Will these Hong Kong-invented electronic tap shoes create a new dance genre?

Tap dancing is set for a technological leap thanks to a Hong Kong studio that will debut its electronic tap shoes in a dance drama at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre later this month. The concept for the shoes, designed by Step Out Studios, was born during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the studio faced a pressing issue: how to practise tap, a notoriously loud dance form, at home without disturbing neighbours. They wondered whether they could make a pair of quieter shoes that could connect to an app or earphones and recreate tap sounds that could be manipulated and personalised. With the help of sound artist and musical instrument inventor Ng Chak-lam, the shoes were completed in just under two years, according to the studio founders and choreographers Zoe Chan and Cal Tang, the latter better known as CAL. The shoes feature up to 14 sensors per pair. When these sensors strike the ground, they dispatch a signal to an interface, which activates a preprogrammed sound. The audio can be projected directly or routed through a computer before being amplified. Tang reveals that the idea was also inspired by the 1989 movie Tap, starring dance legend Gregory Hines, specifically the final scene in which he appears to wear electronic tap shoes that make synthesiser sounds. According to the dancers, performing in the electronic shoes is a fundamentally different experience. Traditional tap creates a direct, physical link between movement and sound, and the resulting sound is predictable. The e-shoes separate physical feedback from auditory output. This not only demands a recalibration of motor skills but also represents a conceptual shift, forcing performers to relearn the connection between their bodies and the sounds they produce. A light tap in electronic tap shoes can trigger a sustained musical note, an acoustic feat impossible with conventional footwear. Tang explains that the core challenge lies in “separating the direct link between a specific movement and its resulting sound”. “A powerful example is the relationship between impact and duration. In traditional tap, a short, sharp strike creates a short, sharp sound. It’s a law of physics. But now, we can use a single, short strike to trigger a long, sustained melodic note or an evolving electronic texture. “This complete separation of action and sonic result is the essence of the deconstruction. It frees the movement from its traditional sonic obligation.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐎𝐒 | Tap Dance | Arts (@stepoutstudios) With support from Hong Kong’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, the studio took the shoes to the Namm Show, an annual convention in the United States organised by the National Association of Music Merchants that is widely considered the largest global stage for the music, sound and entertainment technology industries. Following the expo, the studio travelled to New York to conduct a series of workshops and interviews with world-renowned tap dancers and multimedia musicians. Among those who tested the invention was celebrated tap dancer Nicholas Young, who provided feedback and expressed amazement at the unique sensor-based design. You can see the new shoes in action from November 21 to 23 in Step Out Studios’ dance theatre production The Next Movement. Khris Nung, a Hong Kong-born, US-educated electronic wizard who goes by the stage name Hirsk, is the mastermind behind the production’s music, which incorporates styles including jazz, rock and electronic music. Rounding out the core creative team is award-winning theatre director Wong Chun-ho, who weaves into the production a narrative based on a meta exploration of its own creation. The story of the shoes will be told through a music album with a “tracklist” that charts the frustrations and triumphs of artistic and technological exploration, mirroring the universal human experience of stepping into the unknown. The creative struggles and breakthroughs will be presented through several distinct dance pieces, each representing a different emotional chapter: from the agony of technical failure to the beauty of a realised dream. “The emotional journey that we have been through to get to this moment, those highs and lows that come out of learning something new, stepping into the unknown – those feelings are so precious to us,” Chan says. “This project started from uncertainty. We don’t know if the shoes will bring a bright future to the tap dance community, or if the shoes will actually create a new music genre or new dance genre. “We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. We don’t know what’s going to happen the next day, for everybody in all walks of life, and that hope for a new future is so beautiful.” The Next Movement, Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, 10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, November 21-23.

Will these Hong Kong-invented electronic tap shoes create a new dance genre?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Step Out Studios will debut its new electronic tap dance shoes in an ‘emotional’ production at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in November

Step Out Studios will debut its new electronic tap dance shoes in an ‘emotional’ production at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in November