The Tap Dance Blog

This week I am teaching a short combination that features tap steps set to “Moment For Life” by Nicki Minaj.

Check out the combination and if you’d like to learn it, sign up below.

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photo credit: eflon

When I started taking tap classes in 1997, friends and family often asked me what my plans for tap were. That was a challenging question for me as I honestly had no plans for tap. I was just taking class because I enjoyed it…something in the rhythm called out to me.

I loved the sound of my tap shoes.

I loved the idea that I could dance and make music at the same time.

Love brought me to tap.

Many years have passed between those first classes and the launching of TapDanceMan.com but one thing is certain…by following what I was innately passionate about I was unwittingly setting off on the path of my destiny, the path of my passion – my life’s work.

Walking that path is not always easy. There is loneliness and aloneness here. Frustration and failure. Confusion.

There are even times when I want to give up…to divorce myself from the life in dance that I married at such a young age.

So what keeps me going?

It is the conviction that this is MY path – laid out for me by God. Also, it is the awareness that suffering is an unavoidable aspect of living; following your passion does nothing to change that. I’m reminded of a Zen proverb about “Enlightenment” that holds a similar truth:

Before Enlightenment, chop wood carry water, after Enlightenment, chop wood carry water.

You may be experiencing adversity on your journey right now – don’t automatically assume that it means you are heading in the wrong direction. If you are following your most honest truth in love, not fear, you are on the right road.

Hard times come. Period. Let them pass.

Don’t give up friends.

Keep pushing…

Keep fighting…

And I’ll continue to do the same.

Taps

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I bring you this news as quickly as it has come to me.

Jason Janas, tap dance phenom, is ill.

I don’t actually mean ill in the sense of the Physicians Desk Reference, I mean it in the sense of the Urban Dictionary which defines ill as:

Having great skill or skills with respect to a particular endeavor.

The symptoms of his condition are:

1. Incredible rhythms created with the feet.
2. Tap dance steps executed with the exceptional speed and clarity.
3. Awesome musicality & rhythm
4. Ferocious tap combinations

No diagnosis has yet been determined. Maybe you can help with that…just watch this video and submit your best guess about what he is suffering from, in the comments section below.

(Special thanks to Sarah Reich for sharing this video and to Jason Janas for performing it at the 2011 DC Tap Fest.)

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The Portable Tap Floor Blog just announced that you can now purchase the movie “Tap” (1989) in the store. If you haven’t seen this great film starring Gregory Hines, you should definitely consider picking it up now!

It’s a “must-own” for every tap dancer.

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photo credit: photosteve101

A new music recommendation was just posted to www.TapDanceSongs.com. Make sure you head over there and have a listen. I’m trying to make this a weekly occurrence so if you have a song that you think other tap dancers would enjoy, including myself, feel free to post it to the comments here or send it to me via email, Facebook, or Twitter.

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