Course Content and Outcomes Guides (CCOG)

CCOG for PE 186M Winter 2025


Course Number:
PE 186M
Course Title:
Tap Dance II
Credit Hours:
1
Lecture Hours:
0
Lecture/Lab Hours:
0
Lab Hours:
30

Course Description

Continues the development of tap dance techniques beyond the introductory level. Further develops a sense of rhythm, musicality, and tap sounds. Learn basic through intermediate levels of traditional tap steps, rhythm tap combination, and complete dances. D 175B and PE 186M are equivalent and only one may be taken for credit. Recommended: D 175A or PE 186K or equivalent. Audit available.

Intended Outcomes for the course

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

1. Adapt rhythms and musical genres to specific tap styles in order to understand the connection between creativity, movement, and musicality in the world.
2. Apply learned history, origin, and precise styling for each dance in order to enhance the understanding of Tap Dance as an art form.
3. Use basic improvisational skills in order to promote creative problem solving.
4. Utilize learned dance skills to help maintaining fitness and health.

Outcome Assessment Strategies

Attendance and participation
Creative projects
Practical evaluation (exercise, floor work)
Group or individual choreography
Written exam
Research paper

Course Content (Themes, Concepts, Issues and Skills)

Principles of basic Tap Dance techniques:
Warm up sequences
Correct alignment
Proper stretches
Singles sound tap steps: rudiments
Shuffles, flaps, and simple combinations
Foot, body, and arm positions
Weight changes
Moving steps and combinations (forward, backward, and sideways)
Connecting steps to create dances
Improvisation as a learning and choreographic tool
Spatial awareness
Dance class structure and classroom etiquette
Concepts of rhythm and musicality:
Learn musical counting of tap steps
Synchronize tap steps to music
Acapella tapping, synchronizing tap sounds
Listening skills: to music, solo tap sounds, group tap sounds
Explore more challenging tempo changes, accents, syncopation, and silence.
Explore time steps: single, double, triple
Explore a variety of musical styles: jazz, blues, swing, funk, waltz, etc.
Improvisation: counting musical bars, when to start and end
Competencies and skills:
Successfully execute clean, clear tap sounds
Identify and demonstrate understanding of complex tap step sounds
Execute intermediate tap dance combinations
Perform traveling tap dance steps
Recognize a variety of musical styles: jazz, blues, swing, funk, waltz, etc.
Demonstrate complete tap dances
Participate in tap improvisation with rhythmic tap complexities
Coordinate foots sounds with more complicated arm and body movements
Memorize and retain combinations quickly