Livin’ That Tap Life

Happy Monday, everyone. This morning, I want to talk again about college tap dance clubs, companies, and ensembles.

But… instead of talking about those groups that already exist, I want to talk about those that do not exist.

Not yet, at least.

Let me preface this by saying that I am *NOT* talking about dance organizations that offer tap in addition to other styles of dance. I am talking about standalone tap dance organizations.

Some examples of tap dance ensembles I’m referring to:

@tuftstap at @tuftsuniversity

@rhythm_tap at @uofmichigan

@tapclubuw at @uofwa

Another example is @the_tapcollective at the @mizzou, which was just started in the last year by Sonya Hendrickson (@sonyahendrickson7)! Well done, Sonya! 🖤💛🐅

Where am I going with this? I’ll tell you.

As there are many schools which have tap dance clubs and other groups, there are many more that do not.

I can name a few schools right away that do not have tap dance clubs or other tap dance-focused groups on their campuses:

* The University of Tennessee
* Michigan State University
* The University of Kentucky
* The University of Texas
* The University of Oklahoma
* Tulane University
* The University of Arizona
* Central Michigan University
* The University of Alabama
* Louisiana State University
* The University of Mississippi
* West Virginia University
* Rutgers University

There are also some schools that have ensembles but I suspect have been dormant for some time:

* The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA)
* Oklahoma State University
* Santa Clara University

I could go on forever. The list is too long, in my opinion.

The Monday Discussion this week is directed towards tap dancers who attend a school without a tap dance club or ensemble.

If you could start a tap dance-focused club or other group at your school, like Sonya did at Mizzou, would you do it? If so, do you plan to create one? Also, if you do plan on creating one, what would your main motivation be for doing so, and what would the overarching mission and/or goals of this group be?

#TapDanceGoesToCollegeMonth #TapDanceGoesToCollege #CollegeTapDanceEnsembles #tapdance #tapcommunity