Tap Dance Is American Fun And Improves Grades—Especially Math.
Tap Dance Class: Learn How To Tap Dance, Ages 3 To Adult
Tap dance is musical, rhythmic and one of the most fun types of dance for ages 3 to adult!
Tap dancing increases balance and foot coordination and brain power. Therefore, if you want to learn to dance, and not sure of which dance style to begin with, consider tap dance.
And Christine Rich Studio Dance Academy, in part, a tap dance studio, will definitely teach you how to tap dance. We’ve been offering tap dancing for beginners for over three decades!
Studies have shown that tap dance students get great grades in math due to the left-brain nature of tap dance and progressive tap step building which requires constant balancing of the right and left hemispheres of the brain.
We know that almost all of our tap students are top ranked nationally in math and we have one tap kid that was plucked at age 13 to go to a special math and science boarding school for extremely gifted math students—the kids that top software and research companies woo.
We have our Fairy Tale Ballet & Tap class starting at age 3. We have beginning tap classes for youth and adult all the way through advanced tap lessons. Some semesters we even have adult tap dance classes.
Like all dancing, tap dance classes are for both males and females and geared at the beginning tap levels to teach tap students how to tap dance clearly and confidently.
Tap dance routines in tap dance class train young future athletes exceptionally well for football, soccer, and basketball due to the quick and coordinated footwork and foot speed gained from tap combinations, thus they are a popular class for boys.
The history of tap dancing is America and there are plenty of tap dance movies to prove it. Check out that list of tap dance movies with great tap dancers some rainy weekend and be amazed at what a powerful dance art form tap dance is.
America’s most famous tap dance child star is the 1930’s Shirley Temple. Click here to see her tap dancing because it is truly amazing display of tap moves on a 5 year old.
Everyone loves to watch even the littlest kids tap dancing. Sweet Shirley Temple was gifted beyond belief. At age 5 she could do advanced tap dance combinations, like “time steps” and dance as well as adult tap dancers like Ginger Rogers. Shirley Temple went on to become an International Ambassador as an adult woman. She, with Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, formed the first interracial dancing couple ever seen on film which was a rarity in that time period.
Of course at the other end of the tap dancing spectrum you have the amazing Gregory Hines tap dancing or the tap dancing brothers called the Nicholas Brothers.
Tap dancing’s musicality and precision are also beneficial to students interested in musical theater, Irish hard shoe dancing, cross-training in other dance styles, athletics, or even improving math grades!
If you are a tap dancer, check out this tap dance dictionary here.
Recital Tap Dances
At recital time in May, when family and friends gather to clap and celebrate the tap dance student’s talent, the tap dance costumes can range from being futuristic like you might see on So You Think You Can Dance, to more Broadway or vaudeville as you’d see on Dancing With The Stars, to for the young ones with an adorable animal themed costume as in chickens, mice, etc. No matter what, the tap dance costume are always exciting.
Tap dance lessons are done to both tap dance music (jazz, piano, and instrumental) and without music which is called dancing acapella.
The tap dance shoes have metal “plates” on the bottom of the tap shoe capable of making an orchestra of tap dance sounds. After tap dance basics are learned in tap dancing classes, the tap dancer can be quite impressive with the tap dance moves they do.
Once the tap dancers have mastered learning how to tap dance, the tap plates on the tap dancing shoes sound amazing. One plate has a more bass sound and the other plate has a higher pitched sound. In combination, those tap shoes and talented tap student can produce fascinating rhythms.
Having trained so many tap dance kids over the decades, the Christine Rich Studio Dance Academy have even had a mother and son take tap lessons together. In fact they even showed their tap dancer style at the son’s wedding in a mother-son tap dance.
We’ve known many of our students who do their 8th grade class report on tap dancing and tap dance history. With a few tap dance quotes and a few tap dance moves, it makes for an entertaining report and fellow classmates think the tap dance student is “cool.”
We also find our ballet students who have tap dance class excel with the musicality of ballet combinations.
TAP DANCE SHOES: We ask for the 6 and younger aged tap classes to use the Mary-Jane tap shoe for girls. For boys, or girls in classes aged 6 and older, we ask for an Oxford style lace-up tap dancing shoe.
If you go to our ENROLL NOW! tab you will see the current dress code listed in the Registration Documents list.
Tap shoes can be found at Austin’s in Champaign.
Tap shoes may be worn with a sock, sock liner or barefoot.
TAP DANCE CLOTHING: We ask students to wear dance pants that show the ankle (fitted shorts, Capri style, or rolled up jazz pants) and a leotard or solid color T-Shirt or a Christine Rich Studio Recital T-Shirt.
It’s ideal for long hair to be secured away from the face.
Hope that you have found this page about tap dance informative and inspiring.
Please click on ENROLL NOW! to sign up online and if it’s mid-semester call us at (217) 355-9265 for an opportunity to join late.
PRIVATE TAP DANCE LESSONS: Yes, we can put you with one of our tap dance instructors for your own personal one-on-one tap dance class. Inquire by phone (217) 355-9265 or by email to: admin@christinerichstudio.com
