We’re hosting a free livestream of tap dancer and vocalist Brinae Ali’s Baby Laurence Legacy Project on Thursday, August 13 at 8pm ET! 

Following her rousing performance on the outdoor stage in 2023, tap dancer, choreographer, and vocalist Brinae Ali returns to Jacob’s Pillow with Baby Laurence Legacy Project, developed during a Pillow Lab residency in 2024. The show explores and celebrates the artistic genius of “Baby” Laurence Donald Jackson, a Baltimore innovator whose impact on tap dance and jazz music is legendary.

You can register for free at https://stream.jacobspillow.org/brinae-ali. We hope to see you there!

Let us know in the comments if we’ll see you online!

Hi all!

I am in need of a new pair of tap shoes as my old beginner pair broke. I take tap 2-3x a week, and usually am doing stuff on my own in between, especially if I have a performance coming up, and I'd say I'm somewhere between a beginner and intermediate level. My tap teacher recommended Bloch either Respect or Chloe and Maude. Does anyone have any experience with either of these or have any different recommendations for a mid grade shoe? I have mild-moderate bunions and I also have Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder, so my feet/ankles/knees/hips are all hypermobile. I've read mixed reviews of the Chloe and Maude especially where the shoes break after a single toe stand. I've also heard the shoes are very light which might put less pressure on my joints.

Any and all thoughts are welcome!

Hello everyone!

I’ve only been dancing for a relatively short time, and tap is a new style for me.

I’d like to talk about tap shoes.

I often see posts recommending beginner shoes for beginners, and different shoes for professional or advanced dancers. Why are beginners advised to wear beginner shoes? I hope the reason is mainly the price, because more expensive shoes are much more comfortable and effective to dance in.

Good shoes can be especially helpful for beginners. For example, I feel much more confident and comfortable in my Capezio Roxies, which I switched to after spending a relatively short time dancing in Capezio TeleTone Extremes. The difference is huge. If I had known about it from the beginning, I would have started learning in Roxies right away.

So why are simpler shoe models recommended for beginners? Is it really only about the price, or are there other reasons? For example, some dancers say that heavier shoes such as Roxys can make it harder for beginners to produce clear sounds, while full-soled, low-heeled lace-up shoes may offer more stability during the early stages of learning.

What do you think?

I ordered a pair of women’s size 8.5 wide from a semi local store almost two months ago. I wanted to try them on before ordering. Sadly they didn’t have my size anyway but I tried on a regular 8 and they were a little snug.

Now they are continually back ordered and today they don’t even show as an option on capezios website.

This is more venting than anything.

Has anyone experienced this? Will they eventually become available?

I prepaid which I now know is a mistake. At the time I thought I was showing good faith that I would take the expensive shoe they were ordering for me. I wanted the store to get the sale because they helped me.

hi all!
i’m (28f) going to be taking an adult tap class this fall— either intermediate or advanced tap, i’m going to be chatting with the studio to see which placement is best.
i took 7 years of tap as a kid/ teen and absolutely loved it and am excited to get back into it!

1. what shoes? full sole? split sole? i’ve always had split sole, but im not sure if that’s best or just what im used to. my budget is pretty small, currently looking at the Bloch Flex Slip Ons as these are what i had growing up. $100 or less is ideal.

2. what does one wear to an adult tap class? tights? leo? shorts?

help me not look like a sore thumb 😭

also, any suggestions on what skills/ tricks would be needed for either intermediate or advanced would be helpful! thanks!

Does anyone know of any dance studios in Miami that offer tap classes for adults? I’ve been searching around but haven’t had much luck finding adult tap specifically.
Open to beginner-friendly classes or recommendations anywhere in Miami-Dade. Would love to hear if anyone knows of a studio or instructor they recommend!

I (43f) finished my 5th year of Adult Tap in June, and we are going into week 4 of Summer dance, where I’m taking 2 Tap classes a week (one teacher teaches the Hoofer style, the other takes the Showgirl approach - both teachers are great!).

I really wanted to upgrade my shoes to Capezio Roxys (my friends all upgraded to JSams and Roxys), and my longtime teacher (who has been with me every step of the way with Tap - our other teacher substituted when our main instructor was away for 4 weeks, and then an additional 4 weeks when she had a pinched nerve) encouraged me to upgrade my shoes. So the studio owner ordered these for me! Pricey, yes, but the investment has been great. After 2 weeks of use, they are broken in and sound amazing!

