Chaps with Taps

Coral Drouyn talks to the Tap Pack’s Jordan Pollard during their Queensland tour and takes a look at what makes tap so appealing.

What is it about tap dancing that makes it so universally appealing? For 300 years now, since its origins in Irish step-dancing and Lancashire clog dancing, and then its American roots in the Deep South, tap has had a universal appeal that crosses generations and race. And just when you think that the dancing of John Bubbles and Bill Robinson of the 20s and 30s are dead and gone, along comes Fred Astaire, the Nicholas Brothers, Eleanor Powell, Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Ann Miller, Sammy Davis Junior, and England’s Roy Castle ,who still holds the tap world record of 1440 beats per minute (though the Americans don’t like to admit it). Then came Gregory Hines and lately Savion Glover. Tap has been declared dead many times, but it refuses to lie down. Even penguins do it in Happy Feet, which actually features many of Australia’s greatest tappers.

Jordan Pollard – co-creator of The Tap Pack (alongside Thomas Egan and Jesse Rasmussen – another Gold Coaster trained by Peta Norton) believes it’s part of our DNA.

“Every person is unique, and has their own individual rhythm. They have to express it. So little kids start moving their feet as soon as they can walk,” he explains – and those that can’t become drummers.

While those early dancers really only knew hoofing, Gene Kelly added the physicality of ballet to the musical on screen and revolutionised what it meant to be a male dancer.

“If I have to choose just one dancer as my favourite it would have to be Kelly,” Jordan says. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched Singing in the Rain. I never tire of watching him and Donald O’Connor together. I guess it’s that camaraderie, of them and the famed Rat Pack, that inspires our act.”

The Rat Pack of course ruled Las Vegas in the 1950s and 60s. Headed by Frank Sinatra, with Dean Martin, Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop, they all danced, sang, sent each other up, had their own comedy shtick and - they had Sammy Davis Jnr! Arguably the greatest entertainer of all time, Sammy rewrote the rule book as to how much talent one person could have.

“I never got to see him live,” Jordan regrets. “But he and the Pack were our inspiration. They had so much fun in all the clips I’ve seen. It was intimate, spontaneous, and the audience felt completely involved. That’s what we’ve aimed for since we did our first gig at Parramatta Riverside in 2013.”

All the members of The Tap Pack are skilled in all forms of dance, not just tap. So they include ballet, jazz, contemporary and even hip hop in the show.

“But tap is our first love,” Jordan says. “We were all working in musical theatre, sometimes in the same show, but we thought wouldn’t it be great if we could just work together for the rest of our lives? We didn’t think about success, or whether we could make a living. We just wanted to dance.”

And dance they did. And sang and did comedy. They brought back the whole idea of sixties COOL! It took about five years but The Tap pack made a name for themselves overseas. In the West End, then a UK tour, and Germany, and the hardest nut of all to crack, the USA.

“Last year we were in the middle of our American tour and getting fabulous reaction, when Covid shut everything down and we had to come home. Then we had this fabulous tour planned along Australia’s East Coast, when Melbourne went into lockdown and some of us were trapped and the tour had to be rescheduled. I can’t tell you what it means to me to finally get back on the road. I’ve been hanging out for Queensland sunshine, even though I loved the time with the kids.” He explains. Jordan has a baby son and a 3 1/2 year old daughter, Frankie, who is already doing tap and ballet, “and Martial Arts too, just to keep her balanced,” he jokes.

Yet, even though they’ve had a great first week, this next week, when they were ready to dip south into NSW, has had to be cancelled, which is frustrating for all of them. But at least they can resume the tour in Ipswich on July 7^th and they’ll be at HOTA on the Gold Coast on July 15^th - and if ever we needed all round entertainment and stunning talent, it’s now. With two of the touring Pack being Queenslanders, it’s also a chance to catch up with families and childhood friends. But mainly, they’re there for the audience. Later in the year there’s a Melbourne season, and ticket sales are going crazy, and a return tour to Germany where the pack has a fanatical following.

My mother was a tap dancer – a hoofer. Highly acclaimed in the 1930s, she played the London Palladium at age 11, rehearsed with the Nicholas Brothers in her teens  and challenged Sammy Davis Junior to a “tap-off” in the bathroom of his suite at The Midland Hotel in 1960 (you can’t tap on carpet). She would have adored The Tap Pack. And so will YOU! Don’t miss them. They are pure Entertainment.

Revised Tour Dates

July 7th Ipswich Civic Centre

July 13^th Cairns Performing Arts Centre

July 15 HOTA Gold Coast

July 16 Empire Theatre Toowoomba

July 17 Logan Entertainment Centre, Brisbane

July 18 Redlands Art Centre