Tap dance is a form of dance that involves using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion, often accompanied by music. It is an indigenous American dance form that evolved over a period of some three hundred years, initially a fusion of British and West African musical and step-dance traditions in America. Tap dance is believed to have first originated in the United States from African and Irish slaves observing each others dances on Southern plantations in the 19th century.

Tap dance has two main categories: rhythm and theatrical. Rhythm tap emphasizes musicality and improvisation, while theatrical tap focuses more on choreography and performance. Tap dancers make frequent use of syncopation, and choreography typically starts on the eighth or first beat count. Improvisation is also an important aspect of tap dancing, where a dancer makes up the movement as they perform, and the choreography is not prepared beforehand.

Tap dancing has a rich history of innovation and evolution. Tap dancers have stretched the art form, dancing to a wide variety of music and improvising new styles. Among these innovative styles were flash (dance movements that incorporated acrobatics and were often used to finish a dance) and novelty (the incorporation of unusual props or costumes) . Tap dancing soon became a requirement for performers on stage and screen, which pushed dancers to create innovative new steps and styles to gain attention. It was at this time that performers started using props, incorporating acrobatics, tapping even faster, and wearing attention-grabbing costumes.

Today, tap dance remains a popular dance form that continues to evolve. Tap battles are still popular elements of the dance style today and involve two dancers improvising and battling back and forth with feverish footwork and taps. Modern tap dance has also absorbed hip-hop rhythms, attracting a fierce and multi-ethnic new breed of male and female dancers who continue to challenge and evolve the dance form, making tap the most cutting-edge dance expression in America today.