Join us on Sunday 21 June at 7pm (BST) and 2pm (EDT) when London Tap Jam will be going live on Instagram from NY with special guest host Heather Cornell for a global tap jam. This is a free event!

As the artistic director of one of the most successful tap dance companies in the world Manhattan Tap, Heather Cornell was one of the leading figures in the tap renaissance in NYC in the 80s and 90s. Mentored by the jazz icon bassist Ray Brown, she is known for her collaboration with world class musicians. Heather was mentored by and shared the stage with many of the legendary tap dance masters including Eddie Brown, Chuck Green, Buster Brown, Charlies “Cookie” Cook and Steve Condos. She has spent a large part of her career directing and performing projects that push the boundaries of tap dance as music.

This is going to be an fantastic jam! Everyone and anyone is welcome to join us! Join in on taps or just sit back in the comfort of your own home and enjoy loads of amazing tap dance from people all around the world. Our band leader Michele Drees and other guest musicians from our trio will also be playing tracks for us all to jam to. For more info on how to actively participate in the jam and for a song list (for inspiration) please see below.

Instructions for those who would like to actively take part in the jam

- You will be given the opportunity to dance to a track of your choice live on Instagram. This track should not be no longer than 4 minutes, as we'd like as many people as possible to be able to participate. You will need to put the track on yourself at your home or wherever you are dancing. This is because of potential sound delays.

- Please be aware we might not have time to give everyone the opportunity to dance live.

- When the host goes live on Instagram you will see a message on the screen saying “send a request to be in host’s live video.” If you want to take part in the jam, you will need to send a request to go live with the host and s/he will select someone to go live. If the host has selected you to jam live, you will need to accept his/her invitation. Once you’ve accepted his invitation, you will be live on Instagram. So, if you have sent an invitation to host to jam, you MUST be set up and ready to go immediately. Once a person has been selected by host, and you accepted his/her invitation, you will then be live with the host on a split screen. And you’ll be able to jam to a tune of your choice. Please don’t pick a tune that is too long, as we would like to get as many dancers involved as possible.

- Make sure that if you’ve sent a request to the host to jam, you have your board set up, your shoes are on, the music is queued and that you know where your phone is going to go in order for your performance to be filmed. Try and make sure we can see the whole of your body in the frame. If you have someone else there with you, it’s probably better if they can film you, otherwise just set up your camera on a piece of furniture or a tripod if you have one.

- Know the tune you want to dance to and have it queued up ready to go. We have a list of Jazz Standards for inspiration, which are on our website, but you’re welcome to dance to any tune. It doesn’t have to be a jazz standard.

And finally, as with any London Tap Jam everybody is very welcome to participate!

A list of jazz standards for inspiration, but you can dance to any tune you like

SWING – SLOW TEMPO

• Tea for 2 (Swing or Rumba)

• Sandunga (Salsa)

• Sunny Side of the Street (slow/ medium)
  The Very Thought of You

• Lil'darllin

• Summertime (slow/medium)

• Over the Rainbow

SWING – FAST TEMPO

• Caravan (Latin/swing?)

• It Don't Mean a Thing

• I Can't Give You Anything But Love

• I've Got Rhythm

• Lady Be Good

• Take the "A" Train

• Seven steps to heaven

• A train (for you) 

LATIN/RUMBA/BOSSA/CHACHA

• Girl from Ipanema (Bossa)

• Night in Tunisia (Latin/Swing) 

• Song For My Father (Chacha) 

• Sway (Rumba)

• Bananeira (Bossa)

• On green Dolphin street (Latin into Jazz)

• St Thomas (Latin)

SWING – MEDIUM TEMPO

• All of Me

• All the Things You Are

• April in Paris

• Bemsha Swing

• Don’t Get Around Much Anymore

• Every Time We Say Goodbye (med/ slow)

• Groovin' High

• Hello Dolly

• How High the Moon

• I've Got You Under My Skin

• Lets Face the Music and Dance

• Love Me or Leave Me

• Lullaby of Birdland

• Mack the Knife

• Me and My Shadow

• My Baby Just Cares for Me

• Satin Doll

• Scrapple From the Apple

• So What

• Taking a Chance on Love (med/fast)

• The Lady is a Tramp

• Filthy McNasty

• Moanin'

• Jordu

• Cute

• Blue Monk

• Scapple from the Apple

• Tea for Two (Swing or Rumba)

• Work Song

FUNK

• On Broadway

• Watermelon Man

• Cantaloupe Island

3/4

• Favourite Things

• All Blues

5/4

• Take 5

SONGS WITH STOPS

• Gregory’s tune

• Cute

• Seven steps to heaven