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The development of tapdance
Tapdance, lindy-hop… from the beginnings
It was only in 1928 that the word first appeared in print but its roots lead back to as far as the times of slavery. In America, the slave holders discovered that Blacks were able to communicate with each other from the distance with the help of their drums, whose beats served as a kind of code. The slaveholders’ fear from revolt lead to the prohibition of the use of drums and every kind of device that uttered a sound in their religious ceremonies in the whole area of the South. But Afro-Americans continued their traditions, changing the drums to the sound of their feet… Thus tapdance, which is a mixture of simple and complicated rhythms once served as a code for expressing thoughts, feelings.
In the 19th century the clog-dance of the Irish and English immigrants mixed with the steps of the Afro-Americans and this lead to the formation of what we call today „tapdance”. But the typical tapshoe with pieces of iron on its sole appeared only in the 1910’s.
More details here…
More details here... |
