Lemonade Now That’s Tap Clap and say these rhythms. (rhythms from Lemonade…) Some dance requires special shoes. For instance, ballet dancers wear slippers for silent, graceful movements. Tap dancers want their steps to be heard, so they wear tap shoes— shoes with metal attachments on the toes and heels. When tap dancing, dancers tap out rhythms with the heels and toes of their feet. Tap dancing is similar to more recent forms of dance, such as hip-hop, because tap first appeared on street corners. Tappers tried to perform better “moves” than other street-corner dancers.

Lemonade Now That’s Tap Clap and say these rhythms. (rhythms from Lemonade…) Tap dancing is a major part of Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk. This contemporary Broadway musical uses African American musical styles, including blues, jazz, R&B (rhythm and blues), hip-hop, and street drumming. The choreographer and main dancer of Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk was Savion Glover, and he received much acclaim for his unique tap dancing style in the show. Listen to “Now That’s Tap” and tap the steady beat with your toe.

Now That’s Tap Pat the rhythm below. Then speak the words in rhythm. 

Now That’s Tap When ties connect notes, the note values are joined, which can create accented rhythms that give an off-balance movement to the music called syncopation. Perform the syncopated rhythms by clapping and then speaking them.