Tap Dancers Dance Broadway Dancing Style Wear Make

In today's episode, "tap dancing" referred to the act of moving or speaking quickly, especially to distract or mislead someone. But "tap dancing" is also a style of dance where the dancers wear metal "taps" on the bottom of their shoes so that they can make "sharp" (loud and sudden) noises when their feet "strike" (hit) the floor, almost like a "percussion" (related to drums) instrument.

There are two major types of tap dancing: "Jazz tap" (also known as "rhythm tap") and "Broadway tap." Jazz tap focuses more on the "rhythm" (repetitive beats that mark the time and how fast or slow a song is). Jazz tap dancers "primarily" (mostly) use their legs and feet, and they don't do very much with their arms. "In contrast" (in a different way), Broadway tap dancers focus more on the dance movements and they use their arms and "torso" (upper body) to create interest and style while using their legs and feet to make noise. Many of the Broadway tap movements were "inspired" (influenced during creation) by ballet, and the female Broadway tap dancers often wear high-heeled shoes.

Tap dancers often dance "to music" (while music is playing), but sometimes they dance without music, especially in groups. Tap dancing groups have "elaborate" (detailed; fancy; complex) "choreography" (a plan for how dancers will move around or with each other). "There" (in that situation), the "challenge" (something that is difficult to do) is for all the dancers to keep the taps "in unison" (being heard at the same time).