You've mastered your shuffles and flaps, and your time steps are starting to feel natural. Now it's time to bridge the gap between foundational movement and true intermediate artistry. These ten techniques form the technical backbone that separates intermediate tap dancers from beginners—and prepares you for advanced vocabulary.
Each entry includes rhythm notation, weight transfer guidance, and practice strategies to accelerate your progress.
1. The Spank (and Why It Changes Everything)
Before advancing, solidify your understanding of the spank—the backward brush that powers most intermediate combinations.
Execution: Strike the floor with the ball of the foot in a backward motion, lifting the foot immediately after contact. The sound is crisp and detached.
Rhythm: "&" (eighth-note upbeat)
Why it matters: The spank is the engine behind shuffles, flaps, pullbacks, and riff-based vocabulary. Without clean spank technique, advanced steps collapse.
Practice tip: Stand on your left foot and spank your right foot repeatedly at various tempos. Aim for consistent volume and pitch. Switch feet every 16 counts.
2. Flaps and Flap-Heel Combinations
Building directly on the spank, the flap adds a landing.
Execution: Spank backward with the ball, then immediately drop the same foot onto the ball (not the heel). For flap-heel, add a heel drop after the ball landing.
Rhythm: "&1" (flap) or "&1-2" (flap-heel)
Weight transfer: Stay forward on the balls of your feet. The heel drop in flap-heel should feel like a controlled release, not a stomp.
Common pitfall: Letting the heel drop simultaneously with the ball. Isolate the sounds—audience members should hear two distinct strikes.
3. Pullbacks (Pickups)
The first true aerial step in most dancers' vocabulary, pullbacks generate two sounds while both feet leave the ground.
Execution: From a standing position on the balls of both feet, brush backward (spank) with both feet simultaneously, then land immediately on the balls. The jump is small; the clarity of sound matters more than height.
Rhythm: "&a" or counted as "1&" depending on musical context
Progression: Master single-foot pullbacks before attempting doubles. Practice facing a barre for stability, then progress to center floor.
Musical application: Pullbacks accent upbeats beautifully, making them ideal for syncopated phrases and jazz-influenced tap.
4. Buffalos
This traveling step combines a leap with rhythmic footwork.
Execution: Leap onto one foot while the other executes a shuffle, then land on the ball of the shuffling foot. Traditionally, the step crosses in front.
Rhythm: "1&2" or "shuffle-leap-step"
Directional variants: Practice Buffalos moving forward, backward, and turning. The step adapts to circular patterns and diagonal travel across the floor.
Weight transfer: The leap absorbs your weight; the shuffle happens in mid-air. Land softly through the ball of the foot to prepare for the next movement.
5. Maxie Fords
Named after vaudeville performer Maxie Ford, this step combines leaping and toe-tapping into a signature intermediate combination.
Execution: Leap from one foot to the other, tapping the toe of the extended leg in mid-air, then land on that same foot. Add a heel drop for the full four-sound version.
Rhythm: "1&2-3" (toe-heel variant) or "1&2&" (full version)
Coordination challenge: The airborne toe tap requires precise timing. Start slowly, ensuring the tap happens while both feet are off the ground.
Stylistic note: Early tap tradition uses this step frequently; mastering it connects you to historical vocabulary.
6. Cramprolls
Create rolling, continuous sound through precise heel-ball alternation between feet.
Execution: Right heel, left ball, left heel, right ball—or reverse. The pattern creates four even 16th-notes with a subtle rhythmic "pulse."
Rhythm: "1e&a" (four 16th-notes)
The rolling quality: Unlike separated stomps, cramprolls require immediate transfer of weight. Each sound prepares the next; think of it as circular momentum rather than four distinct events.
Tempo strategy: Practice at 60 BPM until the pattern feels inevitable, then increase gradually. Speed without clarity is merely noise.
7. Paddlerolls (Paradiddles)
Isolate continuous rolling motion to a single foot while the other maintains balance.
Execution: On one foot: heel-ball-heel-ball, creating continuous triplet
