Beyond the Basics: 3 Advanced Tap Steps You Need to Master
Elevate your rhythm, complexity, and stage presence with these cornerstone steps of professional tap repertoire.
You've conquered shuffles, flaps, and cramp rolls. Your time steps are clean, and your rhythms are solid. So what's next? The world of advanced tap isn't just about speed—it's about texture, polyrhythm, and breathtaking musicality. Here are three essential advanced steps that will transform your dancing from technical to transcendent.
The Pullback
The Defiant Anti-Gravity Move
The pullback is the tap dancer's signature move of rebellion against gravity. Unlike a step that moves you forward, the pullback propels you backwards while creating a sharp, clean sound. It's the foundation for wings and more complex aerial work, demanding equal parts power, precision, and courage.
The Breakdown:
- The Set-Up: Start with weight on one foot, the other lifted slightly.
- The Jump & Brush: Spring off your weighted foot while simultaneously brushing the ball of your free foot backwards along the floor as you jump.
- The Catch & Replace: Land on the brushing foot first, creating a clear "tap," then immediately land the other foot beside it. The classic sound is "tap-step."
- The Magic: The brush-back creates the illusion of being pulled backwards through space.
The Shim Sham Shimmy
Polyrhythm & Body Percussion
This isn't your grandfather's Shim Sham. The advanced Shim Sham Shimmy layers a complex, syncopated upper-body isolation (the "shimmy") over the classic footwork. It separates the beginners from the artists, requiring independent coordination of limbs and torso to create multiple simultaneous rhythms.
The Breakdown:
- The Foundation: Master the standard Shim Sham foot pattern first (shuffle-step, shuffle-ball-change, etc.).
- The Layer: Add a rapid, relaxed shoulder shimmy—alternating shoulders forward and back in a rolling motion.
- The Displacement: Practice the shimmy against the foot rhythm. Try making the shimmy hit double-time or a contrasting triplet feel against the duple footwork.
- The Integration: Let the shimmy travel down through your ribs and hips, becoming a full-body wave that contrasts with the precise footwork.
Over-the-Top (OTT)
The Ultimate Crossover Time Step Variation
The Over-the-Top is a dazzling, traveling time step variation that involves crossing one leg over the other with a sweeping brush. It's a staple of Broadway and rhythm tap, adding dramatic flair and horizontal movement to any combination. It’s all about fluidity, swing, and spatial awareness.
The Breakdown:
- The Prep: Begin like a standard time step: brush-step, flap-step.
- The Cross: On the next count, instead of a simple brush, swing your free leg across the front of your body with a wide, low brush (the "over-the-top" motion), transferring your weight.
- The Travel: This crossing brush should move you diagonally forward. Follow it immediately with a step on the other foot to complete the transfer.
- The Finish: Continue into the rest of your time step (e.g., stomp, heel-dig, etc.) from this new position.
From Steps to Stories
Mastering these steps isn't about adding tricks to your arsenal. It's about expanding your rhythmic vocabulary. The Pullback teaches you defiance and air control. The Shim Sham Shimmy teaches you polyrhythm and body independence. The Over-the-Top teaches you flair and spatial dynamics. Together, they give you the tools to stop just making noise and start telling stories with your feet.
Be patient with yourself. Advanced tap is a marathon, not a sprint. Record yourself, listen back, and dance with musicians whenever you can. The goal is to make the complex feel effortless, and the difficult sound like the most natural rhythm in the world.
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