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Tap with Clare Halse and Simon Adkins from the musical 42nd Street

Katie Derham explores the world of tap with leading lady Clare Halse and resident choreographer Simon Adkins from the smash hit musical 42nd Street.

Katie Derham explores the world of tap with leading lady Clare Halse and resident choreographer Simon Adkins from the smash hit musical 42nd Street.

From its roots as a mixture of clog dancing, soft shoe and African-influenced dance, tap as we know it started to emerge in the 1920s. Some Vaudeville and night club performers successfully made the transition into film when the talkies were invented, culminating a golden age of Hollywood with dancers like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Katie looks at the history and development of the dance form, and talks to Clare Halse and Simon Adkins about how the rhythm of tap becomes part of a musical score.

Producer - Ellie Mant

Available now

37 minutes

Music Played

  • Noble Sissle

    Shuffle Along

    Composer: Eubie Blake. Performer: Members of the Cast.
    • Sissle & Blake sing Shuffle Along.
    • HARBINGER RECORDS.
    • 10.
  • Chick Smith

    Just a Crazy Song

    Composer: Spencer Williams. Performer: Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson. Orchestra: Brunswick Studio Orchestra.
    • The Cotton Club.
    • ASV.
    • 2.
  • Harry Warren

    Lullaby of Broadway (Gold Diggers of 1935)

    Singer: Winifred Shaw. Singer: Dick Powell. Orchestra: Studio Orchestra. Choir: Studio Choir.
    • Lullaby Of Broadway, The Best Of Busby Berkeley At Warner Bros..
    • EMI.
    • 2.
  • Cole Porter

    Begin the Beguine (Broadway Melody of 1940)

    Singer: Fred Astaire. Singer: Eleanor Powell. Orchestra: MGM Studio Orchestra. Conductor: Alfred Newman.
    • Broadway Melody of 1940 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).
    • Rhino.
    • 10.
  • Nacio Herb Brown

    Singin' in the Rain

    Composer: Arthur Freed. Performer: Gene Kelly. Performer: Donald O Connor. Performer: Doris Day. Orchestra: MGM Studio Orchestra.
    • Singin' in the Rain (Original MGM Soundtrack).
    • CBS Special Products.
    • 12.
  • Jerry Herman

    Mame - Mame

    Performer: Members of the Cast.
    • Angela Lansbury ‎– Mame.
    • SONY CLASSICAL.
    • 8.
  • Harry Warren

    Go Into Your Dance (42nd Street)

    Performer: Members of the Cast.
    • RCA : RCD 13891.
    • RCA.
    • 4.
  • Harry Warren

    42nd Street (42nd Street)

    Performer: Members of the Cast.
    • RCA : RCD 13891.
    • RCA.
    • 13.
  • Savion Glover

    Industrialisation (Bring in 'da Noise, bring in 'da Funk)

    Performer: Savion Glover. Performer: Baakari Wilder. Performer: Jimmy Tate. Performer: Vincent Bingham. Performer: Jared Crawford. Performer: Raymond King.
    • Bring In 'Da Noise, Bring In 'Da Funk (Original Broadway Cast).
    • RCA.
    • 9.

Broadcast

  • Sat 15 Sep 2018 15:00

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