Did you know that there are more than a hundred styles of tap dancing?
Despite its diversity, a lot of dancers agree that tap dance is a dying art form. It’s unclear what made things take a turn for the worse, but many think it’s because more popular dance styles have emerged over time. From being at the core of most Broadway productions, tap dance has fallen to the bottom of the list at numerous dance studios worldwide.
Having that in mind, we’re thrilled to see a dance group reviving tap dance with a contemporary touch.
RB Dance Company is a French dance group, founded in 2018.
Dancer Romain Rachline Borgeaud started the whole project, with the idea of mixing urban jazz and tap dancing.
The outcome is theatrical and narrative dance, which aims to make tap dancing attractive to new generations.
Judging by their thousands of Instagram followers and over 40,000 fans subscribed to their YouTube channel, we’d say that they are doing pretty well so far.
The national recognition came after RBDC participated in the program La France a un Incroyable Talent.
The show is similar to America’s Got Talent, and after performing there, a lot of opportunities came knocking at the band’s door afterward! Today, they’re usually booked throughout the whole year.
Stromae’s “Papaoutai” is not the first song that comes to mind when you think about tap dancing.
In spite of “Papaoutai” and tap dancing being an unusual combination, the performance turned out phenomenal. Belgian musician Stromae released the song in 2013 and it became the best-selling single in his native country. The catchy song was performed live at the 2013 NRJ Music Awards and featured will.i.am. There were several covers and parodies, but tap dancing to “Papaoutai” is something we see for the first time!
Dancers and percussionists joined forces in creating some fantastic, powerful choreography.
Just one glance at the video, and you’ll notice mixed-race people enjoying themselves—namely male and female percussionists along with several amazing dancers.
The act is intense in so many ways.
Each time they hit the drum and white powder spreads everywhere, there’s an overwhelming feeling of joy—we hope you’ll notice the same thing, as we were certainly enthralled.
You can find the names of everyone involved in making the video in the video description.
The energy of the dancers will astound you!
We would have loved if some of their remarkably fast moves were shown from a closer perspective.
As was clear from the performance, these people were telling a story through their dance moves. The video makes it clear that we need more tap dancing in the entertainment industry. Regardless, we love the dancers’ constant tempo and the unity in their moves. Their upper bodies are completely relaxed, their knees aren’t locked and the cohesiveness is exquisite. RB Dance Company makes this style of tap dancing seem modern, interesting and easy to learn!
You almost feel like you could take this dance act and set it to any contemporary song!
Since it was posted, this “Papaoutai” tap dance was viewed more than three million times on YouTube.
Let’s hope that these musicians will pick more interesting songs and tap dance to them—we certainly want to see more!
Check out the full performance by clicking on the link below:
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