Champion Tappers

The International Dance Organization (IDO), who has its headquarters in Slagelse, Denmark, has organised the World Championships for Tap dance since 1991. Now in its 19th year, the IDO is the only organisation in the world that is allowed to bestow the title of World Champion.

It is, together with the World championships for Show Dance, a very coveted competition for all Tap dancers – professionals, semi-professionals; in fact all dancers who are allowed to participate. There are altogether four age divisions: Children (up to 11 years), Juniors (12 – 15 years), Adults (16 and over – professional category) and Adults 2 (31 years and over). In each of these age groups there are several categories: Solo, Duo, Trio, Small Group (4 – 7 dancers) and Formation (8 – 24 dancers). This year there were 20 nations from all continents and more than 1200 participants. Portugal and Australia represented their countries here for the first time. Both England and Japan took part for the first time in 2008.

Above: English Tap Team – Adult Formation

The standard of the work this year was, as stated by William E. Fowler, President of IDO, “absolutely amazing; the highest standard we have ever seen”. The styles that can be seen at this remarkable event are a real eye opener – from Classical to Country, Techno to Tango, Rhythm & Blues to Rock, Swing, Musical, spoken word, instrumental – there are no boundaries. Whether you are watching the most incredible eight or nine year old or the Adult formations, it is an experience that should not be missed.

Competition is strong – these being mainly the American and Canadian national Tap dance teams or the dancers and teams from Switzerland. After speaking to a Canadian and American candidate they both told me that the Americans and Canadians have auditions where the national team chooses 24 dancers to represent their country. Many dancers take part in the auditions for one of the coveted places on the team.

Dancers from America and Canada profit greatly when applying for jobs if it states on their CV that they were part of the National Team. It is also very costly for them – each dancer pays around £15,000 to participate (this includes travel and training throughout the year, costumes, flights and hotels for the week of Riesa).

Switzerland is usually associated with skiing or the fiscal world, but they also have some of the most famous Tap dancers of the 21st century, including Daniel Borak, Fabrice Matin and The Surbeck Brothers.
Dorel and Costel Surbeck don’t only break the hearts of female dancers with their good looks and charisma, they can also Tap! Imagine the Nicholas Brothers in the 21st century. The Surbeck Brothers excel in acrobatic Tap, Flash dance and also lyrical Tap, which was seen in this year’s routine. One also has to mention Daniel Borak, who developed a very unique style, which resulted in a fantastic solo this year.

Left: Jo Scanlan and James Doubtfire

My personal experience in Tap dance has developed immensely over the last nine years since participating in the world championships for the first time back in 2001. Up until then I had taught and trained mainly through the ISTD syllabus, entering children and students for exams but also visiting workshops with great Tap dancers who had no association with the ISTD work whatsoever. Even that did not prepare me for what I was confronted with the first time I visited the championships. I train and choreograph for an organisation called the ‘Penguin Tappers’ in Germany, which has several departments in the performing arts genre but the main one being the Tap dance department. We currently have around 250 students varying from the ages of 5 to 60 and 110 of them participated this year in the championships.

Up until this year we had won several bronze and silver medals but this year the Adult Formation Team (ages 15 – 30) won the gold medal with the choreography based on a game of chess! This was a fantastic achievement as it is the first time that this category has not been won by the Americans or Canadians since 1991. This year the Adults 2 and Juniors won respectively a silver and bronze medal all almost all other competitors from my school were in the finals.

Throughout the years I always wondered why Great Britain never participated as there are some incredible Tap dancers in the UK. In 2007, I decided to ‘investigate’ and made contact with Jo Scanlan. Jo Scanlan, who is also an ISTD teacher, is the Creative Director of Tap Attack and was very interested and decided to visit the World Championships as a spectator for the first time in 2007.

Last year Jo came back with a team of 21 dancers aged 12 to 20 who formed the England Team, reaching the finals in several categories! The dancers were selected from nationwide auditions and those that made the cut attended rehearsals, which ran from May until the competition.

This year the team had been coached by Tap Attack Creative Director and Guinness World Record Breaker, Jo Scanlan and Resident Director and Dance Captain of Tap Dogs, James Doubtfire. The England team achieved excellent rankings with the highest position being achieved by Zac Watts, who achieved Runner Up status (2nd place) in the Junior section.

Gabriella White continued the success by ranking 5th in the junior girl’s solo section. The whole team then continued on, with the Adult Formation, Adult Small Group and Junior Small Group all being ranked 7th in the world.

Both coaches were ecstatic with the results the team achieved. “So much work has gone in to the team this year and I am delighted with their progress. They are a real attribute to their country and have done England proud,” said Jo Scanlan, “these dancers have worked in a professional manner with many dancers having to travel for up to four hours just to attend rehearsals.” Most of the dancers in the England Team are students who participate in ISTD Tap exams and also the Star Tap Awards.

If you would like to see these championships for yourself, you could visit Riesa in Germany this year between the 30th November and 4th December. Details can be found on the IDO’s website, www.ido-online.org. However, if you are not able to attend the competition, you may order DVD’s from Video Kruse’s website, www.video-kruse.de.