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If watching Shirley Temple and Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson on the screen makes your feet twitch, perhaps it's time to learn more about the art of tap dancing!
4 Tap quizzes and 40 Tap trivia questions.
1.
  Tap - It's All About Dancers with Rhythm   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Tap dancing is popular once again. Hit the floor and see if you can name these famous hoofers.
Average, 10 Qns, ruddigoria, Apr 29 21
Average
ruddigoria
Apr 29 21
566 plays
2.
  Tap - You Can't be Sad When You are Tapping   popular trivia quiz  
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Tap dancing is a great workout and fascinating to watch. What do you know about this exciting form of dance?
Tough, 10 Qns, ruddigoria, Mar 12 24
Tough
ruddigoria
Mar 12 24
396 plays
3.
  Tap - I've Got Happy Feet    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Is it possible to watch Fred and Ginger without tapping your feet? No, I didn't think so. See if you can answer these tap related questions.
Tough, 10 Qns, ruddigoria, Jan 10 16
Tough
ruddigoria
431 plays
4.
  All About Tap    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Tap dancing is not only an artform, but it is also an American tradition. Test your knowledge of the classic dance.
Tough, 10 Qns, CutesyButtons, Apr 26 09
Tough
CutesyButtons
1099 plays
trivia question Quick Question
Honi Coles and his partner were known for their grace and style. No tricks and gimmicks for these tappers. Who was Honi's partner?

From Quiz "Tap - You Can't be Sad When You are Tapping"





Tap Trivia Questions
1. Who said, "If you play a tune and a person don't tap their feet, don't play the tune."

From Quiz Tap - I've Got Happy Feet

Answer: Count Basie

Count Basie started his career as a drummer before moving to the keyboard. He was a great jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer.

2. What is NOT a step in tap?

From Quiz Tap - You Can't be Sad When You are Tapping

Answer: Doug

Each of these terms has uses outside of tap, but it is the tap term we are looking at. The shuffle, the grab off and the paradiddle are all commonly known tap steps, but you will find some tappers know the same combinations by different names. Tappers will also create a combination of steps and give it a name, thus creating a new tap step known to only a small group of dancers.

3. What talented hoofer missed out on playing next to Bing Crosby in "White Christmas" due to an illness he picked up from a mule?

From Quiz Tap - I've Got Happy Feet

Answer: Donald O'Connor

Donald O'Connor starred in a series of movies about a talking mule named Francis.

4. In the USA, what day was proclaimed as National Tap Dance Day, by a vote of Congress in 1989?

From Quiz Tap - You Can't be Sad When You are Tapping

Answer: May 25th

May 25th was chosen as it is the birth date of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.

5. This tapper began his career with his older sister. His first screen test is reported to have read "Can't sing. Can't act. Balding. Can dance a little."

From Quiz Tap - It's All About Dancers with Rhythm

Answer: Fred Astaire

In a career spanning over 70 years Fred performed in 31 musicals, as well as directed and choreographed. Fred claims the screen test actually read "Can't act. Slightly bald. Also dances"

6. How exactly do tap shoes make noise?

From Quiz All About Tap

Answer: Two pieces of metal on the bottom of a hard shoe

Tap shoe taps are traditionally made of iron.

7. What group starred seven guys from a steel town north of Sydney, Australia?

From Quiz Tap - I've Got Happy Feet

Answer: Tap Dogs

Tap Dogs had their debut at the Sydney Festival in 1995.

8. Honi Coles and his partner were known for their grace and style. No tricks and gimmicks for these tappers. Who was Honi's partner?

From Quiz Tap - You Can't be Sad When You are Tapping

Answer: Cholly Atkins

Honi won a Tony Award in 1983 for his performance as Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for "My One and Only."

9. Fred Astaire replaced what dancer to star in "Easter Parade" with Judy Garland?

From Quiz Tap - It's All About Dancers with Rhythm

Answer: Gene Kelly

When Gene broke his ankle Fred took the role over for him. The story has been told that he broke his ankle on the set. It is also said he broke it in a football game or a volleyball game.

10. For how long did Richard Gere take tap lessons before he appeared in "Chicago"?

From Quiz Tap - I've Got Happy Feet

Answer: For three months before filming.

It took half a day to shoot the tap sequence, but it took Richard Gere three months to get the steps down.

11. Michael Jackson was not a tapper, but he made the moonwalk famous. Who created this cool backsliding dance step?

From Quiz Tap - You Can't be Sad When You are Tapping

Answer: No one knows

While Michael made it famous, Cab Calloway can be seen doing a version of backsliding back in the 30s. Bill Bailey and Marcel Marceau both did versions of the "moonwalk" in the 50s. There are those who feel the moonwalk came out of Africa.

12. Although Bill Robinson began tapping as a young boy, he never danced for white audiences until he was fifty. What was his nickname?

From Quiz Tap - It's All About Dancers with Rhythm

Answer: Bojangles

Named Luther at birth, a name he detested, Bill decided he and his brother should switch names. The younger brother was not all that keen until Bill forced the issue using his bigger size and his fists.

