Advanced Tap Dance Lessons

Summary: The rhythmic foot stomping we call tap dancing emerged in the 1830s from a blend of cultures in Manhattan’s original melting pot, the Five Points neighborhood (recently depicted in Scorsese’s film Gangs of New York.) Essentially a blend of African shuffle and Irish jig, tap dance became extremely popular in the first half of the 20th century. The metal plates attached to the bottom of the dancer’s shoes create a percussive rhythm which could either accompany music, or be used as an instrument itself. A recent resurgence of tap enthusiasm came in the 1990s with the infusion of new dancers, such as Savion Glover, who began to incorporate a more personal style into their performances, and essentially made tap dancing cool again.

In this free video clip series our expert, Sarah McLellan, walks you through the basic steps of advanced tap dancing. Each step is explained from beginning to end in detail so you'll never feel lost or left behind. Lessons include trebles, pull backs, wings, turns, combination shuffle moves, and much more. So watch these free dance videos and take your dancing to the next level!