Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

Using the floor as a drum and her feet as an instrument, tap dancer Ouida Lewis is a musician of unusual calibre.

Multi-tasking as a percussionist, aerobics instructor and lecturer, Lewis hopes to inspire a tap dance revolution in Jamaica through her studio, Rhythm Life Movement, and various other programmes with which she is involved.

The Sunday Gleaner visited Lewis' studio on Surbiton Road in St Andrew to witness the dancer first hand in the motion she has been obsessed with for 19 years. Utilising the wooden floor that is essential in creating the sound from her trusty metal-tipped 13-year-old shoes, Lewis first danced to her own beat before putting on a jazz number and later demonstrating that tap can be done to dancehall.

Moving with a constant smile on her face, Lewis said tap dancing is an art that brings her joy and one that takes her on an other-worldly experience. Describing herself as a "hoofer", like her tap hero, Gregory Hines, Lewis prefers the more aggressive form of utilising the heel of the foot than the 'classical' form of persons such as actor Fred Astaire, who favours the delicate sound made by the tip of the foot.

Indigenous American dance

Tap dance is a form of dance characterised by a tapping sound created from metal plates attached to the ball and heel of the dancer's shoe. The art boasts popular figures such as Ginger Rogers, the Nicholas Brothers, Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson, Sammy Davis Jr and Savion Glover.

According to www.tapdance.org, tap dance is an indigenous American dance genre that evolved over a period of 300 years. Initially a fusion of British and West African musical and step-dance traditions in America, tap emerged in the southern United States in the 1700s. It was not until the early decades of the 20th century that metal plates (or taps) appeared on shoes of dancers on the Broadway musical stage. It was around that time that jazz tap dance developed as a musical form. Later, its absorption of Latin American and Afro-Caribbean rhythms in the 1940s had furthered its rhythmic complexity. In the '80s and '90s, tap's absorption of hip-hop rhythms attracted a new fierce and multi-ethnic breed of male and female dancers, making tap one of the most cutting-edge dance expressions in America today.

Despite its vibrancy around the world, tap dancing is an fledgling form in Jamaica with Lewis only being able to note one male tap dancer from the 1960s. According to Lewis, no one is quite certain what happened to him. Being fascinated as a child watching Sunday matinees of popular American tap dancers strutting their stuff on the silver screen, Lewis did not turn away from the challenge of learning how to tap dance when she first started in Amsterdam 19 years ago. The dancer learnt drumming and dancing in Amsterdam where she later taught the arts to children.

While in Amsterdam, Lewis was taught by Marieka De Braal, who she describes as a "tiny Indonesian woman" and who got her involved in the 'hoofing' style of tap. Lewis was quick to admit that it took her five years of training before she believed she had what it took to master the art.

'Fun'

"It's fun for me learning tap and learning drums. When you learn something on drums and to put that into tap, it's like putting it from the drums to shoes. It's just amazing. I love African rhythms and wanted to do that with tap," she said. "There isn't much of a tap world out here but it's coming. I really hope to kick it off cause there is an interest."

After teaching tap to countless students throughout Amsterdam, six years ago Lewis decided to bring the art she believes has countless uses to Jamaica. Starting at In Motions, Lewis taught tap their before getting her own studio where she teaches classes every Saturday. Getting students from all social backgrounds and age groups, Lewis is a Jane of different trades, teaching tap and drums at places such as Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, UTech, among other places.

When it comes to performing, Lewis has done interesting shows from Sunsplash in Austria, to performing alongside Sonny Bradshaw, who she said has always encouraged her, to more recently the Ocho Rios Jazz festival and, alongside student Dr Jennifer Mamby-Alexander, at the Powerful Women and Men Perform for Charity concert.

Even though teaching and performing takes up a lot of her time, Lewis still has big dreams that she is ready to take into reality. She is currently working alongside clinical psychologist Coretta Johnson of 3 pm International Foundation.com to form Tap Nation.

Helping youngsters

"Coretta approached me with a programme she wants to take to the youths and needed a teacher to assist. It's really something that help youngsters cause music is just about expression, give them the chance to express themselves and their emotions. It's going to happen. We want to bring tap dance to our world and make tap dance big cause it's such a beautiful dance form."

Lewis said she sees promise in some of her young students, lamenting that she needs more male students in her classes. She says she sees growth and improvements everyday and in the future promises to provide more depth to the Jamaican tap world.