BBC Documentaries

Tap America: How a Nation Found Its Feet (2018x100)

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Clarke Peters, the writer of Five Guys Named Moe and actor in the likes of The Wire and Three Billboards, explores the origins, development and modern significance of a great American vernacular art form he has loved since a child - tap dancing. From 17th-century accounts of the dances performed by African slaves on American soil to celebrated 19th-century dance-offs and contests between Irish and African-American dancers, through to the troubled Hollywood heyday of tap dancing in the 1930s and 40s when black dancers were routinely excluded from the film roles their talent deserved.