Today in Barcelona, there's Fusion of dance and percussion, to celebrate the 8th edition of International Festival of the Tap Dance, organized by the association 'Crazy for Tap', which programmes spectacles, Master classes, Jam sessions and Open sessions of improvisation.
The Tap is all to do with dance and rhythm, the movement of body and percussion of the feet. Not in vain it was born of the union of the Irish immigrants and African slaves in America at the beginning of the 19th century. John Bubble gave it category of art, Fred Astaire took it to the cinema, and Gene Kelly made it world famous with 'Singing in the Rain'.
Came later all kinds of new dances, but the Tap remains very much alive, as demonstrated in each of the 7 previous editions of the International Tap Festival. This time in Barcelona the celebration programmes starts today till next Sunday, with majestic classes and spectacle. The festival seeks to let more public know this dance and cultivate more dancers both at home and abroad. The present edition counts on the support of the presence of Michelle Dorrance, artist of reference in the United States, professor and dancer of the acclaimed spectacle of 'Stomp' of Broadway.
The session today is in the Sala Atrium, dedicated to a revision of the history of Tap, with a documentary about the legendary John Bubbles, Master of the art. Tomorrow is the official celebration of the International Day of Tap Dance, day chosen for the grand Gala, a spectacle with performance of several professional companies: Barcelona Rhythm Tap, Celtic Chaos, Nuala Irish Dancers, Rem, Tap Olé, Trakatap and Walk on Tapon ... that share scenarios with Michelle Dorrance in Theatre Sat.
Performances on Friday would be in the Sala Nau Ivanor, and on Saturday the 27th there will be a Swing Party, open to all those who want to move with the rhythm of Swing. On the 28th, a choreographic demonstration where the students and dancers from amateurs dance companies can present their creations. The festival closes on Sunday with Tap Jam, a spectacle based on the improvisation of the dancers and open to participation of the general public.
In my modelling and dancing days, I had training of the Tap too apart from just about most form of dancing, but it didn't take too long before I discovered that my left ankle was much weaker than my right, therefore causing much more effort to 'catch up' with the right foot! I had to eventually give up on Tap, but I remain very enthusiastic about it. Luckily that weakness had not affected my capacity to do the other types of dances. I simply wouldn't feel complete without able to dance.