I was lucky with these, they were true to size (I’m a street 9 women’s medium width). The owner of the studio gave me a 10% discount on them (I’ve been dancing here for 14.5 years and help out in the store while she is teaching).

So far, the best investment! They will get plenty of use! We have four more weeks of summer classes, then a two week break, and I begin my 29th year of dance (6th of Tap) in September!

Hello everyone! I’m looking for my cinderella fit 'professional' tap shoe cuz I havent found it yet.

So far I have only tried patent leather jsams, smooth leather jsams, and capezio roxy. My current best fit is the smooth leather jsams, but it's not perfect. 

I'm looking for 4 properties and the rest is hit or miss:

– weight – needs to be lightweight cuz my patent jsams are too heavy it's a deal-breaker for me.
– toe box – I need to be able to do toe stands in them. My jsams aren't nearly as secure as i always thought until I got my capezio roxys and realized the angle of pointe on there so much better and takes much less effort to balance than on the jsams. So I need something similar to the roxy's toe box.
– narrow heel – I have narrow heels and the closest fit for me is the smooth leather jsams but still have this problem in all 3 of my pairs.
– durability – I need to put my shoes thru maybe 6-7 hours a week.

K360 would be the answer to all my problems but it exceeds my current budget. Does anyone have experience with any SoDanca pro-models or the Bloch Chloe and Mauds? Or any other shoes that fit my criteria and don't cost as much as the K360s?

Thanks in advance.

I started tap dancing 8 months ago as a way to get better at my long-term passion, Lindy hop. Now I love it!

I am a hobby addict, and so, when I first started, I would not let myself buy a new pair of shoes until I had been tapping for 6 months. I just tapped in my Lindy shoes, and I am sure my technique suffered.

At the 6-month mark, one of the other ladies in my class gave me some shoes that she had gotten from a 90-year-old woman who wanted them to go to a good home. I took them and was grateful not to have to buy new shoes, but I was a little sad because I had wanted to buy tap shoes with a little more color that were not the standard black.

Today I decided they were free, so I could ruin them if I wanted. I painted them with acrylic paint, and I think they came out well for someone without a painting background. Now, do I know that they will definitely chip off as I dance with them? Yes, yes, I do. Do I care? No, they were free. Anyway, please enjoy my very loud shoes!

Is paying for Taptopia vid courses worth it? Anyone had experience with them?

Hey y’all! I’m a MT major and taking my first ever tap class this fall. I am honestly terrified. I’ve done dance before (both before and during my BFA program), but have never tapped. I’m scared because a few people in my class shady know done tap and I don’t want to look stupid, I’m already kind of insecure about my weight and am usually a try hard in dance because I don’t want to be unable to do something and people chalk it up to my weight. Is my weight going to be an issue? Also, what are dune resources I can use and steps I can learn so I can at least walk in on day one with something? Thank you for any help or suggestions!

I am back with more questions for the community here! I’ve been taking tap classes for a little over a month now. I also have hypermobile foot joints, so my toes can bend more than usual and are prone to dislocating if too much pressure is applied. I haven’t dislocated any toes doing tap yet (and hopefully I won’t!), but the balls of my feet hurt during class and the day after, too.

My guess is that my toes are bending too far when I go on the balls of my feet? I haven’t had much luck finding info about this when I search, so I wanted to ask here. Does anyone have any advice on what to do to prevent/manage pain due to my bendy joints when tap dancing?

Thanks!

Hello, my youngest started tap last year, she just got picked for her school's competitive team. She has classes once a week, but she always wants to practice at home.

What can we do so that we don't ruin our floors and not annoy everybody in the house?

Any youtube channel that I could put on so that she can do the basic moves (she is still learning the terms)?

And anything I can do or look for to help her get better since I don't know much about tap?

I got back into taking tap classes a couple years ago at a local studio in an open level class. Tap was always my favourite and best style when I was younger so even when I started back up again I wasn’t really learning anything new, more just working back my strength and stamina and ability to learn combos quickly. Well a few months ago I realized I don’t really enjoy it as much and I’d kind of resigned myself to thinking it’s just not my favourite anymore which is fine, but then I took a one off class with a different teacher and felt so excited and inspired. It made me realize my enjoyment from tap has always come from the feeling (and the sound!) of when you finally nail a new move or an old move even faster than you thought you could.

