON to love Michael Buble or Diana Krall – explain to them how sweet their phrasing is or how unique the arrangement is and how it differs from the original song. Many times, I’ll play multiple versions of a tune in class, and the room will divide down the middle between those that like one version and those that like another. It gives them a great ear for music, helps them to be critical of phrasing and meter, and it also encourages them to think outside the box when it comes to arranging, phrasing and creating their own works of art some day! Oh, and every now and then, humor them. Dance to Top 40 stuff (if you can find something clean enough to use in the classroom!), and let them do their improvisation to it. Classical music is a gas, too – they LOVE that they can tap to it. Mozart is brilliant for this, because they all know the melodies already. (More on this later, too!)
6. Keep yourself fresh. Commit to yourself that you will stay current in the tap world. Tap is not the same animal it was 20 years ago. It is a baby art form, really, and it constantly changes every time a dancer like Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards or a Leela Petronio hits the stage. Your contribution is a part of that evolution, so don’t forget to keep your own voice clear and crisp. You have something beautiful to offer your students – keep your instrument well maintained and ready to create!
I’ll leave you with a challenge for November: Find your tap lineage for this month, and see if you can’t Google or look up your “ancestors” on YouTube. Leave your comments and/or links here. We’d LOVE to learn more about each other and all the rich history tap has to offer!
Sarah Mason is the owner/Artistic Director of PA Academy of the Arts, a family-oriented performing arts school in central Pennsylvania offering training in dance, theatre and music.
Born and raised in Chicago, Sarah was the Founder of world-renowned Footprints Tap Ensemble. She is respected from coast to coast as an exceptional dance educator, having taught for over 20 years. Sarah continues to perform as a tap artist, both as a soloist and with her ensemble, Jade Dance Project. She is also the proud mother of two little boys, and the wife of a professional musician.
Sarah’s Dance Dynamics teaching tools, including her unique and easy-to-use tap improvisation syllabus and more, are featured regularly in the TAPography section of Dance Advantage and can be purchased on her website.
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Sarah,
I think you make some good points here. As a tap teacher, I live the struggle to make tap a form of dance that the kids want to take. Unfortunately, tap is not that popular in film or television and I think that has a big impact on the kids. Also, jazz, lyrical and ballet complement each other quite nicely, but a lot of those skills they learn (like pointing your toes) actually work against them in tap class where pointed feet lead to scraping sounds.
I think you are right on target with #5 above. I used a current song in one of my classes last year and I saw some those kids light up in a way I’ve never seen before. I try to keep a rotation of some of the hot songs of the day on playlist (though I;m guilty of not always keeping it up to date). I also chose a day when the kids got to bring in their own iPods and we used their music for class. They liked that a lot.
Finally, I shoe my kids videos of the greats, especially the Nicholas Brothers. They are really amazed at what they see and it inspires them as well.
Nice article, Keep up the good work.
Rod
What a wonderful article. I am a male dance teacher and only teach tap – my school is dedicated to tap dance – with a tiny smattering of street dance for the boys. I took the time to study a specific tap dance teaching qualification, which was a 12 month course dedicated to teaching tap dance – nothing else. It’s reassuring to read through the article and find elements that I am already doing but also at the same time it’s great to have such a good article offering practical advice. We are slowly starting to build the school and it is very prevalent that most other ‘tap classes’ are indeed run by ballet schools who simply want to bring in more cash. I very much look forward to future articles from Sarah – it’s great getting advice from the home of Tap. I am about to start some improvising with the students, so will welcome all advice!
I guaranteed to the tap routine is TAPology. Just for the fun of it, like back in time, Miss Healy is wored white tap shoes. I wondered that girl tappers is commoned. Just say, “HOOFFINN”!!!!
What a great article! Thank you Sarah. I am a tap teacher and am always comforted to know that other tap teachers are having the same struggles that I am. I am also trying to keep “current” with the tap world. I try to take classes with teachers of different styles, but sometimes it’s hard not to teach from the roots you learned from. I am intrigued by the idea of getting students to improvise. As long as they have the tools, at what age do you believe they are able to do this?
Thanks for posting about tap… I look forward to more reading!
Thanks for stopping by, Maria – so glad you liked the article and I’m so happy that Sarah has joined the team!
Thanks everyone for commenting! So glad to see some tappers (and male commenters, for that matter) showing up on the blog! I love that Sarah is willing to help me fill a very obvious hole in the content! And guys, check out the other posts here regarding male students – would love your input there too!!
This is an awesome article and I totally agree 100% with everything you say in it, Sarah!
I grew up learning classical tap in heeled tap shoes, but with no understanding or explanation of where tap came from and who my teachers trained under. Don’t get me wrong, they were amazing teachers, but they never quite let us in on the history of tap!
Then, when I went to college, I experienced a totally new kind of tap and from a teacher with an amazing lineage and understanding of tap history and the tap world: Gay Nardone. She was a Rockette and then continued on to train under and perform with greats like Dean Diggins and Brenda Buffalino! We were even lucky enough to have Dean come to our rehearsals and give us notes, and to our performances which set our hearts racing!!
