Tap Dancing (1924)

[David Bergdahl]

--On Thursday, October 16, 2003 11:18 AM -0400 George Thompson
<george.thompson at NYU.EDU> wrote:

> The idea that tap-dancing was invented in the 5 Points is based on the
> idea that it is a mingling of Irish and Afro-American styles of dancing.
>
I think a better conjecture would be on the island of Barbados where Irish
were exiled to by Cromwell after the conquest of Ulster that was begun
under Elizabeth I. In 1649 12,000 men were transported.  These redlegs and
their descendants inhabited a place where slave ships deposited their human
cargo and they intermarried with Africans.  The similarity of Irish dance
and tap certainly suggests some influence and Barbados is a likely place.