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Customer Reviews (2)

Gift to Grand daughter
My grand daughter is a huge fan of the Rainbow Magic series (any book). She seems to have enjoyed this book. I can speak for the delivery, it exceeded both promises and expections.

awesome series for young girls
my 5th grade girls have asked for more and more of this series.some students have already read between 20-30 books and are begging for more!try them out. ... Read more

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Jessica hates that the boys in her third grade class make fun of her. She can't help she is skinny. Her mom's skinny. Her dad's skinny. Even her dog is skinny! But that's not all. The boys also make fun of Jessica for taking tap dancing, and Jessica isn't sure she can take another minute of teasing. Then Ms. Starr, Jessica's teacher, announces that her class will put on a talent show for the rest of the school. Jessica wants to do something with her two best friends, but everyone, including Ms. Starr, wants Jessica to tap. Can Jessica get on stage and show off her talent? Or will the boys just make fun of her even more? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

BUFFALINO SCORES AGAIN
I'm so glad that Brenda Buffalino has had a chance to put her interesting life in print for all of us to share...she is a treasure in the world of tap.....

An Inspiration for all Tap Dancers
If you love tap dancing you will love this book.Brenda's stories are totally inspirational as are her tap techniques and theory.The theory part is designed for those who have some experience with tap dancing.
One of the great things about this book is that much of the book covers the last 35 years of tap dance so the stories are all very recent and can easily be related to.
You won't want to put the book down once you start reading the tap dance stories section, its such a good read.When you get to the technique sectionyou'll want to try the steps out.

Brilliant and Generous
With "Tapping the Source," Brenda Bufalino has given us a brilliantly titled and generously written professional memoir that opens a view into the personal impulses that have driven her creative process.

The book is divided into two sections. Part one is a memoir in the guise of "Tap Dance Stories;" part two, "Theory and Practice," is a master class for experienced tap dancers, but not to be skipped by the in, un, or less experienced, as Brenda continues the memoir even as she notates rhythms, and offers teaching tips.

Full disclosure: I count myself as one of Brenda's many friends, and my wife has produced her work in Seattle over the course of the years. From that vantage point I've been witness to a few of the events in this book, and have also been a willing audience for many of the stories. Brenda is an inveterate story-teller whose ideas, interests, and sources range vastly. A conversation with her, especially if it's a group event, is often like a tropical storm, and when she said she was writing a book I wondered how she'd be able to master the elements to a table as rigid as the page. Now, Brenda may be an improviser, but that's not to say she isn't disciplined, and she found the discipline for the book without sacrificing the art of the story. The book is a good read. It's witty, filled with tap history, opinionated, and touching in its personal reminiscences - most notably of her mother, her mystical involvement with people and place, and her long association with Honi Coles.

Brenda is an Artist, with a capital A. As a being she transcends her chosen forms. Her book will be purchased by dancers, but it's a book for artists, so if you are on the path, "Tapping the Source," is a useful map. ... Read more

Product Description
The language of tap dancing is as rich and varied as that of any art, and different choreographers, teachers and performers often use totally different terms for exactly the same step. The various names of all steps and clear descriptions of them are collected for the first time in this reference work. The emphasis is on all variations of a name, from universally recognized terms to simple "pet" names that individual performers and choreographers have created, with extensive cross-references provided. Each of the steps is fully described, with appropriate counts, explanations and history. Many antique and unusual steps such as the Patting Juba, the Quack and the Swanee Shuffle are included. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

A fantastic breakdown of more tap steps than I ever dreamed existed!....
I found out about this book from a choreographer friend of mine - we were in a musical together, and she referred to this book for an easy time-step variation that the whole cast could do.I got a look at it, and knew I had to have a copy!If you have taken any tap, or worked along with a video, this is an excellent supplement!It's been a lot of fun figuring out assorted steps :)

The Tap Dance Dictionary, by Mark Knowles
EXCELLENT!I'm just beginning to tap again after 35 years of sitting on my biscuits, and this book is bringing to life all the dormant steps my feet are aching to percuss, but that my brain forgot.The steps are clearly defined and named, and it's easy to follow.The added history adds interest, as well.THANK YOU for this book!
bacongirl

disappointed
I never received the tap dance dictionary and I am still trying to track it down. I am very upset about this.

Thank You

Very thorough!
This book is a great asset for all tappers. It is filled with almost every version of every step known to tappers. I can sit for hours flipping through this book and trying new things. I also find the historicalinformation very interesting. As a dance teacher, this book is a must-have.I am sure it will continue to serve me well all throughout my career.

