Anyone who danced as a child will know the simultaneous nerves and excitement of putting on a performance. Even if you were simply showing your parents what you learnt, the pressure would mount and you’d suddenly feel terrified of forgetting your routine.
That’s why it’s all the more impressive when a group of dancers manages to pull off an exceptional performance in front of a large crowd with no hint of nerves at all. In one video shared to YouTube, a group of 11 and 12-year-old girls showed us exactly how it’s done with their energetic tap dancing routine.
The girls are members of New Jersey’s “In The Spotlight” dance studio, which offers classes for tap, jazz, ballet, contemporary and hip-hop. They’ve clearly practised with a good choreographer, as proven from the moment the music kicks in.
As the opening chords of Stevie Wonder and Ariana Grande’s “Faith” start to play, the girls, wearing dazzling blue leotards and black jackets, stand in a line with their heads down.
In an instant, one girl lifts her head and starts tapping her foot on the floor. The next minute, the rest of the girls have lifted their heads too, and the group springs to life.
Tap dancers wear “taps” screwed to the bottom of their shoes, which allows them to tap out a rhythmic beat on the floor as they dance. In this way, they play a role in the percussion of a song, giving it extra depth while providing a highly entertaining performance at the same time.
The performing girls are incredibly quick on their feet, giving us an impressive show that works in perfect accompaniment to their backing track. They move their whole bodies with their tapping, incorporating spins, body rolls and gestures with their arms to give their moves plenty of character.
Tap sometimes has a reputation for being a “safe” style of dance, but these girls are here to prove otherwise. With their fun choreography full of twists, jumps and claps, they show us just how edgy tap can be.
It’s hard to connect this form of tap to the tap that first emerged in the US in the early 19th century. Tap was formed in combination with clogging, a popular dance in the British Isles at the time.
Back then, tap shoes had wooden soles which often had pennies attached to their heels and toes for extra percussion. Modern tap is much more experimental, and there is now a whole tap encyclopedia full of moves that dancers across the world learn.
During their routine, the seven performers move around the stage seamlessly, never faltering or messing up a move. It must have taken weeks of practice to reach the stage where they knew their routine so perfectly that they were able to perform it with complete ease and enjoyment.
There is almost a street dance element in some of the girls’ moves, especially when they roll their chests and stamp their feet with bent knees. The fact that this isn’t a typical tap performance only serves to make it more enjoyable to watch.
It’s obvious that the girls love their choreography almost as much as the audience. They perform the dance even with their facial expressions, and at one point, they pause to join in with Stevie Wonder’s: “I meant you – hallelujah!” drawing a cheer from the crowd.
They definitely have the whole audience on their side, and this is a video that deserves many more views on YouTube.
To see the flawless tap performance for yourself, just press play on the video below!
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