Jazz or Tap dancing...?

Question

I am a teenage girl, who has never taken lessons to dance before but I would love to do either jazz or tap dancing (i cant do both) which do you think would be a better choice? I'm not fat but then not skinny either...

Oh, and I also love to do musical theatre if that helps any.

Please no rude answers.

Answer 1

It depends... Tap is fun, but I really didn't like Jazz. I'm a hip hop dancer and tried Jazz. I thought it was to serious and like ballet. It's really up to you.

Answer 2

I would suggest looking into the different styles of jazz in your area before you just choose. I highly recommend jazz if you want to dance like Micheal Jackson, however jazz styles vary greatly depending on the studio/college you take the classes at. There is more classical jazz, 90's jazz, today's more popular contemporary jazz, Fosse, etc. Call around- some small studios don't even teach a specific style and you will attend for years and not see much improvement. Do your homework and you'll be great!

Answer 3

Tap is a lot about rhythm and if you have an internal rhythm you will be unstoppable. Jazz is a lot more technical. Tap is a lot more open. You can do a tap dance to hip hop, blues, almost anything, while jazz is not like that. I enjoy jazz better but I suggest that you try both.

Answer 4

They are two very different types of dancing.

Tap is a very free-wheeling sort of dance, but requires intense rhythmic control and flexibility and speed, especially of foot and ankle area. Tap is related somewhat to Irish clogging, except that tap dancers use their arms and hands.

Jazz requires a high level of all-over muscular control, grace,
the ability to do leaps, to work with a partner, and I would say is the more difficult of the two for a beginner.

Maybe this will sound silly, but if you can find a copy of the old movie with Fred Astaire in it, called "Royal Wedding", there are a great many dance numbers in that film that are really really greats. Watch it and see what you think.

I danced from the age of three, and each kind of dance aids your discipline in other kinds of dance. At your age you are probably just looking at dancing for fun, so since you're asking advice, I think I'd lean towards suggesting tap, at least to get started.

Answer 5

According the stuff u said i would say that u would probably enjoy jazz over tap. while they r both fun, since u like musical theatre i would say jazz because it is more similar to musical theatre than tap is. another optition is mayb u could pay for 1 class of each, kinda like a sample class and c which 1 u like better. good luck w/ yr dancing, i hope u have fun! :)

Answer 6

I'm a teenage girl to who just started dance, i love it, i take ballet. All of my friends that dance love jazz more than tap. Some girls just think it is just annoying and they have more fun with jazz. But they are both great classes. I hope you have fun and choose the class you want to take the most.

Answer 7

tap and jazz are definately two of my favorites. tap is louder. and it can be done in either a very uniform fashion, or a fun, down to earth, crazy fashion. so tap pretty much has 2 different styles in one. it depends on the teacher.
jazz has more movement with the entire body, and there are more moves and techniques in jazz. it is very energetic, and very aerobic. different variations of the dance style can come from jazz, and you can mix jazz with other forms of dance, such as latin-jazz, which is so fun if i might add. it is really up to you.
watch shows and read books about both. it is your choice. see which one you think you would have more fun in. if you are looking to lose wieght, jazz is definately the way to go. but, tap is a workout as well. your choice. have fun!

Answer 8

I want to do dance too! I prefer Jazz over tap, but if you like Musicals They mostly do tap and ballet, so I'd probably go with tap if i were you, I hope this helps. Have fun in your dance classes!

Answer 9

hi there
my answer is it's up to u if u like to do the whole toe heal toe toe heal thing then tap is for u in
jazz u learn alot of cool jumps and leaps and real good moves.
i do jazz, tap and hip hop and hip hops pretty cool to
if u want a good jazz and tap place and u live any where near ridleyton go to beat company it's great i'v learned alot there
u don't have to live near ridleyton but it well be easya.
they do alot of other things there as well like singing, ballet and lots of other types of dancing.
if u want more info email me at [e-mail]

Answer 10

They're both super fun, but since you're a teenager and can only do one I'd say take advantage of being young and go for jazz, because, while not as extreme as ballet, it's harder to get good at it if you start when you're older, because it requires a lot of strength and flexibility that is hard to get and easy to lose when you're older. Tap you can still do when you're older.