For over 40 years, the International Dance Organization has hosted incredible shows and competitions for amateur and professional dancers. With that kind of longevity, you know they’ve seen some incredible performances. But few are as mind-blowingly awesome as this tap routine from the 2018 Tap Dance World Championships.
Have some Faith
The video opens as an off-camera announcer introduces us to a Croatian dance team, Faith. You can see the group of six coming on stage to the roar of an excited crowd. The members are young men and women dressed in attractive and sleek blacks and red wearing the famous hard-soled shoes that give tap-dance its distinctive sound.
As the music comes in, the members of Faith turn to face the crowd in sequence. The strength and confidence of these performers come through, from their bright smiles to their straight and steady postures.
A new kind of tap
One of the dancers kicks things off by moving out of the line. Her feet tip-tap a routine that sets the stage for the rest who move to fall in line. Soon, the rest join the dance with posing from the performers in the rear, sliding entrances from the men, and the click-clack sounds of tap shoes that add so much to the music.
But don’t think that Faith will stick to mirrored actions. While the women tap dance in the background, the men make an amazing routine where one slides across the stage, while the other leaps over his head.
She’s the girl
As the song continues, the camera view shifts. Instead of a wide-angle shot that emphasizes everyone, we get shots that emphasize a performer in the lead. During these segments, one of the women dancers stands proud center in view. Her feet move in choreographed unison with her team and she smiles directly into the camera.
Viewers will likely keep an eye on this woman in particular since she steals the show. Whether she’s in the rear line providing tap percussion or jumping ahead lead a segment, she never misses a beat. This starlet poses, prances, and owns the stage with powerful steps that are an absolute delight to behold.
A leap of Faith
Most tap dance routines keep the feet on the stage. After all, how can you make that distinctive sound if you’re not on the dance floor? But Faith spends a lot of time in the air. Between leapfrogs and hops and skips, Faith brings Croatia’s best athleticism to the floor and shows how far you can take tap.
Make sure you pay attention to how mobile the routine is. The performers have a large stage to work with and they make use of every inch. From sweeps to slides, to glides, it’s almost like an ice show in all but locale.
Come together, right now
As the song winds down to a final decrescendo, the performers bring it in. Their arms swing and sway as if they were swimming through the air all while winding together in a tight-packed fashion. Then, as the final notes of the song plays, the women raise up their legs and hold a pose to the cheers of a stunned crowd.
Faith then takes a moment to bask in the well earned praise, before stepping off stage while the announcer calls out the name “Faith”. Can you imagine being in the crowd that day?
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