13. How many distinct sounds should be heard in a regular cramp roll?

From Quiz All About Tap

Answer: 4

Many cramp rolls are performed brush toe toe heel heel, for 5 sounds, but a regular one is just toe toe heel heel.

14. The 1985 movie "White Nights" featured Gregory Hines. What other famous dancer was featured in this film?

From Quiz Tap - I've Got Happy Feet

Answer: Mikhail Baryshnikov

A surprise pairing of dance styles in this tale about an expatriate Russian dancer who is on a plane that is forced to land on Soviet territory. The dancer becomes involved with a Russian woman and her black American husband.

15. Who said "Tap is here, it's now".

From Quiz Tap - You Can't be Sad When You are Tapping

Answer: Gregory Hines

Gregory Hines learned from Sandman Sims, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and Harold Nicholas but it was Sammy Davis Jr, who became Hines's mentor.

16. The Nicholas Brothers' tapping career spanned over 60 years with a start on a radio show, "The Horn and Hardart Kiddie Hour". What were the brothers' first names?

From Quiz Tap - It's All About Dancers with Rhythm

Answer: Harold and Fayard

Harold and Fayard enjoyed dancing in the Cotton Club, Ziegfeld Follies, for nine different American Presidents and a Royal Command performance at the Palladium.

17. What famous tap dancer danced alongside Bing Crosby in "White Christmas"?

From Quiz All About Tap

Answer: Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye made his Broadway dancing debut in 1939 at the age of 26.

18. This man was Fred Astaire's "Ideas Man". He worked with Fred on 17 of his 31 musicals, the last one being "Finian's Rainbow".

From Quiz Tap - I've Got Happy Feet

Answer: Hermes Pan

Hermes Pan rehearsed Ginger Rogers for the films and dubbed Ginger's taps in post production. He was often Fred's rehearsal partner to tweak numbers.

19. Shirley Temple and Bill Robinson made history as the first interracial dance pair. What movie showcased their most impressive stair dance?

From Quiz Tap - You Can't be Sad When You are Tapping

Answer: The Little Colonel

It is said Bojangles invented the stair tap routine made famous in "The Little Colonel". He and Shirley became life long friends.

20. This tapper teamed up with Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds in "Singin' in the Rain".

From Quiz Tap - It's All About Dancers with Rhythm

Answer: Gene Kelly

Gene did his first MGM picture with Judy Garland in "For Me and My Gal" in 1942. It was ten years before he did "Singin' in the Rain".

21. What is the sequence 'dig brush toe heel' known as?

From Quiz All About Tap

Answer: paddle

Most teachers teach paddles with the accent on the dig, but many are starting to switch the accent to the heel.

22. What Canadian tap dancer married the famous singer Al Jolson?

From Quiz Tap - I've Got Happy Feet

Answer: Ruby Keeler

Ruby Keeler was only 19 when she married Al Jolson in 1928. He was 42 years old.

23. This tapper did "everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in heels". Who was this partner of Fred's?

From Quiz Tap - It's All About Dancers with Rhythm

Answer: Ginger Rogers

Born Virginia Katherine McMath, Ginger was first paired with Fred in 1933 in "Flying Down to Rio".

24. Metal taps were added to shoes in what year, to create what we now call tap shoes?

From Quiz Tap - You Can't be Sad When You are Tapping

Answer: 1925

Prior to 1925 dancers had to work hard to create their rhythms with wooden soled shoes.

25. This tapper always played the second female lead. It was Broadway that gave her her real chance to shine. She was known for her trademark long legs and her fast taps.

From Quiz Tap - It's All About Dancers with Rhythm

Answer: Ann Miller

Using a fake birth certificate, which stated she was 18 rather than just barely 14, she signed on with RKO in 1937.

26. Who was Fred talking about when he said In his autobiography "Steps in Time", "She 'put 'em down like a man', no ricky-ticky-sissy stuff with _______. She really knocked out a tap dance in a class by herself."?

From Quiz Tap - I've Got Happy Feet

Answer: Eleanor Powell

A favourite number was when Eleanor Powell danced with Fred Astaire to Cole Porter's "Begin The Beguine"

27. "Happy Feet" is a movie about the life of whom?

From Quiz Tap - You Can't be Sad When You are Tapping

Answer: Mumbles

"Happy Feet" was an animated film featuring a penguin who could not keep his feet still. It once again proves you cannot be sad when you are tapping.

28. This little tapper starred as the sister of Rosemarie Clooney in the classic "White Christmas".

From Quiz Tap - It's All About Dancers with Rhythm

Answer: Vera Ellen

Vera Ellen struggled with anorexia. In "White Christmas" all her costumes are high necked. It was felt this was done to hide the aging of her neck which is a result of the eating disorder.

29. What is a 'brush forward, scuff, toe', all on the same foot, known as?

From Quiz All About Tap

Answer: scuffle

A scuffle is a travelling step with three distinct sounds.

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Last Updated Oct 25 2025 5:51 AM
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