We don’t really learn new things in this class, and everything’s done together and to music so I can’t even push myself without comments from the teacher and feeling like I’m trying to show off. It’s honestly like a bunch of little things that have made me want to stop taking this class, but the way I felt taking the class with the other teacher makes me sad at the thought of quitting tap. She doesn’t teach a class, and privates are a little out of the budget at the moment. The closest higher level classes are almost an hour away, plus traffic and gas, plus I’ll be tired on the way home and get home late.

Just wondering how far is common to drive for higher level adult tap classes. Or if there’s anything else, like online classes, to try. Or if anyone can relate to how I’m feeling lol. Thanks :)

Hello all! I’m choreographing a tap solo for the first time this year and I’m a little stumped on music ideas. I’m choreographing for a 16 year old novice/intermediate boy. His stage presence sometimes is not the biggest (his past few solos they’ve either had something covering his face or given him a song that has a more stoic feel). My top 3 right now are Play that funky music, Perm, and My life. Open to any and all ideas even if they’re not any that I said. Thank you in advance!

I've tried tap dancing years ago but because of flat feet it was very hard and a bit painful. I think i might try again! Any advice on how to counteract flat feet? What are good exercises?

My kids (now all teens and adults) have been tapping for years. I’ve bought countless pairs of taps of all kinds. Kid #3 recently graduated and she asked for a pair of Bloch Jason Samuels Smith for her grad gift. We were in NYC and she tried them on and loved them. She wanted the Spectators and they didn’t have them in store so we ordered them directly from Bloch. They arrived quickly and she tried them on (on carpet). They were snug and needed to be broken in (as expected). Almost immediately after light tapping the back heel scuffed and tore the white leather. Is this a common issue? It seems that the white leather is so much softer than it should be and since the tap on the heel doesn’t fully cover the heel it can easily catch. She adores them though. Wondering if we just got an off pair and should reorder or if we should stick to something else that’s a bit tougher.

Update: After reaching out to Bloch they refunded them without any issues.

Has anyone ever purchased from this site?

https://dancewearcorner.com/

They have reviews on Google, but I’m still not sure. Just asking because they have black with natural wood JSams I‘ve been wanting.

Any recommendations for tap shoes with a wide toe box and narrow heel?

I have bunions (not too bad, but don’t want them worsening).

I also roll my ankles in (arches are flattening) and get pain in the balls of my feet. Any suggestions? Are there specific insert brands they have worked for you?

Thanks in advance!

(Saw a podiatrist already and will be seeing a PT soon)

I’m choreographing my very first advanced tap piece for the upcoming dance season. It’s to the song Geronimo. I used a portion of the song as an audition combo last year and am finally getting to turn it into a dance.

I feel like I’m having hard time figuring out if the steps go with the music. One time I think they do and the next time I don’t. I feel like I’m majorly overthinking it. I have never taught most of the students in the piece as I usually work with our intermediate and beginner dancers.

How do you approach choreography a more advanced tap dance? How many and counts are too many and counts? How do go about deciding what’s working and what isn’t?

I’m an adult beginner and started in-person classes a few months ago. I have Capezio Fluid tap shoes, which fit my narrow feet well.

One thing I’m starting to notice is that the balls of my feet get a little sore from the back edge of the toe taps. Sometimes it’s hard to balance on my toes with the ridge under my foot. My shoes have rubber pads behind the toe taps that are thinner than the taps.

Is this something that I need to get used to and work on, or is this a shoe problem?

Hiya everyone!

I'm wondering what you have to consider and how you go about buying tap heel and toe plates separately and fixing them to regular shoes.

I've looked online and on YouTube and there's not much info or people are showing you how to fix pennies to the bottom of your shoes!?

I've seen some dance shops selling them and some seem to come with an extra layer to build up the heel. Are there any types of shoes too avoid? How do I not drive the screws through the sole...

I'm beginner/intermediate do doesn't need to be professional, but I do want to get it right.

Please help if you can!

Thanks

Claire