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Paddle and Roll Comes in Different Flavors

A long, time ago, in a master class for tap dancers near me, I got some information that just plain blew my mind. The standard 4-count paradiddle is just one of many. That's right, it turns out that paradiddles come in different flavors. Er, different numbers of counts. I made this short video to show my tap dancers how to do the 5-count riff and the 6-count riff, but if you're a tap dancer interested in riffs, I hope you'll click play!



As you may have guessed right now - especially if you're one of my tap students or you've read my post about how to do a back essence - there are different flavors of LOTS of tap steps and combos and different names, too. Maybe you're familiar with the double and triple back essence. Consider the riff. How many can you think of off of the top of your head?

And then think about this: the number of counts in a riff is limited only by a tap dancer's ability to fit in the various sounds. A lot of people learn something called a "tap walk," which is just a 5-count riff. Other people learn a 3-count riff walk, while at another dance studio a riff walk may always be a 2-count step. But in a quick search, I found everything from a 12-count riff walk to Rodney Howell's 8-100-count riff walk tutorial video.

And then there is the flap. Once upon a time, when I was just a kid at a neighborhood dance studio, most of my tap teachers differentiated between a flap (you put your weight on it) and a slap (essentially a flap with no weight on it). At some point, I transitioned to a studio where they were all flaps and that stuck. But never be surprised to hear variations in terminology and to see variations in how a step is performed.

I know it can get confusing to see so many variations, but personally as a tap dancer, I wouldn't have it any other way. How cool is it to be a part of an art form where those who practice it have the freedom to create something new?

Happy tapping!



Want to learn to tap dance? Christa Terry teaches kid, teen, and adult tap classes at Dance Enthusiasm in Salem, MA! More info on the summer schedule: http://www.danceenthusiasm.org/summer/
Whether you've never put on a pair of tap shoes or you want to get back into tap dancing, whether you're 8 or 80, Christa knows you can do it!

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