May 25th is
National Tap Dance Day!
Here is another Fun
Facts post for you:
This special day is a celebration of tap dancing as an American
Art Form. National Tap Dance Day was first presented to congress on September
15, 1988. They day became a law in 1989. National Tap Dance Day is also
celebrated in other countries such as Japan, Australia, India and Iceland. You
might be wondering why May 25 was selected as National Tap Dance Day. May 25
was chosen because it is the birthday of the famous Bill ‘Bo Jangles’ Robinson.
Bo Jangles was a significant contributor to tap dancing.
Tap dancing has the distinction of being a uniquely America
art form. Tap dancing originated as Juba, a kind of dance practiced by African
slaves. It melded with Irish dancing and continued to alter as it encountered
the influence of jazz dance. Before there were tap shoes, dancers wore soft
shoes or clogs.
I, personally, have a history of tap dancing, as do many
women of my generation. In 1932, I was three years old, when it seems that
every mother wanted her little darling to be Shirley Temple. So… I was whisked
off to a tap dancing class. I am sure I looked cute in my little dance costume
‘shuffling off to Buffalo’. I will bet you could ask any woman my age to show
you that dance step and she can still do the step, as can I.
By the age of seven, I had tapped my way out of a group
company and had private lessons. This became a problem when I had to be driven
into the city for my lessons. Every Sunday afternoon, the whole family would
pile into our Ford automobile to take ‘Sissy’ for a dance lesson. My brothers
were happy with this because they spent the hour of my lesson in a fancy
ice-cream parlor. Unfortunately, my dancing career ended after three months of me
throwing up on the ride home, with my brothers hanging their heads out of the
car windows, and my mother crying, “We’re almost home, Sissy.”
I still love to dance and I often dance for exercise, hoping
no one sees me. I will happily celebrate National Tap Dance Day on May 25.
Tap Dancing Website:
By Lois Jamieson
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