Tap Dance

Tap dance is a dance that makes music with your feet. Dancers wear special shoes with metal plates on the bottom. When they tap the floor, the shoes click and clack. The feet become a musical instrument!

How It Started

Tap dance grew in America over 150 years ago. It mixed African dances with Irish and English step dances. It became very popular in shows and movies. Today it is danced all around the world.

A smiling tap dancer holding a prize for his amazing dance skills.
A smiling tap dancer holding a prize for his amazing dance skills. (Joseph T.Wilson / Wikimedia Commons)

Famous Tap Dancers

Bill Bojangles Robinson was one of the first famous tap dancers. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers tapped in many old movies. Gregory Hines kept tap dance popular in the 1980s. Kids today still learn tap in dance schools.

Fun Facts

  • Tap shoes have metal pieces called taps on the toe and heel.
  • Tap dancers can make over a dozen different sounds with their feet.
  • May 25 is National Tap Dance Day in the United States.

Did You Know?

A tap dancer named Savion Glover is known for a style called hitting, where each step makes a strong, loud beat like a drum.