One of the few tap dictionaries left with clear definitions.
There aren't many TAP dictionaries out there, and out of the few I know of, this one is an asset to have by my side in my dance studio.It has clear definitions and explanations on how to perform the steps.It's got atouch of history for the curious, and has become a trusty companion.Ilike that it contains different terminology from places all around.Adefinite five star book! ... Read more

Product Description
As the official reference manual of the Dance Masters of America, this tap dance resource contains more than 1,500 up-to-date entries about every facet of this uniquely American art form. It provides a history of tap dance as well as the dancers who defined it. This manual also includes a comprehensive dictionary of tap and dance terminology with a special section devoted to teachers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Amazing book! One of a kind!
I didn't become interested in tap dancing until my mid twenties, and so I figured I would start off with this book.Tapworks has been an amazing tool towards realizing my new found dream, and, dare I say it . . . future performances?At first, I was a little overwhelmed by the depth of this book, but then I found that it was organized very well.The combination of history and technique provided me with everything I needed to move on to the next step, no pun intended ;)Beverly Fletcher is a wonderful author and tap enthusiast!

great resource
This is an excellent tap reference.It lists each step and then breaks down the combinations.

Must buy for tap dancers/teachers
A must have for any tap enthusiast.Tapworks contains a brilliant history of some of the most popular steps such as the "shuffle off to buffalo" and various "time steps."It breaks down steps in an easy to decipher fashion.I learned so many new steps that were fun and easy to teach.Bev Fletcher is a master of tap. Us students need to learn all she has to offer to keep tap dance alive in the millennium.

timesteps
this book has an amazing review of the 65 time steps...however, i just learned that there are 200 more (someone is hiding them)...so i was wondering how you submit these time steps to the official book, and if you're allowed to just make up new ones.thanks so much!! ... Read more

Product Description
Learning various levels of tap dance technique is one of the objectives of Tap Dance Fundamentals.Students will develop:1. Basic tap dance skills with effective technique and theory2. Coordination, motor memory, and fine and gross motor skills3. Correct alignment, placement, and weight shifts4. A movement vocabulary using correct tap technology5. Rhythmic awareness, clarity, and sensitivity to tempoThe following technique skills will be taught: shuffle, flap, ball-change, toe heel, paddle, Irish, waltz clog, maxi ford, drawbacks . . . and many other combinations of steps.The Glory of Tap Dancing,The Power of Its Expressiveness,The Depth of Its Emotion,The Possibilities of Its Artistry Rattle The Stereotypes of Tap. ... Read more

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All but forgotten today, the Five Points neighborhood in Lower Manhattan was once renowned the world over. From Jacob Riis to Abraham Lincoln, Davy Crockett to Charles Dickens, Five Points both horrified and inspired everyone who saw it. While it comprised only a handful of streets, many of America’s most impoverished African Americans and Irish, Jewish, German, and Italian immigrants sweated out their existence there. Located in today’s Chinatown, Five Points witnessed more riots, scams, prostitution, and drunkenness than any other neighborhood in America. But at the same time it was a font of creative energy, crammed full of cheap theaters, dance halls, and boxing matches. It was also the home of meeting halls for the political clubs and the machine politicians who would come to dominate not just the city but an entire era in American politics.Drawing from letters, diaries, newspapers, bank records, police reports, and archaeological digs, Anbinder has written the first-ever history of Five Points, the neighborhood that was a microcosm of the American immigrant experience. The story that Anbinder tells is the classic tale of America’s immigrant past, as successive waves of new arrivals fought for survival in a land that was as exciting as it was dangerous, as riotous as it was culturally rich. ... Read more

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Many photos. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (6)

This tapper and history buff loved it.
I loved this book.It had information on dancers I had not known about before.I would love to see a 'sequel' from 1955 to the present.

TAP! BY RUSTY E. FRANK
I total am ejoying this book.Being a dancer my self it is wonderful reading about all the dancers during my time. Thank you so much Mr. Frank.

get this, think about the rest later
when this book used to be out of print, legions of ambitous tap dancers - including myself - were searching used-book stores across the country to find a copy. i know some who ended up copying every single page in the lincoln center library. the reason is very simple: there is no other book on the subject that even comes close to gathering this much information on the history of tap dancing. even though historians may argue about some details, the book is usually considered the standard by all the tap pros i know and whoever reads it will have a good understanding of where the art form comes from, what the important issues are, what stages of development tap dancing went through, who the important dancers of different times and styles were, and what the characteristics of different styles and approaches in tap dance are. if you want to know about the history of tap: get this book. otherwise you will find yourself digging through the shelves of rare book stores when it is out of print again.

