Savion Glover Tap Dancing Analysis

Dubbed as the “man who saved tap dancing”, Savion Glover has provoked a stylistic revolution within tap dancing and has inspired many young dancers all over the country with his hip-hop-funk and jazz-infused rhythm tap dance style. How did a seven-year-old go from being a young drummer to one of the most inspiring, and influential tap dancers today?

Tap dance is an art form that is characterized by its use of percussive sounds through the tap shoes striking the floor. Although the art of tap dance is native to America, its roots lie in the fusion of many ethnic percussive dance styles such as African tribal dances, Irish, English and Scottish clog dances, hornpipes and jigs [Britannica] and continued to alter as it encountered the influence of jazz dance in the West. There are two distinct forms of tap dancing: Rhythm (jazz) tap and …show more content…
Glover has not only aligned his work with the jazz world, reviving the historic link between tap and jazz, but he has also incorporated the beats of hip-hop and rap, introducing and pushing a new alliance to the forefront of the tap world. Glover’s story is not shy of emotion or rhythm as he has self-expressed his way into the hearts of audiences all over the country and continues to spread his enthusiasm for the dance form through his students. Glover’s career is a testimony to the impact an individual can make when you allow creativity, passion, drive and commitment to take over. The “man who saved tap dancing” is the perfect description of the seven-year-old that set out to change the face of tap through his commitment to pay homage to the artists that have come before him as well as to the very roots of the dance style and who incited a stylistic revolution through his incorporation of various genres of music within the dance