The National Tap Ensemble, America's national tap dance company, welcomes you to its web site.
"Tap dance is the tempo of America."
Steve Condos, legendary tap dance master
There is nothing more American than apple pie, baseball or... tap dance! Enjoy this web site, much of which is offered as a free, public service. |
"The truest, most energizing |
Marika Partridge
Director, "All Things Considered"
National Public Radio, USA
Do you speak English? Parlez-vous français? Sprechen Sie Deutsch?
Parlate italiano? Você fala o português? Usted habla español?
Translations are far from perfect (they can even be downright funny...) but this free tool can be very useful.
For example, click here to translate this home page.
You will find such a handy URL at the top of each page that can be translated.
| What's NEW? What's UP ? |
The popular Tapper's Page
offers answers to over 200 questions on tap dance, links to such useful tools as a table that makes it easy for you
to find out what your (real) level is on our professional Tap Dance Level Scale, or the "Ask The Masters" form
which allows tap dancers' questions to be posted with direct answers from the National Tap Ensemble cast.
COOL AND ENTIRELY FREE!
Passionate about TAP? Join over 2,500 other tappers who belong to the International Tap Dance Network
Would you like to establish a special, groovy connection with hundreds of other tappers
and tap fans worldwide and with the USA's national tap dance company?
Take a few minutes to fill out a simple form and join the fast-growing International Tap Dance Network!
Membership is free and offers many privileges and free services.
HEADS UP!
The exciting "SmartSavers Tap Club" is now available as an option to ALL members and offers, for a small annual fee,
an AUTOMATIC DISCOUNT ON MANY TAP DANCE PRODUCTS (REGULAR 10% DISCOUNT AND OCCASIONAL, UNADVERTISED
MEMBERS-ONLY CLEARANCE DISCOUNTS OF 30% OR MORE, see FAQ at bottom of this page) and even on tuition for many of
our programs (workshops, master classes, conferences, seminars, etc.)
All details can be found here.
Very cool products for tap dancers
LOOKING TO MAKE YOUR STUDIO WALLS TRULY DIFFERENT WHILE EDUCATING TAPPERS AND THEIR PARENTS?
LOOKING FOR A ONE-OF-A-KIND GIFT FOR THAT VERY SPECIAL TAP DANCER?
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS ONE-TIME SALE ON MOST ITEMS IN STOCK!
We have lots of tap/jazz stuff to choose from for that special treat. There are several categories of original,
one-of-a-kind products, starting as low as $6.
Take a look at those cool, original BUMPER STICKERS, fun MINI-POSTERS and GORGEOUS POSTERS.
Treat your loved ones, or, why not... treat yourself! There are over 80 items to choose from,
ranging from whimsical to truly exciting, with many of your favorite artists featured and some nice fresh designs.
These make GREAT GIFTS!
Your purchase will support a great cause as 100% of the proceeds goes toward supporting our
extensive educational programming, including the "Buster Brown Tap Dance Heritage" Scholarship Fund.
A very special man
The legendary Fayard Nicholas is no longer with us. Fayard was clearly "one of the greatest of the great." You will find a short piece on him, written by NTE Director, Chris Baker, at the bottom of this page.
Where to find tap shoes, books, magazines, CDs, videos and artwork?
Our Tap Dance Resources page lists carefully chosen web sites and advertisers that will give you
access to a wide range of resources for tap dancers. A must see.
Attention advertisers!
We offer two GREAT ways of reaching out to tap dancers, teachers, performers, parents, etc. worldwide.
The Resources page has a special, prominent section for "Premier sponsors and advertisers,"
and/or you can advertise in the Tap Dance Bulletin, which is by far the most popular tap dance email newsletter
in the world with OVER FOUR THOUSAND SUBSCRIBERS.
Both are extremely efficient ways to make your advertisement reach tappers DIRECTLY.
To inquire about advertisements, please contact our Public Relations Director.
Here are a few of the tap-related items that can be advertised:
- products
- auditions
- web sites
- tap festival or workshop
- services to the performing arts
- tap dance classes
- looking for jobs (teachers, performers, arts administrators, etc.)
- offering jobs (companies, organizations, show promoters, producers, etc.)
- tap concerts, tap happenings, jam sessions, etc..
Would you like to be automatically notified when this web site receives major updates?
How about getting the latest tap dance news?
Make sure you get your FREE subscription to the Tap Dance Bulletin,
our fun, fast and friendly "Internet communication tool." You will also get a chance to
test your knowledge of tap dance with a fun TAP QUIZ in each issue of the bulletin! And yes,
you CAN enter the email address of a friend, relative or neighbor if you do not have your own
and must use their computer to access the Internet. Join the the 4,500+ readers who are keeping
up with the world of tap and percussive and vernacular dance!
Have fun with our Polls
What do they like? Fill out a quick form and let the world know!
The results of Poll #1 have been updated. Results for some of the other polls aren't far from being
statistically significant, make your own entry today!
