Lessons in Tap - Week 2 [24/4/24]

 LESSONS IN TAP 

Developing Our Skills - Week 2 

[24/4/24]

• This is week 2/lesson 2 of learning tap. The main aim for this lesson was to begin learning the sequence for our tap number for the next show. Before we learn the sequence, we started by going over the sequence we learnt last lesson. We need to keep the sequences fresh in our minds so that we don’t forget them. The sequence was ‘tap step heel toe heel step pickup step shuffle step shuffle step step heel’. Over the last week, I have made sure to practice over the last week, by going over the sequence to ensure it stays in my mind. In this lesson, we learnt a lot more and it was quite physically draining so I struggled with my stamina a bit. Over time, my stamina will improve the more I practice and do tap. I’m struggling now as this style of dance is new to me so my body is not used to doing it. 
• In this lesson, one of the things we learnt was a new sequence, ‘shuffle ball-change tap step heel heel pickup step pickup shuffle hop step tap step heel heel shuffle ball-change pickup spring step heel’. When Rob first mentioned this sequence, I didn’t understand it at all and found it very confusing. I knew each step Rob was saying but I really struggled to picture how this sequence would look and sound. I found out that I am very much a visual learner so I need to see Rob completing the sequence for me to be able to do it myself and understand. 
• We learnt how to say the sequence in rhythm but Rob then went through on how to write the steps down and their symbols. For example, the symbol for a ‘tap’ is ‘tp’ and the symbol for ‘step’ is ‘stp’. If you are writing a sequence in tap you wouldn’t write out the word, you would write its symbol. Rob wore out the sequence on the board in front of the class so that we could read what we needed to do while doing it. I found this confusing, at first, as all the symbols look very similar and I truffled to read them and do the steps at the same time. This led em to memorise the sequence to prevent myself from having to read the symbols on the board. This meant that I picked up the steps quite quickly as I had memorised what I needed to do.
• We went over this sequence several times until Rob was sure we remembered it and go it right. Once we all had, we moved on to learning another new sequence called ‘6 beat cramp rolls’ which are basically ‘tap step tap step heel heel toe-click tap tap heel-click’. I personally, found these quite difficult as they have a different timing compared to the other sequence. The other sequence is counted as, ‘and 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 etc.’ whereas the 6 beat cramp roll is counted as, ‘and a 1 and a 2 and a 3 and a 4’. I need to get used to the switch up in timing for these sequences. I it quite trickery to make sure I kept each movement on beat as this is a new rhythm for us in tap. With practice, this will become a lot easier. I did also learn that no sequence of move in tap will ever start on count 1 unless it is a paradiddle. 
• Paradiddles are also something that we ended the lesson with. A paradiddle is basically ‘heel pickup toe heel’. At first, I found these complicated but I broke it down and did the move slowly, gradually speeding up and pieces all the parts to a paradiddle together. Once I broke it down and started to speed up, I actually found this quite easy to do. I just need to work on relaxing so that my ankles/foot can be less stiff so that I can do the movement faster. 
• We then moved onto to learn time steps. The time steps sequence is ‘shuffle hop spring tap step step’. To help us to remember the sequence and rhythm, Rob gave us a song that we can sing: “I shall always remember, I shall always remember, I shall always remember how I learnt to do this step.” I found the song really helpful to ensure that I do the steps to the correct rhythm and tempo. I did struggle with the shuffle at the beginning when it comes to repeating the sequence. When I finish the step, I need to bring my foot up to start the shuffle instead after the step I have brought my foot back. This means that I am accidentally doing a backward tap before the shuffle. I need to remember to bring my foot up so that I can repeat the time step and start the shuffle correctly. 

Thoughts & Feelings                                                                                                                                    

• Overall, we have learnt a lot of new sequences in this lesson which has been a lot to take in. In terms of the 6 physical skills of dance, my stamina I something I m currently struggling with as tap is new to me and we are working very hard. I am working really hard to ensure I get the sequences right as I am dedicated to learning them correctly so that they will be good enough to be in our next show, ‘Spotlight’. I think I have good coordination, at this point, in terms of being well coordinated with my own feet but I would say that myself and the whole group need to work on our coordination. As a class, we are good at individually working on the sequences and working to our own tempo’s but when it comes to doing the sequences with each other and being int I’ve with one another, this is where we struggle. We find it difficult to stay in time with each other and tap as one. We also struggle to maintain and stay the same speed, we have the tendency to speed up when we are going through the sequences. Over the next few rehearsals, we need to start to work together to ensure we are tapping together so that we can make a good unified sound when we go through the sequences. We also need to work on maintaining our tempo’s.