Dancers are no strangers to multi-hyphenate careers. But a tap-dancing acupuncturist remains a rarity. April Nieves is not only the assistant director of the Boston-based tap company Subject: Matter, she is also a licensed acupuncturist, herbalist and founder of The Sunny Side: Acupuncture and Healing Arts in New York City. One of the eight branches […]

From Riverdance to HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire,” tap dancer DeWitt Fleming Jr. has proved to be a triple threat on the stage and screen. He’s also an entrepreneur, selling his own line of wireless microphones, DeW It Right Tap Mics. Last year, he added “composer” to his resumé with the release of Sax and Taps INTERSPLOSION!, […]

With #SocialDisDancing still very much in place, it’s a challenge for dance partners to perform safely, and even harder to perform safely together. But Broadway’s Cory Lingner may have found the solution—on TikTok. He’s using the app to tap alongside some of the most iconic movie stars, including Gene Kelly, Gregory Hines, Ann Miller and […]

Savion Glover is one of the biggest names in the dance world, and perhaps the biggest in the tap world. The trailblazing hoofer’s hard-hitting, rhythmically intricate style has fundamentally altered the tap landscape. Glover is also a master teacher. But during his many years on the scene, he’s never appeared regularly at a major dance […]

While tapping to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, Dario Natarelli finds a way to make something we have all heard before sound new. His choreography alternately matches the rhythmic cadence of King’s words and honors the meaningful pauses between them. Watching the masterful control he has over his footwork and dynamics, […]

Perhaps the most precious tradition in tap dance is honoring the elders, reflecting a belief that dancers cannot tap a sound without re-sounding the steps of the masters. This show of gratitude is not nostalgic but regenerative: the practice of realizing the future from the past while making one’s own inscription on the tradition. And […]

Every summer Tap City gives New Yorkers a week of classes, events and awards culminating in “Rhythm in Motion.” This year the showcase, on July 11, has gathered star tappers—and not only tappers—in a mix of tradition and innovation. Chloe Arnold’s new group Apartment 33 (her previous group, Syncopated Ladies, went viral) as well as […]

In 1989, Congress passed a resolution naming May 25—the birthday of tap legend Bill “Bojangles” Robinson—as National Tap Dance Day, and it has been celebrated annually on that date ever since. For years, the May issue of Dance Magazine featured a tap dancer on its cover to coincide with the holiday and highlight the form. […]