The RodgarBand I'ts Tappening ft. Sarah Reich and Melinda Sullivan 

But she IS having the time of her life, that's for sure.

Lindsey Steel thank you so much. Yes. Sarah and Melinda are the best!!

Thank you so much!

That is a great question. The arm movement you see here is to keep balance and because that is what the dancer is feeling at the moment. Some tap, more the Broadway style or what you would see Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers perform or even the Rockets, have choreographed arms to creat a specific image to the audience. The style that Sarah and Melinda dance falls inline with more traditional tap, which is much more about the rhythm and beat. Tap was originally a street performance dance where the dancers would learn by watching and mimicking other dancers on the street. Traditional tap is an american artform that combines the rhythm of West African dance with the jigs of Irish dancers and british cloggers which can be traced back to when african slaves, the irish and british endentured slaves that clogges intermingled. You are right, Irish Dance has more restricted upper body movenent, probably as a way to be more pious since Catholism was the main religion if Irland. Even then, different regions of Irland followed the stiff upperbody movement to different levels. I believe what became the standard is fron the northern region....I could be wrong on that part though. I hope that helps explian. The book "What the Eyes Hear: a History of Tap dancing" by Brian Seibert is a great resource about the history of tap dancing, though it is very academic and hard to read.

@@kimberlylilly5995 Thanks! Awesomely informative answer. Every once in a while somebody posts a well-written comment like this, and they are great to read compared to the majority of comments.

Thank you. I apprieciate the compliment.

They tap in more of a rhythm tap style, movie musicals and Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers is more about full body tap where the positions of the body as well as the tap sounds are choreographed. It is just a different style. Also rhythm tap the women are in more flat shoes, as Ginger, Eleanor Powell and Ann Miller were in heels only. Never tap danced in flats. But still it is all tap dancing! :)

Hermione Granger thanks for your comment. The middle part was all improvised in the studio

If you mean jazz, there's PLENTY. But the tap-dancing combo mixed in, not really. I mean, it exists, but there isn't huge amounts.

Look up Chano dominguez oye como viene.....kind'a same type....Michel camilo...or better yet Look up the documentary CALLE 54

Post Modern Jukebox ... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PgupfwUeXYY.html

@@ripig111 yeah, I'm familiar with PMJ. I just found this style of jazz + tapping to be really different and engaging

I have to agree. The constant cuts were driving me crazy.