Great teaching tool
This is a fantastic book!In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I made my college advanced tap class read it, as well.They were truly inspired by this book and have gained a renewed since of determination as far as entering the field of "commercial entertainment" with an emphasis on tap.Each person has a truly unique account of how it was back in the day, when people actually went to "tap clubs" just like we would go to dance clubs nowadays.What an experience to see this exciting time through their eyes.

Not just for tap dancers!
This book is wonderfully written with first-hand accounts about show business during the first half of the 1900's. It is not just for tap dancers, but for anyone interested in getting a feel for the way of lifeduring that period. The amount of information I learned about vaudeville,movie musicals, and even black history in America is much more than Iexpected when I picked up this book. I would highly recommend it to anyone! ... Read more

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Many photos. ... Read more

Product Description
Here is the vibrant, colorful, high-stepping story of tap--the first comprehensive, fully documented history of a uniquely American art form, exploring all aspects of the intricate musical and social exchange that evolved from Afro-Irish percussive step dances like the jig, gioube, buck-and-wing, and juba to the work of such contemporary tap luminaries as Gregory Hines, Brenda Bufalino, Dianne Walker, and Savion Glover.
In Tap Dancing America, Constance Valis Hill, herself an accomplished jazz tap dancer, choreographer, and performance scholar, begins with a dramatic account of a buck dance challenge between Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and Harry Swinton at Brooklyn's Bijou Theatre, on March 30, 1900, and proceeds decade by decade through the 20th century to the present day. She vividly describes tap's musical styles and steps--from buck-and-wing and ragtime stepping at the turn of the century; jazz tapping to the rhythms of hot jazz, swing, and bebop in the '20s, '30s and '40s; to hip-hop-inflected hitting and hoofing in heels (high and low) from the 1990s right up to today. Tap was long considered "a man's game," and Hill's is the first history to highlight such outstanding female dancers as Ada Overton Walker, Kitty O'Neill, and Alice Whitman, at the turn of the 20th century, as well as the pioneering women composers of the tap renaissance, in the 70s and 80s, and the hard-hitting rhythm-tapping women of the millennium such as Chloe Arnold, Ayodele Casel, Michelle Dorrance, and Dormeshia Sumbry Edwards.
Written with all the verve and grace of tap itself, drawing on eye-witness accounts of early performances as well as interviews with today's greatest tappers, and richly illustrated with over ninety images, Tap Dancing America fills a major gap in American dance history and places tap firmly center stage. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Amazing teaching resource
This book is FANTASTIC!It's a great resource for all dancers and dance historians.I assigned this book for my students to read this semester and I think it will be hugely successful.

WONDERFUL RESOURCE!
This wonderful book tells SO MUCH tap dance history... It is a MUST-HAVE for every tap dancer! ... Read more

Product Description
All but forgotten today, the Five Points neighborhood in Lower Manhattan was once renowned the world over. From Jacob Riis to Abraham Lincoln, Davy Crockett to Charles Dickens, Five Points both horrified and inspired everyone who saw it. While it comprised only a handful of streets, many of America’s most impoverished African Americans and Irish, Jewish, German, and Italian immigrants sweated out their existence there. Located in today’s Chinatown, Five Points witnessed more riots, scams, prostitution, and drunkenness than any other neighborhood in America. But at the same time it was a font of creative energy, crammed full of cheap theaters, dance halls, and boxing matches. It was also the home of meeting halls for the political clubs and the machine politicians who would come to dominate not just the city but an entire era in American politics.Drawing from letters, diaries, newspapers, bank records, police reports, and archaeological digs, Anbinder has written the first-ever history of Five Points, the neighborhood that was a microcosm of the American immigrant experience. The story that Anbinder tells is the classic tale of America’s immigrant past, as successive waves of new arrivals fought for survival in a land that was as exciting as it was dangerous, as riotous as it was culturally rich. ... Read more

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Roscoe Riley doesn't mean to break the rules

Don't Tap-Dance on Your Teacher

Rat-tat-TAT!

Product Description
Tracing the development of tap dancing from ancient India to the Broadway stage in 1903, when the word "Tap" was first used in publicity to describe this new American style of dance, this text separates the cultural, societal and historical events that influenced the development of Tap dancing.

