TAP AT PINEAPPLE

Tap dancing is most generally associated with the films and musicals of Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. Anyone at any age can have a go, and in a very short space of time you can gain a real sense of accomplishment. Whilst it may take a bit of patience, in three months you will have picked up enough to go home and enjoy yourself – as well as impress people. Tap has always been a people's or ‘popular dance’, sharing a common history with traditional clog dances, Russian steppe dances and Irish jigs and reels.

A street dance, tap dance does not grow through syllabus. Though syllabus can help with technique, it is often used as a tool to teach steps, though in reality it is not connected to what the vast majority of tap dancers do. This is why syllabus grading rarely translates in most open classes. 

In Britain we never had the American jazz tap tradition, but much tap taught today is a fusion of the English and American tap. The difference between English and American styles is that the English style is bouncy with lots of arm and leg movements. American is based on the original tap dances of the thirties and forties, and keeps the foot and ankle work very close to the floor, giving a smoother, more relaxed look.

Tap is the original jazz dance. Jazz is at the root of all tap and informs all tap dancers to one degree or other.

To join in a class, you only need be ready 10 minutes before the class starts. If you have Pineapple membership, you do not need to pay at reception.