It would be easy to believe that Tap Dancing came from the great lavish musical productions from Hollywood with all singing all dancing headlining stars created by the great motion picture companies. These were, on the whole, not the performers who lived the dance but to a certain extent, specially created dancers. With exception of a few, these dancers were a product of the dance dream that was Hollywood. They were taught on the whole by some of the Tap masters who them selves were not allowed to be headliners in the big productions due to the racial climate at the time. Many of the ideas and techniques and styles used in the films were taken from popular African American artists and from their current stage shows, breaking one of the traditional rules of Tap Dancing. (You shall not perform some one else's routine for money.)

The greatest exponent of Tap known the world over through the silver screen is Fred Astair who was undoubtedly the most charismatic character from the great Tap movies of the 1930's. He also borrowed from the shows and dancers he had seen perform. It is said that he borrowed styles from Eddie Rector and John Bubbles, true or not it is evident that there are great similarities. Fred created a classical and at times unconventional style of Tap Dancing compared to conventional Tap that was taught at the time.

Fred had a long career of dancing and it was only in his later years did he found fame and fortune. Once again though it has to be pointed out that Fred was not the best Tap dancer and his style of Tap was heavily choreographed, which is the main reason why his dance scenes were, in the main so fascinating to watch.

Along with Fred Astair there were a number of female Tap Dancers like Ann Miller and Eleanor Powell. Ann Miller seemed to adopt the machine gun style of Tap, that was reminiscent of the specialised style of Bunny Briggs . Eleanor Powell used ballet and a form of jazz dance with an excellent Tap style and pushed the boundaries of Tap on the big screen even further.

Fortunately original Tap acts were given small parts in movies, which had nothing to do with the plot of the film, but were included as a speciality act. When these films played to some of the Harlem audiences and in a few other predominantly black areas, audiences demanded that these sequences be re-run, such was the delight of the appearance of African Americans in film. It also needs to be pointed out that in certain states of America these scenes were cut from the movies such was the racial oppression at the time. The Nicholas Brothers were one of the top speciality acts to make it in the movies and were the African American heroes of Tap Dance on the big screen.

After a while a few productions involving black casts were made, but they never made much head way world-wide. Some of these films demonstrated the talent that was passed by. In some of these films, the pioneers appeared and are a lasting record of their achievements and abilities. Such films are still the pride of any Tap Dance enthusiast's collection.

The evolution of Tap Dancing was not represented on the big screen but took place in the various clubs and theatres mainly around Harlem. Although, different developments were happening in other US states of America, no where was the concentration of talent found other than the streets and clubs and venues of Harlem. Harlem had the atmosphere and the wealth of talent to provide enough natural creativity, which aided the development of both music and dance.

The powerful film media that dominated the show business world became the definition of what a Tap dancer was. Schools sprang up due to the massive interest in this new form of dance that was sweeping the world and dance teachers who were used to teaching ballet and other recognised forms of dance had to respond to demand and start teaching Tap. Most of the teachers had no back ground in the Tap Dancing they taught and applied the same disciplines they had used to teach other forms of dance and made it into a ridged style borrowing from Ballet and other forms of popular ballroom dancing for poise and structure.

It is unfortunate that the face of Tap is not the face of its pioneers, but we live in ever changing times. Slowly but surely the roots of this legacy will be uncovered to present a true picture of an art discovered under oppression and the need to have some thing to identify with in troubled circumstances. Today there are a variety of Tap Dance styles taught by various exponents of the art of Tap Dancing. It is true that there is no definitive Tap dance style and students are free to chose there own particular style that appeals to them where ever they are the world over. Tap Dancing brings joy to the millions of those who participate and those who prefer just to watch. What ever the reason Tap is here to stay and grow ever stronger.