Section One covers primary influences such as Irish step dancing, English clog dancing and African dancing. Section Two covers theatrical influences (early theatrical developments, "Daddy" Rice, the Virginia Minstrels) and Section Three covers various other influences (Native American, German and Shaker). Also included are accounts of the people present at tap’s inception and how various styles of dance were mixed to create a new art form. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Choice Award Winner
In January 2004, Tap Roots: The Early History of Tap Dancing wasgiven the Choice Award for Outstanding Academic Text by the American Library Association. The book was selected for "excellence in scholarship and presentation, the significance of its contribution to the field, and its value as an importanttreatment of the subject." The Choice Awardis given to titles that the American Library Associationconsiders the "best of the best." ... Read more

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The Souls of Your Feet is a comprensive guide to theart and language of tap dance. Complete with basic technique and creativevariations, this guidebook shows the beginning dancer how to build astrong foundation in this wonderful American artform as well as expand theexperienced dancer's choreographic and improvisational creativity.Traditionaltap dance figures and choruses to include The B.S. Chorus and The Shim Sham Shimmyare some of many basic structures covered in this guidebook. Numerous referencesare made to the legends of tap dance including Charles "Honi" Coles, Brenda Bufalino,Jimmy Slyde, Sarah Petonio, Savion Glover and many others securing the artform to its historical roots. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

One of the most complete tap books available!
Great Book on Tap!Highly Recommend it!

A word of caution...
This book helped me a LOT, I have to admit to that.But experienced tap dancers beware: looking at words that describe steps can be extremely frustrating when you can't visually see them done.Acia has written some wonderful pearls of wisdom within this book, and I highly reccommend it to any serious tap dancer

Wonderful!
Thanks to Acia M. Gray for writing a book that's not just somebody elses steps!I was so excited to see that this book gives tools to make up your own stuff.I will say that some of the terminology is different than I'm used to but it clarifies tap dance in a way that makes sense and lays down a foundation on which to play!An intelligent guide to the "language" of rhythm with your feet.

A treasure for the open minded
This book is a must for beginners.Ms. Gray's definitions make sense.The concepts if taught from the beginning, carry the dancer easily into the advanced levels.Those who do not like the book are struggling with their own closed minds not any shortcomings on Ms. Gray's part. If we all had learned tap with these unique concepts so many bad habits would not have to be "re-learned."I have taught tap for 19 years and all my students have adapted the curriculum provided in "The Souls of Your Feet."The historical descriptions and resource information have proven invaluable as well.

Very confusing
It was more confusing than any other book I have ever read about tap or any other type of dance. ... Read more

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Amidst the school's preparation for Parent's Night, Eagle-Eye Ernie solves the mystery of a pair of missing tap shoes. ... Read more

Product Description
This comprehensive guide to tap offers traditional and improvisational instruction for the beginner and new, innovative material for the intermediate and advanced dancer. It reviews the basics, and then progresses through creativity and musicality, rhythm, dynamics, and syncopation. Traditional steps such as the Shim Sham Shimmy are taught as well as contemporary tap. Easy-to-follow descriptions are given for each step. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A wonderful book on Tap
I bought this book last year, to teach my self to tap along with Bonnie Franklin's dvd and it has been great.It is so easy to understand.I am slowly working through the step and drills.I love referring back to this and I think I will forever.It is fantastic.A great teacher reference also.

Great for Rythm Tapping
I was trained in traditional and flash tap dancing, so I knew very little about rhythm tap.This book goes over the basics of tap and many traditional tap steps.What makes it so great, though, are the in-depthexplanations of rhythm, dynamics, syncopation, accents, and new forms oftap, including rhythm tap and orchestrated tap.The explanations are clearand easy and the practice exercises are excellent.This is a must-havebook for anyone wishing to expand their tap knowledge and artistry.

Excellent how to book, but it's no dictionary
I'm an advanced tapper who just recently began teaching an intermediate tap class. I decided to find a dictionary of tap in case one of my students asked me about a step I may not know. I ordered this book and realized thatit was no dictionary. So if you're looking for a dictionary I suggestlooking somewhere else. It is a wonderful how to book though!For instanceit talks about syncopating the beat, has pictures of proper placement ofyour your foot on shuffles, tons of combinations, etc. I suggest this bookto tap teachers of all levels and students interested in betteringthemselves!

A must-have for tap teachers and students
This book has been a wealth of ideas and information. I use many of the drills and combinations in my classes. They are clearly notated and easy to understand (which is unusual for a "book" on tap dance). I wouldrecommend this book for anyone at an intermediate level or higher. Wellworth the money! ... Read more

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"There once was a man who danced in the street / He brought pleasure and joy to the people he'd greet / He didn't just dance, he made art with his feet / Rap a tap tap--think of that!" This simple book for young children has the added bonus of describing the life of a ground-breaking African-American tap dancer. Bill "Bojangles" Robinson was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1920s-30s. People said he "talked with his feet," and in the Dillons' graceful paintings of old New York, he dances from page to page to the tune of a toe-tapping rhyme. Rap a tap tap--think of that! ... Read more