Hot Tapping

Essential Tips by The Original and Glamorous Miss Lou Lou!

Did you know???
That Tap dancing alongside Ballet burns the most Kilojoules per hour??!!
DANCE STYLE….60kg (Body weight)……80kg (Body Weight)

Tap Dancing……1205kjs………………..1607kjs
Ballet…………….1205kjs………………..1607kjs
Disco…………….1130kjs………………..1506kjs
Ballroom………..1130kjs………………..1506kjs
The Samba………753kjs………………..1004kjs

So after you have sweated off those 1205 to 1607kjs, you can pop into the take away on the way home and eat a couple of Hamburgers! (Joking!!!)

Hot Tapping Tip #1

Wearing your tap shoes out in the rain or mud is a definate No-no!
The damp ruins the leather soles and the screws will start falling out.
One of my dear long suffering student’s child threw her tap shoes into a bath full of water.
The screws continually fell out, her life was hell!

Hot Tapping Tip #2

Every time we do our warm up or when we practice a new step, try to work your ankles and do the step precisely and clearly. Each time you practice, your feet and ankles get stronger and more flexible, then pretty soon you wont have to work so hard, your ankles will be loose and the steps will pour out!

Hot Tapping Tip #3

When you buy your gorgeous new Tap shoes, you may find something floating around in the box.
It may well be the all important rubber soles that need to be glued onto the balls of your Tap shoes.

Dont chuck em! This rubber sole has to be glued onto the ball of the Tap shoe by a boot maker; some tap shoes have it already on the shoe; which stops you slipping and also builds up the sole of your shoe so that the tap plate isnt so cumbersome.

Hot Tapping Tip #4

To make your lovely new Tap shoes sound as if you have been tapping for years, loosen the screws half a turn, just to soften the sound a bit.

But dont go crazy otherwise you will sound like a horse with loose shoes. Also if the screws are too loose, they will stick out and will scratch the dance floor. In which case I will have to cut off your legs!

Hot Tapping Tip #5

It is best not to wear you Tap shoes outside, the soles get dirty and if they get wet, the screws fall out.

So if you have worn them to a party and have Tap danced all night, shown off a treat and are completely smashed, try to be rational enough not to dance across the front lawn in them, remember the dew!

Wearing them in the bath or shower is not good for them either.