1. Fantastic Flaps
If you want to do basic flaps in tap dance, the good news is that they're relatively easy to learn. Flaps are one of the basic tap steps that even dancers as young as age three learn. Flaps can be incorporated into more complicated tap combinations or performed alone on alternating feet. Before beginning, you'll need a pair of tap shoes. You can purchase tap shoes at a variety of retail locations or on the Internet from a dance footwear and apparel distributor. Your tap shoe size is usually identical or very close to your street shoe size, so ordering online shouldn't present an inconvenience.
2. Get Off Those Heels
Many tap steps require you to stay off your heels, and flaps are no exception. Stay on your toes when you're performing flaps. The motion for a flap is fairly subtle. If you watch very young dancers perform flaps, the movement looks bigger because it's difficult for them to perform flaps without a lot of leg motion. Most of the motion involved in a flap step actually is confined to the foot. A basic variation on the flap step is a flap ball change. Perform a flap on the right foot followed by a flap on the left foot and then the right foot again. Next step on the ball of your left foot. Then put all your weight on your right leg as you step with your right foot. Stay on the ball of your foot for this last part if you want to repeat the entire combination beginning with your left leg.
3. Practice Makes Perfect
It takes practice to improve your performance, so practice regularly. The flap consists of brushing the ball of your foot on the ground. The ball of your foot will still be close to the ground after the first brush, but it won't actually be touching. Next, you'll place the ball of your foot on the ground without moving your foot forward or backward from the position it was in when you finished the brush. The flap appears to be one solid motion, but it actually consists of two very subtle movements. The technique for a tap doesn't really change regardless of whether you're wearing flat tap shoes or heels, although it is a bit easier to stay off your heels when you're wearing flat tap shoes.
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