Attention tap students and students' parents
Visit the Top Tap Teacher page and find out if one of the graduates works in your area.
Quick links
The company (includes cast biographies and pictures)
Programs overview
This web site features over 100 pages and 400 pictures
They make navigating through the site much easier!
Help support some great outreach work AND a groovy cause
PLEASE HELP US CONTINUE TO SERVE YOU!
You can make a tax-deductible contribution online to the American Heritage On Tap (AHOT) fund, which supports
NTE's educational programs. On average these programs serve over 20,000 children and adults per season, many
of whom would never get a chance to be exposed to tap dance otherwise.
Also, it's crunch time! WE HAVE BEEN HIT VERY HARD BY FUNDING SHORTAGES
AND WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO CONTINUE OPERATING SOME OF OUR MANY FREE PROGRAMS,
INCLUDING THIS WEB SITE AND ALL ITS RESOURCES, WITHOUT YOUR HELP.
If you value at all what the national tap dance company has been bringing your way for more than 18 years,
please GIVE BACK by making your tax-deductible donation - and GET A TAX BREAK TOO!
THANKS FOR THINKING OF US.
| What's COOL? |
Need an official logo to link this site to your own web site? Simply cut and paste this graphic!
Make sure that you link it to this URL: http://www.usatap.org/
Or read the Courtesy Link Exchange section for additional options.
| What's COOKIN'? |
We're busy, busy! As always, working on some new programs in the field and on some new features for this web to serve YOU and our diverse audiences even better.
Get the scoop and stay in touch!
Bobby Wishart, Director
Strathclyde Jazz Orchestra, Scotland
| A few words from our Director about a very special human being |
On January 24, 2006 the great Fayard Nicholas died of complications from a stroke after a long and amazing career. He was 92 years old.
Back in the nineteen eighties I lived a short ten minute drive from the sprawling actors' retirement community where Fayard and his wife Barbara lived, in Woodland Hills, California. I used to go to their cottage and spend delightful afternoons chatting about life, family, and of course, tap. Those of you who know me well, know that I rarely use "big words," but when I think of Fayard the first word that comes to mind is GENIUS. And more exactly these words: a classy, gentle American genius.
Classy, because Fayard Nicholas was a man who simply exuded the sort of elegance, class and dignity that one would associate with royalty (well, shall we say... the right kind of royalty.) This was evident in all his works as an artist, as Michail Baryshnikov, Maurice Hines, and many other colleagues have remarked. It was also evident in the small things of every day life, the way he spoke - always using these amazing hands - the way he greeted me, the way he treated people.
Gentle, because unlike most in this often brutal business, Fayard Nicholas was a kind, generous soul. Even when faced with the ugliness of in-your-face racism, his wisdom and his innate goodness never wavered. Mahatma Gandhi comes to mind.
Genius, because he single-handedly changed our field by creating a unique style of tap that was such a challenging and innovative combination of grace and power that aside from him, only his younger brother Harold in the heyday of tap - and only one other artist since - have ever been able to perform it well - that is to say, in a way that would remotely approach the way Fayard himself would do it. Fayard Nicholas is to tap what Louis Armstrong is to jazz, Einstein to science, Shakespeare to literature or Mozart to the piano. A one-of-a-kind individual. A true genius.
And American Genius, simply because in our very young culture - 250 years is nothing compared to many of the countries where I have had the pleasure of being invited - there are very few artists who have defined or re-defined our own US-born traditions. Fayard is one of the few in tap. While King Rastus Brown turned a slave-invented, still quite raw form of percussive dance into the more structured and yet extraordinarily creative form that became known as tap dance, Fayard took it into a totally new direction and elevated it. He elevated the art of tap dance both physically - through those prodigious, orchestra-synched jumps - and figuratively into what he liked to call Classical [American] Tap.
I will always regret that I never had the opportunity of working with, or knowing personally, other tap giants such as Eleanor Powell or Baby Laurence. But I am humbled - and I am extraordinarily grateful - that such opportunities did occur with other tap dance luminaries who became my teachers, mentors*, and friends. All helped me become a much better artist. Very few inspired me to become a much better person. Among these few, Fayard Nicholas simply stands out.
Thank you Fayard, and may we meet again. There are just too many of those wonderful steps and life nuggets which you haven't taught me yet.
Chris Baker
[ * Webmaster's note: a list of Mr. Baker's mentors can be found here. ]
Chris Baker and Fayard Nicholas, circa mid-1980s
[Webmaster's Note: some Artists' pictures can be bought here.]
| "It is history. It is culture. It is heritage. Drawn from an African ancestry, it is the sound of the heart of the people lifted to the highest artistic expression. It's tap, and the National Tap Ensemble is its conservator. With pounding feet and rhythmic beat, the NTE's dancers and musicians travel at home and abroad inspiring interest in two of America's original art forms, tap and jazz... The [NTE] staff is a repository of rhythms." |
Elaine Starr Hurd
Dance Teacher Magazine
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