Tap dance was born in the United States during the 19th century, and today is popular all around the world. The name comes from the tapping sound made when the small metal plates on the dancer's shoes touch a hard floor. This lively, rhythmic tapping makes the performer not just a dancer, but also a Percussion instrument musician.

Its evolutionary grandparents may well have been:
# African welly boot dance
# Step dancing

The simplest step is the toe tap, using the ball of your foot to make a sound. The same sound can come from the heel, although often it is not as loud or pronounced.

These steps can be combined to make a cramp roll which produces a rolling sound like a horse gallop. It is done by stepping on your right toe, then left, then placing your right heel down, then the left or it is started with the left toe. By slighty jumping into the step and doing it continually, the proper sound is made.

The next step in tap dancing is the shuffle. Standing on one leg, the other is brushed out by sliding the toe of the shoe against the floor, then brushed back in. Making the step faster must be done by making smaller movements that are closer to the body. Please see the

The final simple tap step is the flap. This is like the shuffle, but instead of brushing the toe back, the toe steps, i.e. brush-step.

Both the shuffle and the flap make two sounds. By combining the tap/heel, the shuffle, and the flap, many other tap steps can be produced eg. shuffle tap-step ball change. The shuffle tap-ball change is a shuffle then a ball change. A ball change is like two toe taps, one on your left foot and one on your right.