An indigenous American dance form that evolved as African and British dance traditions merged during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, tap dancing involves the production of syncopated sounds by the dancer's feet. Tap dancing has been a mainstay of virtually every type of popular performing-arts entertainment in the United States, from minstrel shows to vaudeville, revues, extravaganzas, Broadway and Hollywood musicals, nightclubs, precision dance teams, and television variety programs. A remarkably adaptive dance form, tap has fused with and reflected the changing entertainment sensibilities of American audiences for almost 200 years. Tap routines figure prominently in children's dance recitals, as dance instruction is a popular enrichment activity for youngsters and many are too young for, or uninterested in, the serious discipline of ballet. Adult amateurs also find tap dancing a fun form of recreation and exercise.

Though some trace the roots of tap back to the ships...