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A brilliant film that helped define a genre

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

This uplifting documentary, directed by Dean Hargrove and running less than 1 hr. and 12 min., focuses on how tap dancing can indeed serve as an international "language". The film stresses the universality of this art form, as it crosses cultural, gender, race, and other barriers. Surprisingly, even in countries where I wouldn't expect to see tap dancing, such as Japan, Taiwan, and Brazil, it has gained popularity and recognition.There are many contributors to this movie, too numerous to mention, who share some of their individual stories, which often are remarkable and fascinating. One thing is for sure, they all share an immense passion for tap dancing, realizing they will never get rich from it, but not caring as long as they can continue to pursue it.The filmmakers are quite optimistic about future generations of tap dancers, citing they're adding new innovations, while still respecting its history and those artists that came before them.Overall, the energy and enthusiasm of the dancers across the globe is quite remarkable, and I found the talent of all, both young and old, to be rather amazing.

I found this documentary on Netflix streaming. All my life I have admired tap dancers, I occasionally break into a little, bad tap dance when I am happy. So I found this film totally enjoyable. Tap dancing is an American invention, but the film shows how far it has spread. In fact to all corners of the world. In preparation for the documentary they solicited videos of people tap dancing and from that they chose a number of them to be featured. Plus the film includes select professional tap dancers.They make an important point - you don't go into tap dancing to get rich, or earn a living. The better tap dancers who become well-known subsist by having a studio and teaching. No, you go into tap dancing because you love it.My favorite in the film is a young man who grew up in difficult circumstances, he still sleeps on the couches of others, he shows us his "home" which is a small storage locker where he keeps his things, including his tap shoes. But he is also industrious, he goes onto subway cars, announces he is a college student working for tuition, and he dances to elicit donations. He has a positive attitude, he doesn't get down and feel sorry for himself, he gets out and does what he needs to do.Most likely the best tap dancer alive today is New Jersey's Savion Glover, now in his early 40s. The great Gregory Hines said that Glover might be the best tap dancer ever. He was mentioned in this documentary but nothing else. Glover is a great spokesman for the art of tap dance, I find myself wishing he had been included. His dancing is virtuoso where everyone else is simply competent. Still, even with that omission I found this to be a very worthwhile documentary for anyone who has an interesting in tap dancing, either as a performer or as a spectator.