If Feet Could Talk

For a while now, we've been considering writing a song that was specifically designed to be a tap – as in tap dance – feature. This revue that's all about entertaining and plain ol' having fun was a great excuse to take the leap at last. It helps that we happen to have a wonderful choreographer (Melissa Schott) who has a passion for tap, too. Needless to say, she was pretty excited about it when we told her what we were up to.

The song we came up with is pretty simple, really. It's unison so that the singing is easy, memorable, and doesn't upstage the movement. It also makes it accessible to singers of all ages. It's a jazzy swing tune, which is perfect for our purposes, and features a terrific big band on the Performance/Accompaniment recording. And, of course, the arrangement is by Paul Jennings, so you know it's great.

There are lots and lots of "holes" in the melody by design. These are there so that you can fill them with the rhythm of your young tappers' feet. And as you might expect, after the full iteration of the tune, there is a recap that brings you to an instrumental interlude that quietly, but tastefully, gets out of the way so you can have a featured section of tapping. This part lasts about 16 bars and leads back into the bridge with singing and tapping full force till the end.

There are a few ways to approach this for your performance. First, you could do your own choreography and/or have someone in your midst do it. It doesn't have to be difficult at all. In fact, simplicity would work nicely. Keep the steps basic and repeitious and just focus on filling the "holes." Use everyone or a group to do the tapping. A soloist or soloists who trade off steps could be exciting and showy, too. Another thought – while we meant for this to be tap, it would also work as a soft shoe feature. Again, keep the steps simple. (Toss a little sand on the floor for dancers or even use sand blocks to add a bit of percussion.)

Ready, set, tap! - The other way to program this is to use the dance that Melissa has already choreographed. Yup. All the creative work has been done for you. She even videotaped it AND did a section by section teaching guide for you to use to teach your own tappers. There's also a written out version for study and implementation, if that is helpful to you. But, she reminds us that her ideas are just suggestions, and as always, you are free to alter or adapt them in any way you like. You know your kids and you can decide if they need something more, less, or just different. It's all good.

You probably already realize that you can use this song outside of the revue, as it is not specific to it. Mix and match it with other revues, collections, and programs however you like. This also applies to the other songs that follow in this revue.