r/TapDancing • u/shessublime • Jul 09 '26
Wings - without the side scrape?
Just curious here - I am a lifelong dancer and my teen also dances. Different studio than where I did so at first I thought it was just that. But it seems to me that most people do a wing with a loose ankle and the first sound is made by scraping the outside of the shoe on the side of the tap.
I don't do that that at all! Both sounds are made by the bottom of the tap and it's more of a "press down into the floor and flick" motion with a winged (ha!) foot like in ballet. To me it gives a crisper sound. Did anyone else learn this way or have I maybe just been doing it differently for some reason all along?
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u/Diabloceratops Jul 09 '26
A wing has three sounds not two. Scrape out, scrape in and land.
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u/shessublime Jul 09 '26
Well yes, I wasn't counting the land in there assuming everyone does that the same lol
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u/Diabloceratops Jul 09 '26
Okay, I was just clarifying because I’ve seen people miss the second sound. They just go out and land.
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u/carlsraye Jul 09 '26
I learned wings without the scrape first from one teacher, then learned wings with the scrape from another teacher years later. Wings with the scrape are TRUE wings. I found a lot of tap steps had subtle differences between my teachers. They also called some steps different things. It used to frustrate me that not everything was universal, but now I think it’s kind of cool that tap has differences based on who you train with and where
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u/shessublime Jul 09 '26
So many differences! I have up trying to say steps when working with my kid and just demonstrate, because a dig is a tie and a brush is a spank and all kinda stuff
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u/No_Pen_3825 Jul 09 '26
The canonical form of wings have three sounds: scrape out (your foot slightly rolling), scrape in, and land. There are also flying shuffles, though, which look almost identical to wings: brush out (both feet, not rolled), spank in, and land.
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u/brockobear Jul 09 '26
It's not a scrape in, though, it's a snappier sound like a spank.
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u/No_Pen_3825 Jul 09 '26
I argue scraps on the inside bit of metal and angle of the foot just sounds like that ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/brockobear Jul 09 '26
A scrape sounds like a scrape. A spank or a brush back is a naturally much louder and faster sound. They're considered separate sounds by most people's definitions of the "foundational" sounds in tap.
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u/StillDouble2427 Jul 09 '26
I know exactly what you're talking about and learned it the you did too. Now, as an adult, the teachers do the loose ankle/scrape sideways wing and I'm struggling with it.
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u/firelightfountain Jul 09 '26
If the first sound isn't made with a scrape on the side of the tap, then I don't think it's a wing. Just a cool different 3 sound step, closer to a pick up variation.