One of the great legendary success stories of the Hoofers Club has to be that of John Bubbles, who is said to have attempted to impress the clubs dancers, only to have been laughed at for his seemingly pathetic attempts to Tap dance. Many dancers would have been put off by this humiliating experience, but thankfully, due to the strength of his character, he went away with one thought in mind, and that was to be the best that he could be and come back to prove him self once again.

Later on John Bubbles was renowned for stealing steps although when you see him perform you see nothing of any one else. Bubbles was more interested in how other people executed their steps rather than the step it's self, as more could be learned from the execution of the step than the actual step. The execution of a step was most important and once learned, it can be slowed down or speeded up or done backwards and you would never know it was the same step.

Bubbles knew that most steps were just variations of old steps seen before except that when some one used it he would do the step but just twist his ankle of or raise the foot a little higher so it was disguised. Tap Dancing is a rhythmic combination of Taps and you could emulate any combination of Tap beats without using the same steps. Bubbles used this to steal or rather stop other people from using a step he thought was good, and would claim it as his own. It is unsure whether he did this and actually used the steps or just liked to mess people up. His Tap style was ground breaking in it's self at the time and it is unlikely that he stole steps for the sole purpose of use in his act.

Bubbles pioneered many new variations to the styles and steps that had gone before and was an important part of Taps evolutionary growth. Most importantly he introduced the heel into the rhythmic complexity of Tap. Although the heel had already been used from time to time before, it was not used in such a syncopated and complex way, as was used by Bubbles. Also changes to the length and speed of the bars were also major developments which were later used by other dancers to open up a whole New World of Tap freedom never seen before.