PUTTING TAP DANCE RESEARCH IN THE SPOTLIGHT
I’ve been a steering committee member since its inception in 2019. Below are abstracts for the TDRN UK panel discussions I’ve presented in for conferences:
Tap Dance Knowledges, Modes of Capture Symposium 2021
Irish World Academy, University of Limerick, Liz Roche Company & Dublin Dance Festival
Abstract and biographies available on the Modes of Capture Symposium website
A panel exploring the concepts of legacy, tradition, innovation and authenticity within today’s global tap scene.
Presenters: Jess Murray, Sally Crawford-Shepherd, Trish Melton and Annette Walker & Karen Wood
The Tap Dance Research Network UK (TDRN UK) brings together tap practitioners and academics to explore creative processes, performances and knowledges of tap dance. TDRN UK seeks to expand the existing body of literature and documentation of the art form and produce a deeper understanding of tap dance through the application of interdisciplinary research methodologies.
This paper/practice sharing discusses tap improvisation practices as knowledges in teaching, creative process and performance. We explore the concepts of legacy, tradition, innovation and authenticity, as well as reflecting on the rich and diverse global tap scene of today. An important part of skill acquisition, transmission and dissemination of information about the art form is from preservation of twentieth century American tap performance repertoire and understanding of improvisation practices from jazz music. Applying a historical framework reveals how this initiated with the performances of American tap dancers being celebrated and presented as a form of legacy. Our questions are: How and where are these knowledges held? What role does legacy have in evolving performing knowledges? How do we acknowledge the history and legacy of American tap dancers and produce new knowledges in the twenty first century?
Furthermore, we explore the under-representation of tap dance in UK Higher Education, in teaching and research. We advocate for rethinking curricula and decolonization of tap dance as a form created through African American cultural practices. The UK has a particular context within which tap dance sits, linked to the US, Ireland and other communities. We seek ways to highlight cross-disciplinary connections and evolving interpretations of tap dance legacies, different methods of practice and performance that may evoke new knowledges, the importance of communities of practitioners in disseminating information, performer identities and embodying new knowledges.
Bibliography
Caines, R & Heble, A (2014) The Improvisation Studies Reader: Spontaneous Acts. Routledge, New York
Heble, A. (2013) Landing on the Wrong Note: Jazz, Dissonance, and Critical Practice. New York: Routledge.
Hill, C. V. (2010) Tap Dancing America: A Cultural History. New York: Oxford University Press.
Reynolds, D. and Reason, M. (2012) Kinesthetic Empathy in Creative and Cultural Practices. Bristol, England: Intellect Books.
Malone, J. (1996) Steppin on the Blues: The Visible Rhythms of African American Dance. Chicago: The University of Illinois Press.
Guarino, L & Oliver, W (2014) Jazz Dance: A History of the Roots and the Branches. University Press of Florida.
Performance Knowledges 2020
University of Malta in cooperation with Coventry University (event cancelled due to COVID-19)
Abstract (PDF) available on page 5
Panel 21: Tap Dance Epistemologies, Performance Knowledges 2020
Presenters: Sally Crawford-Shepherd, Jess Murray, Karen Wood and Annette Walker
This panel (Reports from Inside Current Tap Dance Practices in the United Kingdom) shares the current research of members of the Tap Dance Research Network UK. Formed in 2019, the Tap Dance Research Network brings together tap practitioners and academics to explore creative processes, performances and knowledges of tap dance. The Tap Dance Research Network seeks to expand the existing body of literature and documentation of the art form and produce a deeper understanding of tap dance through the application of interdisciplinary research methodologies. This panel discusses tap improvisation practices as knowledges in teaching, creative process and performance. An important part of skill acquisition, transmission and dissemination of information about the art form is from preservation of twentieth century American tap performance repertoire and understanding of improvisation practices from jazz music. We explore the concepts of legacy, tradition, innovation and authenticity, as well as reflecting on ways in which the rich and diverse global tap scene of today intersects with other disciplines, contexts, creative practices and fields of academic discourse. Applying a historical framework reveals how this initiated with the performances of American tap dancers being celebrated and presented as a form of legacy. Our questions are: How and where are these knowledges held? What role does legacy have in evolving performing knowledges? How do we, as UK situated researchers, acknowledge the history and legacy of American tap dancers and produce new knowledges in the twenty first century? The panel presents their findings on the historical and evolving interpretations of tap dance legacies, different methods of practice and performance that may evoke new knowledges, the importance of communities of practitioners in disseminating information, performer identities and embodying new knowledges. The panel will involve an interactive element in the form of a short tap performance and demonstration of improvisation practices.
PoPMOVES 2019
University of Roehampton, London UK
Abstract (PDF) available on page 3 – note title missing from PDF
Tap Dance Legacies: Tradition, Innovation, and Authenticity in 21st Century Tap Practice and Research
This panel shares the current research of members of the Tap Dance Research Network. Formed in 2019, the Tap Dance Research Network brings together tap practitioners and academics to explore creative processes and performance of tap dance in the global media and academia. The panel presents their findings on the historical and evolving interpretations of tap dance legacies and developing critical frameworks for evaluation of tap performance. The panel also discusses the potential for tap dance to play a role in the ongoing social activism in areas such as jazz music and Improvisation Studies.
Presenters:
• Sally Crawford-Shepherd: “Evolving Rhythms: Performance Identities as Legacy and Activism in Tap Dance”
• Annette Walker: “Shifting Perspectives of Tap Dance”
• Jess Murray: “A Personal Manifesto for Rhythm Tap Research”
The Tap Dance Research Network UK (TDRN UK) is a volunteer led, non-profit organisation which brings together tap researchers, artists, academics and practitioners to explore creative processes and performance of tap dance in the global media and academia.
For more information on the organisation’s background and activities visit the TDRN UK website