...In Wondering Where All The Tap Dancers Have Gone?

[Mysterian]

When I was younger, so much younger than today, they were everywhere. You couldn't switch on the telly without seeing one. Roy Castle, Lionel Blair, Bonny Langford etc. Everywhere. No light entertainment show was complete without tappy-tappy-tappy-tappy at some point. And Brucie would do his bit. And The Roly-Polys.

It's all ballroom now. What happened to them all?

Here's Carl Barat tapping. Adorable. I miss my tap class. I miss Libertines.

@Carycy

Thinking about it there is no kids tap dancing about. Don’t see much “modern” either as it was described when I did dance lessons. My kids dance place offers lyrical, street dance, ballet, ballroom and cheer dance. It’s the beginning of the end for tap I fear.

Must depend where you are. My DC's dance class is ballet, tap and modern and this is what the other local dance class offers too.

Only today inread a 'news story' about Hugh Jackman tapping. He was practicing for something.

So maybe we're about to witness The Great Tap Resurgence of 2021?

(inread = I read)

There was one of those talent dance shows - Got to Dance - with Adam Garcia as a judge. He’s a tap dancer.

And check out the Syncopated Ladies

[quote FatOaf]Don't go looking for anything worthwhile on television. A quick web search showed up plenty of contemporary tap dance shows. If you want to watch on screen, look out classic movies like Stormy Weather, with the most incredible routine by the Nicholas Brothers: .[/quote]
Omg fatoaf that clip is perfect. But watch it again and watch the trombone player on the right.

He's obviously had several kicks to the head during rehearsals and isn't going to have another one!

They exis in the Uni where I work. They have discovered that the opened-out central area of my corridor makes a wonderful taping noise and now unofficially practice there whenever they can find an opportunity!

The first time I heard them I wandered down the corridor to find out what the noise was and although they shouldn't have been there they were having so much fun that I didn't have the heart to stop them but I did warn them that other staff may move them on. They never have been moved on and we are used to it now but I think they get a bit of a kick out of tapping somewhere that they shouldn't be!

Have you ever watched So You Think You Can Dance? It’s like X Factor for dancers. One of the contestants was a tap dancer who was wonderful….Matt Flint. He went on to win the whole competition and is now a choreographer on BBC for Strictly etc.
I haven’t seen a really good tap dancer since.

@Carycy

Thinking about it there is no kids tap dancing about. Don’t see much “modern” either as it was described when I did dance lessons. My kids dance place offers lyrical, street dance, ballet, ballroom and cheer dance. It’s the beginning of the end for tap I fear.

Plenty of tap and modern in this house, 😊both are popular at DC's dance school...as well as ballet & street. (...not much contemporary which I'm glad about!)

Maybe they’ve all fallen in the sink?

There is an adult tap class at our local ballet school and they always dance in the annual show.

I suppose you could also say where are all the big bands? I miss them both!

YANBU Op. Tap is one of my favourite dance forms.

A thread about tap dance is long overdue. ....dd, 12 is a tap dancer! I love an old hollywood film with a tap dance in

There's a tap routine in one of the episodes of Ginny and Georgia on Netflix. When I saw it I thought the same!

In Crazy Ex-Girlfriend there is a brilliant tap scene with Santino Fontana & Vincent Rodriguez called 'We Tapped That Ass'. They are dancing all over the leading lady's apartment.

Best line is before their finale - 'don't finish on my chest!'

I came across this a few days ago. Dule Hill, who played Charlie in the West Wing, is a tap dancer. This is his son.
twitter.com/dulehill/status/1323370352836112384?s=21

Ann Miller...One of the greatest dancers

Tap dancing is dull to watch. Always has been. Perhaps technically impressive but tedious.

I could watch a matthew Bourne ballet all day though.

Anything goes opens at the Barbican soon, full of old fashioned tap numbers.

I bloody love a good Hollywood tap routine. The Nicholas Brothers, Ann Murray - even Jimmy Cagney!

Watch this!

Doh! I meant Anne Miller!

Here’s a video of her absolutely KILLING it to make up for my error.

DD does a dance class - ballet, tap and modern. Has done since she was about 4. There are still a lot of tappers out there.

But it is very unfashionable. I suppose all the professional tappers are working on musicals like 42nd Street in normal, non-covid times.

@Rosewood017

It seemed to fade out when Michael Flatley came on the scene, dropped the arms and called it Riverdance!

Know what you mean, I used to love a good musical number when they would break into a tap dance. Always wondered how they strolled around the stage beforehand without making tappy noises!

Fantastic dismissal of the entire history of Irish dancing there, well done. Never mind that Irish dancing has been performed for hundreds of years

DD does tap as well as modern and ballet. Its yet another thing for my mother to be irrationally opposed to; she dislikes tap dancing so she doesn't think anyone else should like it.

Just me that's been stuck with an earworm from the first sentence of the OP?