I write on the eve of National Tap Dance Day. As a 14-year student of Tap Dance and a teacher for nine, I consider myself both a fan and advocate of Tap. I have had the opportunity to work as both a musical soloist, and ensemble tapper, as a musician and as a dancer. I feel lucky to have studied with some true Tap Masters, including Brenda Buffalino and Portland's own Terry Brock. In writing this article I hope to give the reader an idea of where Tap came from, what Tap is today, and how to go about getting some tap dance into your life.

Tap Dance is one of the few forms of expression in which the artist has the potential to communicate broadly both rhythmically and physically. Not to discount marching bands, belly dancing or choreographed sword fighting, but to me, Tap offers the broadest palette of combined kinetic and rhythmic options. Tap Dancing can explode all over the stage or groove on a surface no bigger than a suitcase on its side. It can slide, rumble, lean, whisper, leap, slap and spin. Tap is iconic, and yet, it repeatedly changes form, absorbing cultural influences and spawning new vocabulary.

Like its cousin, Jazz Music, Tap Dance is an American child of immigrant parents from wildly differing backgrounds. It sprung to life from different peoples, most all the poorest of the working poor. The mining camps of Appalachia are credited as the birthplace of modern Tap, where African and European miners (Irish and Dutch among them) first came into contact. There, the cadences of African boot dancing were answered by the wooden-soled clogging of the white immigrants.

Shoe music from around the world came to America with immigrants and met in honky-tonks, gin joints, and community dances. Leather shoes on a sandy floor gave way to metal taps used to lengthen the lives of shoe soles and boot heels. Later Tap would resurface on turn-of-the-century New York streets as performance art and entertainment. "Flik and Flack" were known for Tap Dancing barefoot on the corner, using bottle caps held skillfully in the toes and sunk deep into callused heels. Others would strut their stuff on a tabletop or piece of sheet metal with their brother or brothers and sisters. Some did "Eclectic Dancing" or "Rubberlegging," ancestors of break dancing and up rocking and everybody did it for whatever cash they could get.

Eventually some of these performers were lucky enough to find traveling shows at the right time, and a lot of people in America were exposed to tap dancing through both these shows and their offspring: Vaudeville. Tap became a skill people wanted to see and study. It eventually experienced the height of its public popularity in Hollywood, with the help of Ginger Rodgers, Fred Astaire, The Nicholas Brothers, Gene Kelly, and Donald O'Connor to name only a few.

Tap lost significant public popularity following the last of the big studio musicals, though in many places it never died. Because Tap has proven to be an activity that can be done well into old age, many masters have been able to invent and pass on valuable tap history and steps to their younger admirers into their 90s. One recipient of this history is the young Tap Master, Savion Glover, the most publicly celebrated tap dancer since the late Gregory Hines. Much has been written about Glover – suffice it to say: he made it possible for people to see that Tap Dance can still be reinvented and given new life. In opening up his style to include hip-hop, story telling and tap history, Mr. Glover continues to make significant contributions to the history and future of Tap.

Currently there are different styles of Tap in practice all over the world. Some styles are based on a musical or rhythmic focus, while others explore the limits of the body. Konstantin Nevertdinov, using his own specially designed "hand shoes, is known for Tap Dancing on his hands as well as his feet. Portland local, Shoehorn, is at the other end of the spectrum, infusing his style with broad musical influences as he simultaneously plays horn(s), tap dances and leads a band. Other styles include "Flash" tapping (utilizing acrobatics and big energy), "Classic" tapping, which draws inspiration from Tap's past and a sort of New Wave of hybrid forms and ideas, continually in genesis.

Portland was once a Tap Mecca, with the city hosting a popular annual International Tap Festival. Though Portland continues to be a place where Tap is loved and learned, the larger Tap community is somewhat fragmented. As a local Tap instructor and enthusiast, I call on anyone with a pair of shoes to find a place to tap and go do it. Here are some suggestions:

"Breakfast Of Champions," a monthly event on Sundays at Holocene. All dancing styles welcome and with good DJs (21 and over): 1001 SE Morrison; tel: 239-7639

The Facilitated Tap Jam and Rhythm Exchange at Echo Theatre (1515 SE 37th). Saturday, June 26 from 6-8 ($5) Contact Aaron @ 503-513-9505.

...and there's always the Kitchen Linoleum...Yeah, the linoleum!

If you don't have a pair of tap shoes, you can still try out Tap Dancing today! Do this: Start with a pair of rubber-soled shoes. Stick flat thumbtacks into the sole of your shoe from where the ball of your boot sits up to the toe, and the back two inches of your heel. About 12 to 30 per shoe should do it. You don't need to cover the surface with tacks. An even distribution over the surface works. Find a hard surface you can tap on and start swinging your leg from the knee. Try making alternating sounds with your toe and heel. To learn Tap Dancing here are some essentials:

1. Loosen your ankles.

2. Articulate your feet.

2. Be able to move your weight from leg to leg and in all directions.

3. Practice.

Aaron Wheeler-Kay is a local Tap Dancer and teacher – recipient of a Dance Coalition of Oregon 2003 Choreographers Grant.