DIY TAP SHOES - How to Make Your Own Tap Shoes & Dance Board

DIY Tap Shoe Ingredients:
Duct tape & Coins

Get Used Tap Shoes on the PishPosh App:
Use my code PISHPOSHCAMILLE to save $10: https://posh.mk/8PbHGF7ejwb

The shoes I’m getting: Capezio Fluids CG17. $66 new - I got them for $11.67 with my $10 credit on PishPosh! I went to a local dance store to make sure they would fit before buying them online.

Capezios are known for comfort and durability. They have affordable options too. Bloch is another good known brand but is said to be not as comfortable or long lasting. It may depend on the person & your foot shape. Blochs are so beautiful though & I was tempted to get them but the kind I tried on wasn’t near as comfortable as the Capezios.

The shoes people recommend but cost over $300 & can be customized: Capezio K360. I want to get some someday if I go far in tap.

My current “Tap Board”: Masonite boards & a thick yoga mat to protect my bones & joints

Dance / Tap board I want: ASPS Dance Board Standard 3” x 24 “ x 32” - I can’t find who makes them & am praying they didn’t go out of business.

Ideal dance floor / dance board: 3/4 inch plywood for a good sound. Can do 1/2 in plywood too.

Most tap boards come unfinished & you get to decide if you want to add varnish or not. Look up different DIY tap board videos to see what they use to add a finish to their boards.

Another board that looked good ot is populr is:
Dot2Dance - I didn’t see any cushion though

DiscountDance.com was recommended as a good place to find affordable dance supplies. They have the replacement metal taps you can add to your tap shoes or regular shoes you like or boots. I plan to get some.

2 types of replacement taps:
1 - Tele Tone Taps by Capezio

2 - Super Taps


Top Buck Dancers I follow:

1. The King of Buck Dancing: Thomas Maupin

2. Hillary Klug - Buck dancing violinist I met when she was busking on the streets of Nashville then again years later when she was performing regularly for Silver Dollar City in Branson. Thomas Maupin was her mentor & she recommended him, which is how I found him!

3. Miss Moonshine - teaches buck dancing on YouTube

4. Honorable Mention - Famous clogger “Zeb Ross” of J. Creek Cloggers. Known as the “blue shirt guy dancing”.
He’s from near Knoxville, Tennessee.

Types of Appalachian Dance:

1 - Buck Dancing -

Buck dancing is Appalachian style un-choreographed solo dancing done to old time Appalachian style music. Think fiddle, banjo, guitar & stand up bass.

Your feet become the drum to the music. It’s mostly about the rhythm your feet make. Your feet are supposed to stay within 6 inches of the ground.

Buck dancers often put cornmeal on their board for a better sound or maybe for ease of dancing.

2 - Clogging is more showmanship than Buck dancing or Flatfoot.

Clogging shoes have an extra piece of metal that claps more.

3 - Flatfoot dancing: your feet are supposed to stay within 3 inches of the ground.

Flat foot isn’t always done with taps I don’t think.

Look up all 3 to see the difference.


Tap Dancers I follow to learn:
- Still Kickin it with Karie-Lee - Tap teacher on YouTube teaching the basics

- Ballet 24 - she has some tap dance videos I’m going through though she normally teaches ballet.

- Tyler Schwartz Dance - World Champion Irish Dancer! I just found that out! He teaches Irish dancing on YouTube, which I also want to learn. Look up “Beginner jig” Learn Irish Dance & Tricks” - great video I started learning Irish dance from.

Okay! That’s a lot of what I’ve learned about buck dancing & tap in the last month or so ????

I hope someone reads all this & I save them some time. I like to research things out, find the players in a field and pass along the knowledge. I wonder what i will be interested in next. ????

God bless you - Hugs!
Camille