The Beginnings of Tap
Tipping Point Theatre Company is in the midst of the world premiere of “The Baxter Sisters” by Kim Carney. This play is a fictional story based on the lives of the Butler Sisters of Lansing, Michigan. In their prime the Butler Sisters were known as a fierce tap dancing trio who would perform all over the state of Michigan during the mid 20th Century. As they danced around the state the love of tap also was on a steady rise around the country. Though tap dancing was not a new trend by this time, it was starting to find its way into the homes of the average American.
Tap dance originated in the 19th century in America. It is a highly stylized dance genre that is the product of Irish and African dance traditions. During slavery in America, slaveowners would ban their slaves from using percussive instruments, like drums, to ensure that slaves were not using the rhythms as a form of secret communication. The banning of drums around plantations made the slaves get innovative, and through that innovation, they created a new dance style. American slaves began to physicalize those rhythms that they had carried over through the Middle Passage. This dancing artform was a way of preserving their tradition of rhythm.
Gregory Hines tappity-tap-tapping in the Broadway musical “Comin’ Uptown” in 1979.
In the early days of tap dancing, performers used wooden-soled shoes which would occasionally have pennies attached to the toe and heel. This technology allowed for crisp and clear sounds from the movement put together by the dancer. Tapping began to rise in popularity during the Civil War in the United States. Minstrel shows, which were created to belittle and misrepresent African American culture, made tap dancing famous. White performers painted in Black face would tap and sing songs imitating Black people. This trend became an American entertainment craze.
By the beginning of the 20th-century people across the nation, just like the Butler Sisters, began taking up tap dancing and the birth of jazz music gave tap its perfect partner. Together, with out of syncopation rhythms and improvisation, the playful ‘banter’ they created became an American favorite. Artists like Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Clayton “Peg Leg” Bates, Jeni Le Gon, and The Nicholas Brothers made tap dancing a staple during the Harlem Renaissance, an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics, and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. This time of American History allowed Black artists to reclaim this cultural art form, and bring it into the new age of American entertainment.
Emma Stone & Ryan Gosling in La La Land.
Today, tap dancing is a widely studied dance genre that has worked its way into many different entertainment outlets. The cultural impact of tap dancing can be seen on Broadway, in Major Blockbuster Films, in music videos, and much more. People have taken this art form of rhythm and expression and made it an international dance technique essential.
Now that you know all about the history of tap, come join The Baxter Sisters on their tap dancing journey now through April 24th at Tipping Point Theatre. Their story of sisterhood and resilience will leave your heart full and maybe even inspire you to learn a tap move or two.
The Baxter Sisters, Tipping Point Theatre 2022. (Left to right: Erin Gall, Anne Marie Damman, Claire Jolliffe & Katherine Banks)
