Guinness World Record in San Francisco, California

The Guinness Book of World Records

After Rosie danced across the Golden Gate Bridge in 1976 and proclaimed the first Tap Dance Day, the tradition of long distance tap dancing that originated with Bill Robinson (Mr. Bojangles), was reborn. The Guinness Book got involved after Rosie added the Rad Tap Teams and the San Francisco Tap Teams to the mix.

Team Records

Rosie was never interested in establishing a solo record. She thought it seemed practically unverifiable, and stated, "Who is to say what constitutes actual tap dancing. Someone running along with taps on their tennis shoes could be considered tap dancing and who would be the judge?"

The Guinness Book folks set effective limits such as a minimum of 10 dancers doing the same thing with no one exiting during the attempt. Group dances with predetermined choreography provided much clearer and easier standards to judge. Since 1978, the Tap Teams have set 8 different long distance tap records, and are still the current record holders.

Our First Concern Is Safety

It should be noted it is not ok to set a record and injure dancers in the process. One event in 1997 took more than 6.5 hours of continuous tap dancing across the city of San Francisco! Their current record distance is 9.6 miles. They could have never achieved this if they wore regular tap shoes, or used traditional tap technique or choreography.

Loose Ankle Tap®

These incredible dancers, most of whom never tapped before the training, were able to set and hold these records because they used the deeply relaxed movement known as Radical Tap™ or Lose Ankle Tap™.  If they were flexing or pointing their feet, they would not survive without serious injuries, and could not go the same distance. The choreography was also specially designed to reinforce the deep relaxation of the legs and feet, so these dancers can go for miles.

The rules for the category included two 5-minute breaks, during which the dancers changed shoes and socks. Each dancer had three pairs of specially built tap shoes that insured the correct heel height, secure but free to vibrate tap application, special padding, and room for the foot to expand inside the shoe.

Except for an occasional blister, they never suffered an injury, even though over three hundred adult dancers were involved in setting these records. They wore pedometers to accurately gauge the distance, and they rarely went in a straight line.

These dancers were trained to navigate stairs, curbs, escalators, ramps, and other city realities as they danced. They never used music because they considered themselves musicians, so blaring music over the sound of their feet was unthinkable. The goal was not to look like they were tap dancing, but to actually play music on the surfaces they encountered!

Many tap dancers consider this a fantastic opportunity to learn, so they join the year-round training in Rad Tap™ and Loose Ankle Tap® at the Tap Dance Room™. The door is always open to new people who want to learn. Most of the tappers at the Tap Dance Room™ train here to develop a style that looks, sounds, and feels natural on stage and in auditions. There have been 30 Rad Tap Dance Teams that have danced on Tap Day across the city of San Francisco.

Come join us!   Just click below.

I want to join the Guinness World Champion Tap Team for 2015