I remember my first tap class with Gay: she asked us to do an open and closed third. I had never in my life heard of this thing! Then she asked us to do pickups and, yet again, I was flustered and confused! I grew up calling “pickups†“drawbacks†and simply had never done an open or closed third. Gay was also flabbergasted as I had great technique, but no understanding outside of my tiny bit of classical training. So, I think this brings up a really important point to teaching tap: make sure your tappers understand different styles and terminology as they change teacher to teacher and region to region!
Throughout my training with Gay, I quickly learned rhythm tap and about the greats that brought it to us like the Nicholas Brothers. We had dance classes where we watched videos/movies starring Shirley Temple, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and Bill “Bojangles†Robinson just to name a few. Gay exposed us to the world of rhythm tap and classical tap, the music great tappers through the ages have danced to, different ways of counting music and brutally difficult tap classes and routines!
Gay also made us participate in an “improv circle†at the end of each class. This was a dreaded moment for me for multiple classes, but through the years, it allowed me to become more comfortable with my sounds and myself as a tapper. I think that including improv to each class is key in allowing a love for tap to blossom. Even though it is scary at first, I think using new pop music is a great way to ease the pressure!
So, Sarah, I obviously agree with you on so many things and I think the most important thing as a tap teacher is to take classes yourself and beam your love for tap so it can be seen by your students. Also, explaining to students your lineage and those before you historically makes a huge impact in a blossoming love for tap.
Good work Sarah! the Problem is that more people aren’t voicing what you have here and so we [tappers] end up with America believing that tap looks like what they showed on “so you think you can dance” which to me personally is a sheer embarrassment to my art form although the choreography was from one of the greats (Derrick Grant) the tappers couldn’t stand up to the challenge and therefor look what happened in that situation :(. I applaud you for being a true voice
Great article Sarah!
I am primarily a ballet teacher, but teach a preschool ballet/tap combo class. During the half-hour tap portion of my class, I find myself spending a little time on the basic steps/technique, but more of my time doing the following:
1. Having the students clap to the rhythm (heartbeat) of different pieces of music
2. Interpreting the “mood” of the music by moving their bodies and increasing/decreasing the tapping of their feet
3. Exploring the sounds that each part of the tap shoe makes (e.g., light rain, heavy rain, thunder, etc.)
4. Speaking/singing words that are the same as the timing in their steps. This seems to help them internalize the steps.
I don’t have a lot of tap experience, but hope this is on the right track to accomplishing some things mentioned in your article.
I think the single most important piece of advice that I pulled from your article was in # 1, “Let yourself feel the energy in the room and what needs to happen as you teach.” Because of my very young students, I have to keep the class moving, so I tend to plan it to death:-) I’m going to work more on letting the energy lead me to the next natural step in the hopes of striking a balance. The remainder of your article was fascinating and I see applications for older students.
In the future, I would be particularly interested in any advice you have for teaching tap to preschool children.
Karin, I want to say thanks for your thoughtful and reflective comment. I, too am not a highly experienced tap dancer but have taught a lot of young ones. Though tap skills are very basic at this age, the emphasis on listening and musicality are serving your students well, I think.
I also wanted to note that I also tend to be a planner. I think it’s incredibly helpful to have well-thought-out objectives and lesson plans with lots of activities for very young students. The key for me to avoid planning “to death” is the sensitivity you’ve spoken of. Do the prep work so that you CAN be flexible and feel out the temperature of the room… with confidence! I talk about this in a post called 12 Tips for Teaching Tots which you may have interest in. Thanks so much for reading!
Nichelle,
I’ve read your 12 Tips for Teaching Tots and found it to be very well-written, informative, and helpful. Keep up the great work you do here!
Karin, I love your preschool ideas, and I do many similar things. Here are a few other ideas that I use regularly:
– Use a lot of call and response with my kiddos. Clap out phrases that have words to them… “I like app-le-sauce”, then they clap it back to you in time.
– Playing clapping games like “Who Stole the Cookie” is a great friendship-builder, but it also has amazing benefits when it comes to keeping a beat internalized, trading improvisationally and more.
– “Shoebox” – I’m not sure from whom or where I borrowed this (Nichelle? Is this yours?). You say, “Shoebox” and they quickly put their feet in an imaginary shoebox and zip their lips. Works WONDERS for quieting a bunch of happy feet!
– Teaching silence. We do a great little drill to “Wahoo Hey I’m Combing My Hair” by the Wiggles, where the kids march for 8 counts, then freeze their feet and comb their hair for 8 counts. We’re very silly when we do it, combing a friend’s hair, messing up our own, curling it, washing it… YOU NAME IT! But they develop a great feel for the 2-bar phrase early on in their musical awareness.
I hope some of these are useful to you, Karin. Glad that the article was helpful!
Sarah 🙂
Sarah,
Thanks so much for the additional great ideas! This is off the topic, but . . . I think sharing is one of the most fabulous things about dance. As a teacher, my goal is not only to teach safe and proper technique, but also to immerse students in feeling the joy of music and movement. In my mind, there is no competition when it comes to teaching; we should all share as many ideas as possible to help all teachers find different methods for instilling the joy of dancing in our students. Dance also continues the tradition of handing down knowledge and skills to the next generation. This is lacking in so many other segments of our world.