There is something uplifting about rhythmic noise. But there’s more to the prevailing popularity of tap dancing than that, half a century after Gene Kelly danced his way through those big, splashing puddles and into the hearts of millions.
The percussive footwork, the precisely timed movements and complex rhythmic patterns of tap dance draws you in and leaves you agog. Although the cute factor of the poor little tap dancing penguin of Happy Feet must have helped too.
May 29th will see tap dancing take center stage in the Budapest Puppet Theater, with the 5th National Tap Dance Festival coming to town, bringing together the amateur and the renowned, old and young, all united by their passion for clicking shoes. Dance ensembles and duos, including European and world champions, will kick up dust clouds presenting classic and unconventional tap performances, while showing off their outstanding rhythmic skills. The thought of two hours of click clacking might be off-putting for some, so other dance styles will also be present, such as balboa and Rock’n’Roll.
“We’d like to show the interested or curious what makes this art form so enjoyable and colorful,” says Árpád Pirovits, the tap dance teacher, performer and choreographer behind the festival, whose love affair with tap dancing started at the age of 11 after seeing a poster advertising dance classes. Since then, he has studied in New York at the Broadway Dance Center, taken part in the Los Angeles Tap Festival, traveled the globe as a lead dancer with the Fire of Dance tour, become an established choreographer and last year he bagged gold medal at the world championships. “We’d also like to serve as something of a catalyst for change in the Hungarian tap dance scene,” he adds. “Dancers come and show the others what they know, while also learning a trick or two from each other.”
As ever, the event is set to coincide (well, almost) with American National Tap Dance Day on the 25th that marks the birthday of legendary tap pioneer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. In the US, the day was even signed into law by the elder President George Bush in 1989 to honor tapping as a truly American art form and hence, a national treasure.
“Unlike in its birthplace, tap dancing unfortunately lacks cultural background and educational infrastructure in Hungary,” explains Árpád. Having seized power after World War II, the Communists were quick to put tap on the black list alongside jazz and swing, labeling them potentially bad influences and powerful transmitters of Western ideology. Tap dancing was only kept alive informally, with actors passing the few movements they knew on to others. The breakthrough came when the Iron Curtain fell, in the form of an American hoofer, Tommy Sutton, who was soon followed by others, such as Chazz Young and Chester Whitmore. This year’s festival also serves as a big ‘thank you’ to them.
Despite the changes in the past two decades, most Hungarians only know tap dance from Hollywood flicks and therefore, they expect tap dancers “to come up with Fred Astaire-like moves”. Which are actually impossible to reproduce on stage. “The problem is that when filming, Astaire was wearing soft shoes – no metal plates, that is – so that he could dance in an easygoing and yet very elegant way. That’s right, the sound of chattering shoes was recorded separately. Cheating, you say?” he grins. “Astaire was a genius, no question about that. But wearing tap shoes, you simply can’t move the way he did because of the metal hooves. And if you’re wearing soft shoes on stage, no one will hear you.”
On the other hand, people nowadays seem to be more open to percussive rhythm on stage. “Michael Flatley, alongside Stomp’s percussive comedy and drum ensembles like Yamato, heated up interest in tap dancing too. A lot of Hungarians still can’t tell the difference between Irish step dance and tap dance though,” Árpád explains. “Both use the sound of hard shoes clicking against the floor, right? Then same difference,” he smiles.
So how long does it take to learn the ropes? “As you have to perform many movements that are unnatural for your body, the learning process, especially in the first months, is pretty slow and there are no spectacular results to impress your granny with,” says the dance teacher. “Patience and perseverance are the essential ingredients. Your sense of rhythm can be improved with training. Basically tap is like learning to walk again. You have four metal taps screwed on to the toes and heels of the shoes, so you have to know exactly where to put your weight and when.”
“But there are many advantages of tap dancing and many beautiful things about it,” says Árpád with an encouraging smile. “You don’t need a partner and you can do it anytime, anywhere. Basically you can tap to any kind of music, from Prokofiev to thrash metal. In fact, since your feet and body are the most important musical instruments, you can also dance without any music if you like.” There’s no age limit either – according to Árpád, the best tap-dancers are actually in their eighties!
The book My Shoes Are My Instrument is being published as part of, and will be presented at the 5th National Tap Dance Festival.
5th National Tap Dance Festival – May 29th at 4 p.m.
Budapest Puppet Theater
1062 Budapest, Andrássy út 69.
Tel.: +36.1.321.5200
Tickets are available at the venue and at the Oktogon Tánccentrum/Oktogon Dance Center (1062 Bp., Aradi u. 1., Tel.: +36.1.302.3434)