Written for The Argo by Courtney Combs

When you think of tap dancing, you probably start to think of old black and white movies from the 1930s.

But for members of Stockton Tap, the campus’ only tap dancing club, tap is a way for students to learn about the style of Tap dance. For junior Ashley Mann, tap dancing is all about the rhythm. “Tap dancing is very crucial, as we are using our feet as instruments to improvise, with the tap of our heel, our footwork, and shuffles; we are orchestrating a musical that can tell the full story behind our tap,” says Mann, vice president of Stockton Tap Club. “As I started coming to the meeting I was happy we were actually dancing as opposed to learning just about the style.”

The group was founded in the Fall 2022 Semester by students Aniyah Harris, Ashley Mann, Bianca Connelly, and Ellen Metzler.

Aniyah Harris, the President of Stockton Tap, started the club because she had a love for tap dancing. After she graduated high school, she didn’t do much dancing until she got to Stockton. At first, the club started slow but just this semester it kicked back off, to where they can now put on their second showcase.

“Most of us have danced at a dance studio that had yearly showcases or recitals, but due to COVID, we didn’t get to finish out our last year properly or in unconventional ways. For example, My dance studio held a mini recital in the park for my last two years and the floor wasn’t the best so when tapping you couldn’t hear my sounds clearly,” says Harris.

Each semester Harris arranged the club so that the club members work towards a collective goal and vote on a dance recital, production number, and weekly choreographed dances.

Stockton Tap is currently working on a Dance recital. The organization decided to do a dance recital in the spring semesters to bring back the traditional show structure they know. During those dance recitals, they plan on selling tickets, having costumes, decorations, props, lighting, and even backstage like a traditional recital. The club even plans on having a show runner, who makes sure everyone is lined up and ready to go on stage so the E-board members can focus on
tapping their feet away instead of worrying about who can control the slide show, the music, and the lighting.

The organization draws students from across the University. “You would think we would have School or Arts majors only interested in this club, but we have science majors who are tapping too,” says Metzler.

The club currently meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:30-5:30 p.m. in the Alton Auditorium. If you are interested in seeing the Stockton Tap dancers tap come to their next recital on April 19 at 7:00 p.m. in the Campus Center Theater.