Early Tap History.
Tap dance is an American art form that was born when enslaved people in the American colonies had to use foot and body percussion after their drums were taken away.
In the mid 1700s, the enslaved people of the British colonies were facing degrading living conditions, poor medical attention and stricter regulations. In August of 1739, a band of roughly 20 enslaved persons gathered along the Stono River near Charleston in South Carolina and planned to lead a rebellion towards Spanish occupied Florida, where it was said that the Spanish would grant slaves freedom and land in an attempt to destabilize the British colonies. (1)
The rebels raided a local store for firearms and marched south, recruiting more enslaved workers and killing their overseers as they progressed. The rebellion reached the Edisto River, about 150 miles (240 km) from the Florida line, and were met by a large white militia who killed some of the rebellion members and tracked down the rest for future execution. In total, about 20 white colonists and over 50 black enslaved people were killed during the rebellion. (2)
This rebellion, and others like it that were instigated by the slaves' harsh living conditions, was provocation for South Carolina to enact the Negro Act of 1740, which, among other restrictions, limited the enslaved peoples' ability to grow their own food, learn to write, assemble in groups, and earn their own money. (3)
In addition, article 36 (XXXVI) proclaims that the enslaved people in South Carolina were no longer permitted to use drums for religious and secular practice, stating, "...All due care be taken to restrain the wanderings and meetings of Negroes... or using or keeping of drums, horns, or other loud instruments, which may call together or give sign or notice to one another of their wicked designs and purposes." (4)
These events are often used as the first examples of when enslaved people in the American colonies first had a major impetus to develop foot and body percussion, although use of foot percussion by people living in Africa prior to 1600s and those of the African diaspora is well documented. (5) (6)
(1) https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1p284.html
(2) https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/stono-rebellion-1739/
(3) https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/slavery/timeline/1739.html
(4) https://digital.scetv.org/teachingAmerhistory/pdfs/Transciptionof1740SlaveCodes.pdf
(5) https://www.britannica.com/art/African-dance/Dance-posture
(6) Glass, Barbara S. African America Dance: An Illustrated History. McFarland and Co. 2007
*Thank you to fellow tap dancer Tristian Bruns for putting these materials together.
Evolution of Tap.
Tap gained popularity after the Civil War as a part of traveling minstrel shows, where white and Black performers wore blackface and belittled Black people by portraying them as lazy, dumb, and comical.
Tap was an important feature of popular Vaudeville variety shows in the early 20th century and a major part of the rich creative output of the Harlem Renaissance.
Tap dancers began collaborating with jazz musicians, incorporating improvisation and complex syncopated rhythms into their movement.
Although Vaudeville and Broadway brought performance opportunities to African-American dancers, racism was still pervasive: white and black dancers typically performed separately and for segregated audiences.
It is widely thought that the popularity of tap declined in the second half of the century, but was reinvigorated in the 1980s through Broadway shows like 42nd Street and The Tap Dance Kid. (1)
Bring in da’ Noise, Bring in da’ Funk opened on Broadway in 1995 and paved the way for the most recent generation of tap dancers.
Some examples of Tap Legends, which we celebrate and owe the art form to include, but are not limited to: Master Juba, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Clayton “Peg Leg” Bates, Jeni LeGon, Harold & Fayard Nicholas, Leonard Reed, Bunny Briggs, Buster Brown, Cholly Atkins, Henry LeTang, Prince Spencer, Jimmy Slyde and many many more.
(1) https://ums.org/2019/06/21/from-margins-to-mainstream-tap-dance-history