Drei Menschen die Tap Dance tanzen

Tap Dance

Tap dance is a fascinating phenomenon with origins in European and African dance tradition since the middle of the 17th century. This dance technique is characterised by demanding footwork, improvisational skills, and the joy of a “challenge”. Tap dance’s heyday is surely the American 20th century. The dancers become percussionists, and the genre is currently experiencing a renaissance in numerous metropolises around the world, embracing different dance and music styles, among them hip hop, funk and techno. Choreographer, dancer and teacher Daniel Luka, tanzhaus nrw’s most prominent figure from this dance area, emphasises the use of the English term “tap dance”, which marks it as a contemporary art form. Apart from regular classes, tanzhaus nrw hosts the annual Tap Dance Days, that resonate with current streams, in workshops and performances within the house for four days.

Instructors

Portrait Daniel Luka

Daniel Luka

Show courses (8)

When Daniel Luka, aged five, watched a TV show featuring tap dance, he was quick on deciding: “I want to do this, too!” His mother enrolled him in a dance course, and his love for tap dance was burning brightly. He started teaching in his hometown of Wuppertal when he was only fourteen, living and dancing in New York and Barcelona a few years later. Today, Daniel is a versatile performer collaborating with top-class artists from the international dance and music scenes. All the while, he likes pushing boundaries, experimenting with hip hop music or electronic beats, looking for any entanglement with video or digital art and absorbing impulses by vastly different cultures. Among his inspirations are masters of the genre like Chuck Green, Jimmy Slyde and Sarah Petronio, in whose performances he participated internationally and also at various times during the tap dance days at tanzhaus nrw. He is the choreographer and producer within his own company “Daniel Luka & The Tapengers”, roles he also fulfils for shows like “Feel The Tap”, “Tap A Tune” and “Resonance”. He danced as a soloist with the WDR Big Band at the Cologne Philharmonic and is the founder and host of “Tap Jam Düsseldorf”.