Those of you who already know me *know* how verbose I can be once i get to talking about the subjects which I’m passionate about (rhythm tap, metaphysics etc)…One fine day, during a pre-show chit-chat/makan, someone new who i was introduced to asked me about rhythm tap. I gave him the usual (read: long) explanation per “Toh Kong Eu”…suddenly, one extremely saucy soprano just quipped “Basically, they rap with their feet!”. At that moment it was like hey, why didn’t i think of that before?? That sentence sums up perfectly not only the essence of Rhythm Tap Dance (which began in the 20s) but also the direction in the contemporary scene.
TapEs3 from Tap Raiders08
- Tap Raiders!
So yeah, that’s what I do. That’s what we, Rhythm Tappers Malaysia, does. Rap with our feet. It IS tap dance, but different from the stereotypical view of tap as imaged by old movie musicals and traditional Broadway. You see, tap dance was conceptualised as a percussive danceform (not unlike Irish jigging, flamenco etc). Along the way it was absorbed into “show” type applications such as ole’ Broadway etc…but the original essence is percussion. The tap shoes are akin to drum sticks; we play the rhythms using our feet and as a result, we get the dance (not the other way round!).
With my tap partner-in-crime, Shueh Miin
