Tap Steps
Famous Historical Tappers
Musicality Terms
Famous Contemporary Tappers
Tap Movies/Musicals
100

A step having two sounds: a brush and a spank.

What is a shuffle?

100

A tap and ballroom dancer known for his elegant style; he appeared in many films with his partner, Ginger Rogers.

Who is Fred Astaire?

100

The speed of a piece of music.

What is tempo?

100

The founder of Syncopated Ladies, a female tap dance band.

Who is Chloe Arnold?

100

An animated movie starring Mumbles, a penguin that couldn't sing but was a pretty good tap dancer.

What is Happy Feet?

200

A step having four sounds: heel dig, spank, step, heel.

What is a paradiddle (or paddle and roll)?

200

An African-American tap dancer who brought tap more on its toes; he often danced with Shirley Temple.

Who is Bill "Bojangles" Robinson?

200

A rhythm playing three notes in the space of two.

What is a triplet?

200

A tapper who is a choreographer for So You Think You Can Dance and is the founding member of Operation Tap.

Who is Anthony Morigerato?

200

A movie and musical in which Peggy Sawyer, a small-town girl, dreams of tapping her way to Broadway stardom.

What is 42nd Street?

300

A step that can be done in place or turning, made up of the movements: step, shuffle, jump, toe-tip.

What is a Maxi (Maxie) Ford?

300

A team of tap-dancing brothers who performed a highly acrobatic technique known as "flash dancing."

Who are the Nicholas Brothers (Fayard and Harold Nicholas)?

300

The pattern or arrangement of musical beats and silence.

What is rhythm?

300

A child prodigy who starred in The Tap Dance Kid on Broadway and won a Tony Award for Best Choreography for Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk.

Who is Savion Glover?

300

A 1952 film starring Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor.

What is Singing In the Rain?

400

A step historically used to set tempo that repeats for several measures; the basic step is a stomp, hop, step, flap, step.

What is a timestep?

400

A tapper known as the "Queen of Tap Dancing" on the silver screen; she starred in several movies during the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Who is Eleanor Powell?

400

A rhythm that gives unequal weight to beats of the same value; "stressing the upbeat." Often thought of as more laid back.

What is swing rhythm?

400

A performer who was in over 40 movies, including White Nights with Mikhail Baryshnikov.

Who is Gregory Hines?

400

A 1935 movie that starred Shirley Temple and Bill Robinson and he taught her a new way to go up the stairs.

What is The Little Colonel?

500

A step having six sounds: step, spank, heel drop, shuffle, heel drop.

What is a Cincinnati?

500

A tapper who danced primarily with his brothers and created rudiments that are still practiced and considered mandatory by most dancers today.

Who is Steve Condos?

500

Accenting a note or notes that wouldn't normally be accented; rhythmic stresses or accents on the "off beat."

What is syncopation?

500

A tapper known for her youthful, powerful energy and fast footwork. She is a 2015 MacArthur Fellow and has her own tap company.

Who is Michelle Dorrance?

500

A 1943 film that featured many famous tappers, most notably the Nicholas Brothers, performing what many consider the greatest musical dance number ever filmed.

What is Stormy Weather?

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