Tap Dancing Basics

Mihaela Coman: Hi! And welcome to watchmojo.com. I am your host Mihaela Coman and today we are at the Conservatoire de Dance de Montréal. I'll be learning more about tap dancing. So I am here with... Tanya Rivard: Tanya Rivard. Mihaela Coman: Who is a professional tap dancer. I am just going to ask you few questions about how you started, I'd be interested to know why you choose tap dancing and at what age you started. Tanya Rivard: I started tap dancing when I was four. When I was three years old, my mom put me in Ballet, but it just didn't work for me. I wasn't too into ballet, so I want to take something where I could use more energy and make music. Mihaela Coman: Do you need any kind of dancing background to start or can anybody start dancing? Tanya Rivard: Anybody can start tap, like I teach people who are three-years-old, I have taught people who've come in their sixty five and they have never taken a dance class in their life. So it's really one of the best dances that if you can enjoy music and have rhythm then you can start. I am going to teach you, it's a step called the Shim Sham. It's from the dance called Henry Shim Sham. Host: And once you did tap dancing, is it easier for you to pick up other kinds of dances, if yes, which one? Tanya Rivard: Well, tap dancing since it's really based on music, it helps you with your musicality. So, the minute you go into any other dance class, teachers will notice, "Oh! She's really musical with the way she works." We're going to start with our foot up here, in a N position, and we are going to take our foot to the front and a brush, brush, drag, stop. Mihaela Coman: And what's the ideal age to start, though. Tanya Rivard: Brush, Drag, Stop. Well if you can't count, then you are lost, but the minute you can come to eight, you're fine. Brush, Drag, Stop. Mihaela Coman: Speaking of styles, is it easier to start with one style, what styles are there? Tanya Rivard: Broadway tap, which is really based on visual lines and being together, like if you think of the rockets and doing a kick line, that's Broadway tap, whereas Hooping is more based on music, making different rhythms with your feet. Mihaela Coman: Which one is easier to start with? Tanya Rivard: Well, you start with the beginner level, Brush Drag1, Brush Drag 2, Brush Drag 3, stop. Mihaela Coman: Do you have a final philosophy or something about tap dancing? Tanya Rivard: I think tap dancing is music first and dancing second. Over here we are musicians, we are vacationist, just making music and spreading our message with our feet. Can we show you with Henry shim sham looks like? Mihaela Coman: Yeah! Tanya Rivard: Go first. Here we go.