Tap dancers must stretch before every performance, rehearsal or class. Tap dancers usually take lessons at studios. When tap dancers know a lot of steps and routines, the teacher might have a recital for the individual dancer or for the class. Tap dancers should practice every day, no matter what. Other Tap Facts Tap skills are used in plays, films, and musicals.
Tappers perform classic tap smoothly moving their hands and arms.
Hoofers focus on percussive footwork with little upper body movements using their shoes to make drum-like sounds. Soft-shoe dancers don't have metal taps. They have leather shoes that make shushing rhythm and slower style of tap. Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Ann Miller, and Debbie Reynolds all helped make tap popular in movies in the 20th century. Savion Glover is a famous tap dancer of the 1990s.