The Great Debate

When a parent says “no” to dance in college
When Robert Battle was a high school student at New World School of the Arts in Miami, his mother was concerned about the lack of stability a … Continue reading →

Making It Stick

Help your dancers learn choreography faster.
You’re setting choreography on your class and most of the students are picking it up. One dancer, though, is having difficulty remembering the steps. You review the material several times, … Continue reading →

Bill “Bojangles” Robinson

The boundary-breaking tapper charmed audiences and performers alike in vaudeville, Broadway and film.

Tap dancing on the balls of one’s feet hardly seems like a novel idea, but the technique is due largely to beloved hoofer … Continue reading →

Technique: Courtney Runft

How I teach pre-tap
Forty-five minutes of 3 1/2-year-olds in tap shoes may sound like a recipe for a throbbing headache, but Courtney Runft manages to keep the noise under control. That’s because for the first … Continue reading →

Mike Minery

Music for rhythm tap

When Mike Minery’s students enter Wednesday tap class at For Dancers Only in Little Falls, New Jersey, they already know what technique drills are coming. “Soon after I first started teaching, I … Continue reading →

Building Body and Brain

Tips for teaching dance to 3- to 6-year-olds
Creative dance means creative teaching, too. Though leading a class of 3-year-olds may sound like fun and games to the uninitiated, there’s a serious side to early childhood … Continue reading →