Review: TAP DANCE IN MODERN EUROPE

It’s either an activity associated with an image of an old granny, an old school activity like in France, connected with Irish routs like in the UK or Ireland. There is also a third possibility, a young, vibrant, bringing together people from different backgrounds with a fresh but great respect for tradition. Tap dance - the most important dance art in old musicals is not necessarily covered with dust - with a new European touch it can be vibrant, dynamic, and energetic. I was a part of one of those experiences in Spain - where modern meets classics and it’s so much fun!

The Luthier Dance School organized a Summer Festival (the second edition this year) which brought a variety of teachers and students from all over the world and from different generations. This mix of participants made us believe dance and performance are beyond languages, age, and cultural origin. We approach this American art form as a way to express a million different things and the week of workshops was closed by a show that blew us away. It was a great tribute to domestic professionals but also guest teachers.

It was all about rhythm, body percussion, and how to make it art - and as we witnessed there are unlimited ways to do it.

Group dances, solos, body percussion, duos, male, female, mixed, long story short: rhythm in all shapes and sizes. The cherry on the pie was a choreography by Gregory Hines in 90. he danced originally with Marc Mendonca. In 2024 Barcelona Marc brought it on stage with Daniel Borak, Sarah Reich, and Frederica Barbieri and it was just a perfection. It’s kind of like the next generation of Master Shoes. If it was a rock concert, a piece of wardrobe would probably fly onto the stage.

The whole evening was like an eye-opening experience that proved how different tap dancing can be and how, in keeping with a tradition, you can breathe new life into the art. We might not have expected it, but we left craving more.

Photo: Luthier Dance School