Posted by Ruby on Sep 18, 2013 in | 0 comments

As those heading to this month’s Tap On Barcelona festival know, there’s no business like toe business.
Words Ruby Boukabou

While many tourists flock to Barcelona for the tapas, others wing in for the tap. The Catalonian capital is the New York of Europe for tap dance, with studios dedicated to the American dance form, professional companies producing shows and regular jam sessions in the city’s parks and bars. And this month (July 22-28) the city pulses to the beat of the annual Tap On Barcelona Festival.

Barcelona is an explosion of colour, its frenetic energy and salty, humid air reminiscent of Sydney, where city and sea similarly collide. The broad La Rambla is abuzz with skateboarders, street performers and women spruiking local paella restaurants. A haven of sorts lies a few blocks to the east in the Gothic Quarter, a labyrinth of narrow alleys, once Picasso’s stomping ground and the birthplace of modernism.

Something woven deep in the fabric of Barcelona celebrates creativity and passion. The city has embraced tap dancing, with the festival and now the Jimmy Slyde Institute, named for the late American tap legend. Tap On Barcelona is directed by local Basilio González, who wants to share tap’s diversity. “It’s so much more than Fred and Ginger.”

Dance films such as White Nights and Tap, both starring Gregory Hines, kept the genre alive through the 1980s and helped seed a huge mid-1990s revival with the Broadway revue Bring In ’Da Noise, Bring In ’Da Funk. Since then, tap has continued to develop, embracing new generations and styles including Australian Dein Perry’s Tap Dogs.

Past participants at Tap On Barcelona have included American stars Jason Samuels Smith, Chloe and Maud Arnold and Jason Janas, German Sebastian Weber, French master Roxane “Butterfly” Semadeni and Spaniard Luis Melendez. Last year, the festival was in the centre of town at Luthier Dance Area, the new studios of local dancer Guillem
Alonso. After training in New York in the mid-’90s tap boom, Alonso returned with the goal of teaching the technique he had learned there, creating a repertoire and starting regular tap jams with local musicians.

During the festival, tap classes run from 10am to 7pm, and beginners are welcome. Participants hail from as far afield as Norway, Israel and Australia, while past teachers have included “body percussionist” Thanos Daskalopoulos (Greece), Americans Sarah Reich, Cartier Williams and Lee Howard, and Jérémie Champagne (France). This year’s
festival features Michela Marino Lerman and Nico Rubio from the US .

More… turn on the tap (Full Article) – PDF