TUTORIAL: BASIC TAP

 

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Dancer in video: Jennifer Bratt
Comme il Faut shoes available here at MalevaShoes.com


A small tap is one of the easiest and most basic embellishments, and is a nice way for the lady to mark and express the upbeat in rhythmic music while the leader is leading a step on the whole beat ('slow'). A tap can be done in the middle of virtually any step - back, side, forward, ochos, even boleos!

At the mid-point of the step, as your free foot passes your standing foot, tap your free foot against the ground. Do it with a totally pointed foot, with just the tip-top of your toes or the front edge of your shoe. 


Taps should be done strongly with the emphasis down into the ground, to show the music. Your steps should be soft, the embellishments should be a bit violent!

If you are going backwards, be sure that after you tap you keep stretching your leg back straight into the next step. Do not undercut yourself and step shorter than the leader. 

 


Variations


Foot Placement:


-Tap right next to the standing foot.
-Tap slightly to the side of the standing foot, with the knees still close together and the free leg slightly flexed and angled out from the knee down.
-When going forward, tap behind.


Tempo:

Count each beat as '1,2,3,4' with '1' being the downbeat, and '3' being the upbeat. Tapping half-way through the beat on the upbeat is the easiest and most common. Challenge yourself to try all the rhythmic combinations:

Combinations with 1 tap (step, tap, step)

'1-3-1'
'1,2--1'
'1--4,1'

Combinations with 2 taps (step, tap, tap, step)
'1,2,3-1'
'1-3,4,1'
'1,2-4,1'

Combinations with 3 taps (step, tap, tap, tap, step) - very fast!
'1,2,3,4'

 


Exercises for Home

 

-Walk forward and back towards and away from a mirror, with music, practicing the tap.

-Do a simple box step. Add a tap in between each step. Try it with tango music and then with milonga!

-If you have space, walk backwards either counter-clockwise around a room or down a hallway with no obstacles, practicing the tap and making sure doing the tap does not make you change your proper posture and technique of taking back steps. Try it to slow music and to faster music. See how the music you are listening to might inform the movement your body produces. 

 

 


This video illustrates tapping on the '3' or the upbeat (halfway through the beat). Count '1-2-3-4' for each beat. ('1' being the downbeat, '3' being the upbeat or exact middle, and '2' and '4' being the synchopated accents in between). It is not a synchopated embellishment, as it happens on an even division of the beat.


This tap is demonstrated during back ochos, as well as walking forward and back. Keep in mind that this embellishment can be done during any step with the 'slow' rhythm (stepping just on the downbeat or '1').

This video illustrates taps during forward steps (forward ochos here).