How to Tap Dance: Single-Time Step

Savion Glover brought tap to a new generation and now Mahalo is bringing tap to you! The How to Tap Dance app is the source for mastering the art of tap dance.

[ambergrumley]

This was insanely helpful! I'm a lead dance in the production Anything Goes, and I have to run onto the stage doing a time step. This helped me get a better grasp of the stomp time step. Thanks! <3

[marijarvis]

Very clear - and the full body shot along with close up of the feet is a very effective learning tool. Thank you.

[dorememe]

My dance teacher sent this to our class a YouTube tutorial because she couldn’t be bothered to actually teach us the step. That’s basically every dance teacher I’ve ever had in a nutshell.

[cassidyfinch]

This is so helpful! I have an audition for the musical, Curtains, coming up and this is a featured move in one of the parts I'm going for. This really helped me and I'm sure will prepare me for the audition :3

[Dayorado]

Thank you! You are a great teacher and I love you the way you break down and explain the steps. I watch your videos after my class which is so helpful and is saving me so much frustration. I see other people saying your moves are different but you are teaching everything the same way my teacher who is a trained professional dancer (Master's degree and years of dancing in LA and NY) does.

[christyfrier]

Nice. New time step for me. Just want to say, there are millions of time steps. Literally any tapper can come up with one. I always give students the definition of "A repetitive pattern that shows rhythm and tempo." Also, there is no "right" definition, and just because one person teaches it differently, doesn't mean its wrong, just different. I have probably seen 5 different versions of a "buck timestep"

[creolejazzband]

I am learning a lot from her. I think the confusion some people have experienced may be due to her starting the pattern on the stomp and lift. Instead if you think of the pattern starting on the Hop it is easier (for me anyway). Here is how I hear the pattern

L – Hop, R- Step back, L- Fa Lap, R –ball, L- change:
R – Hop, L – Step back, R – Fa Lap,  L - ball, R-change:

When she shows you how to go from starting with one foot to the other, you will see she counts it as above. - Hop, Step, Fa Lap, Ball Change.

Bear in mind, I have only taken one tap lesson so ……

[TinaLouise]

Brings bck s meny memories of my tap dancing days!

[naxalotl]

ok this explained it better than the last best video i'd found and cleared up some problems. and the bonus is the arm movements. this overweight 55 YO guy is sorely tempted to buy the mary-jane taps to do justice to those arm moves. congratulations you're my new tap teacher

[wowcastle]

Thank you for this. I was promoted in my acting, singing and dancing group and I needed to learn tap. The time step was really confusing but this really helps!

[shanaelwood]

In my tap dance I was struggling getting the right order and this helped alot

[mariesandoval-lbww]

As a former dancer, learning from the best Betty May Dance Studio. The time step stayed tight and forward. There was no swinging the leg out.

[raylariveris]

Haha, I'm trying to get back into tap and this really helped me remember. And remember all my old bad habits, lol.

[AnthonyMiyazaki]

Technically, a ball change has no body shift weight commitment to the "ball" and returns back to the originally weighted step. Thus, you can't "combine" a ball change with a stomp (that would be a Step Stomp). That's why many people count the time step as Step-Stomp, Hop, Step, Flap (a 1, 2, 3, a 4). (Step-Stomp, Hop, Flap, Flap for a double.) Of course, there are many variations and even more ways to call them. Happy tapping!

[carolinecarrier]

i have a tap callback tonight and i may have overexaggerated my tap experience so i am frantically trying to learn how to look like i know what i'm doing hahaha. thanks for this!

[jessalinnguyen]

Thank you for your clear instructions!

[laurenm]

I learned this as stomp, hop, shuffle, step & flap, ball change. You're good at teaching this tho!

[anaxoxo]

This was so helpful I learned how to do it!!! thank you!!!

[PatriciaWalsh-nhmq]

Well done & explained so clearly! Thanks!!

[laurawiiles]

Really clear instruction as always. Very helpful. Thank you.  Just a suggestion, though - I find it easier to learn watching the feet from behind. Would it be possible to turn around when you're demonstrating steps and show the feet from the other view?