Do you want to learn to tap dance?

By Karen

I have always wanted to learn to tap dance. I used to shuffle around my house and thought I was awesome, but I never took tap dance classes when I was young. When I got older, I occasionally looked into taking adult tap dance classes but they were always on the late side in the evening and I never signed up. 

But one day in August 2020, I saw that Jenna Fischer posted a picture of herself tap dancing at home on her new tap board and I thought that’s a great idea (side note: I’m a big fan of The Office and the Office Ladies podcast and love Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey). A quick search on line brought me to Beginner Dance Tutorials with Carrie Mitchell. She has free tutorials on YouTube.  I started with Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars. I didn’t even have tap shoes or a board, I just “tapped” in sneakers and on the carpet. The tutorial was really fun so I signed up for Carrie’s online classes. She only accepts new students a few times a year so I filled out a form on her website to be added to her mailing list (link below).

I started her class in the winter of 2021 and got some tap shoes (yea new shoes!) and a board (cause you do not want to ruin your floors with tap shoes). As expected, I loved it.  Not only is it fun but it feels good to have a new kind of physical and mental challenge. Learning both steps and choreography is great brain exercise. At the beginning I put a lot of work into learning each dance but over time it got easier and easier. And as I got more confident, I started to look for ways to advance my skills beyond Carrie’s classes.  

Online Classes and Tutorials

Carrie Mitchell: Carrie specializes in teaching adults and has beginner and advanced beginner classes. She is an amazing instructor. She moves slowly, explains everything really clearly, has a lot of repetition so that the steps and transitions sink in, and she is just the nicest person. Plus, her choreography is really fun (far from beginner boring) and I love her music choices. You can do the classes live, or they are available on demand the day after the class. She has two levels of memberships, one where you can take her classes live and have access to her on-demand library, and a second level where you just have access to her library. Live class membership is currently $34/ month. Sign up to join the waitlist for her beginner and advanced beginner classes with the Happy Tappers Club.

Free tutorials are available on her YouTube Channel, Beginner Dance Tutorials, where she has a wide range of dance tutorials, not just tap. She teaches simplified versions of  well known dances such as Thriller, All that Jazz (Chicago), My Shot (Hamilton), and dances from High School Musical, The Barbie movie, and many others. They are lots of fun. 

Jenne Vermes: After Carrie this is the person I have learned the most from. She has free tap dance tutorials on YouTube, with a new class most weeks. She also has short practice exercises to work on steps or combinations. While she teaches at a faster pace than Carrie, it’s still a pace I’m comfortable with. She teaches in-person classes in Fleming Island, FL.

Hillary-Marie: Another good place for beginners. She offers live classes for basic beginners, fast beginners, intermediate and advanced. She also has an extensive online library. I did her classes for a few weeks when she offered a sale for a limited time. I think she’s a great teacher but didn’t want to pay for two classes so I didn’t continue. Monthly membership is $49. She also has free content and tutorials on YouTube at Hillary-Marie Tap.

Nicole Messina Billow: Being able to do her choreography is my goal!  She has free tutorials on YouTube and there are so many that I love and hope to be able to perform some day. Her tapping is fast (even at the advanced beginner level) and she teaches fast. She teaches live in New Jersey/ New York City.  And she occasionally offers online classes currently for $15. Several months ago I did one of her advanced beginner classes. I put a lot of work into learning it and was really pleased with how I did. This was when I realized how far I’ve come.

Shelby Kaufman: She has tap step tutorials on YouTube. I have never seen her offer an online class which is unfortunate since I love her choreography and would love to take a class with her. She teaches in-person in New York City at Steps on Broadway.

In-person classes

If you are not lucky enough to live near some of the teachers I mentioned above, two good places to look for adult tap classes are local dance studios and senior centers. Where I live there are a few dance studios that offer them but as I mentioned they are generally at a time that is not convenient for me.  A nearby town has tap classes at their Senior Center and I may check that out at some point.

What you will need to start tapping

The two main items are tap dance shoes and a dance board.  You can get started without them but if you want the full experience, they are essential. 

Tap dance shoes

My first pair of tap shoes were from Capezio. I got the Fluid tap shoe which is a children’s shoe. I’m lucky in that I have small feet and can wear children’s sizes and the children’s shoes are much less expensive (children’s shoes are available up to size 4 ½ which is about a 6 ½ women’s). They are very light and comfortable and they are still the ones I wear the most. I think they are a good starter pair and not too expensive. The adult equivalent I believe would be the Tic Tap Toe shoe.  One thing I really like about Capezio is that they have wide widths. 

When I wanted a better pair of shoes I bought the Capezio Roxy. I can definitely hear the difference in the sound when I wear them but I don’t find them as comfortable (probably since I don’t wear them enough to break them in more).

Tap dance board

You have two options here. You can either buy a board that is already made, or you can make one yourself which is not hard to do. At first, I ordered a board online. You will see lots of choices on Amazon. Many of them look like wood but are actually plastic or vinyl tiles, many have a black border. I ordered one of these but I found it a little slippery and was scared of falling so didn’t use it.

Next, I decided to try and make a board myself. You can find many tutorials online, I think these are particularly good instructions. Basically, these are the steps to make one.

• Get plywood (e.g., from Lowes or Home Depot). I’ve read that maple, oak, or birch are the best types of wood to use. It should be at least ½’ inch thick and 3” x 3”. Those are the measurements I used for my first board. My current board is 4” by 3” and ¾” thick. it’s nice to have the extra room and thickness but it is on the heavy side. 
• Cut foam rubber puzzle pieces and glue them (e.g. with gorilla glue) to the back of the board. This is called a sprung board and helps protects your joints if you are tapping on hard surfaces. I never did this step since I use my board on carpet and so far I haven’t had any trouble.
• Put a few coats of polyurethane on the top of the board. 

Buying a good board

After a while I treated myself to the Dot2Tap board which a lot of tappers I follow on Instagram recommend. I got the 32” maple travel tap board and just love it. I definitely can hear the difference in the sound when I use it but it is pricier than a home made board. Another board I see recommended a lot is from O’Mara though it is expensive. Many tap dancers have discount codes for these boards so check these out if you want to buy a good board.

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