Low Enrollment?

“We’re really trying to grow our tap program”

I’ve heard this phrase at all three of studios I have worked for. It’s easy to assume that low enrollment means the style is dying, but really, the way tap is being marketed and taught needs some revamping.

Marketing-wise, studios tend to send out images of their older students performing ballet, jazz, and contemporary while posting images of only little ones with their tap shoes on. With a lack of representation in older students, this message implies tap is a style only for preschoolers or very young children. For parents with children who are joining dance later on into childhood, they may opt to skip tap entirely because of the false belief that they are too late to join it, and for parents who have had their little ones tap for some time, they may drop their children from the classes once they are “too old.” This problem is easily fixed with a few pictures or videos of older dancers in tap. Seeing older students performing acts as an example of what can be done, especially if they are strong dancers. Seeing a good tap dancer can be encouraging for parents who are uncertain whether or not to enroll their children in tap. With better representation, enrollment may prosper.

Currently, tap classes are falling behind in ways that other classes are not. Ballet lessons aren’t taught the same way or with the same techniques from 1800s, jazz classes have moved on since the jazzercise of the 1980s, and you don’t really see 1990s Cabbage Patch in hip hop routines these days. For whatever reason, studios still try to reinforce the misleading image of tap being solely the Broadway style of the 1950s. Although Broadway tap has its place and should be taught, tap has continued to evolve outside of this style and mold to fit current interests. One style that has developed into the 21st century is rhythm tap. Rhythm, unlike the Broadway being pushed, allows for greater freedom of expression. Rhythm tappers are encouraged to explore the sounds they can make without the pressures of standardized timesteps and appearing uniform to the dancers around them. Without completely eliminating Broadway tap and instead highlighting rhythm tap, freestyle, and the independence these style offer, tap classes may adjust enough to increase enrollment.

Tap classes also run into a problem not seen in other styles when teachers cannot hear their own students individually to know if they are performing correctly or incorrectly. In a ballet lesson, an instructor may be able to see if a dancer’s arabesque lacks a point or elongation in comparison to other students, but when a tap instructor tries to spot problems in a room with 15 children, hearing a cataclysm of metal on the floor drowns out the ability to not only spot issues, but to hear them as well. Even if the class has that high of an enrollment, there will need to be pauses with students waiting to go one at a time in order to receive feedback, leading to a loss of learning time. Without these pauses, the lesson are impersonal and encourage poor form when instructors cannot hear the issues they need to correct. Instead, accepting smaller classes, around five to ten students, and increasing the number of classes offered gives students the attention they need in order to succeed. From there, they will be more inclined to continue with tap.

However, one of the biggest issues in my opinion is studios hiring non-passionate tap instructors. As tap isn’t as popular as ballet or jazz, finding a strong candidate can prove difficult, but when instructors are hired solely for having a basic knowledge of tap and not for their enthusiasm for the dance form, students can definitely catch on. Instructors who don’t love what they are doing won’t pass the love onto their students. Classes grow boring and meticulous. Sure, the students will know how to do their shuffles and timesteps, but being taught by someone who has little care for what they teach, especially with artforms, substitutes what should be an exciting lesson with something closer to the mathematics of dance. Without passion, classes are strictly technique-driven and quickly become tedious. If more studios put the effort into hiring tap instructors who are people in love with tap, and not general instructors who just so happen to know how to tap, their classes will fill out in a fantastic way. 

Ultimately, studio owners and instructors cannot control who joins, stays with, or quits a class, however, tap does not need to be stifled because of a refusal to accept change.