Learn the Tap Shim Sham (How to)

The Shim Sham Shimmy or Shim Sham originally is a particular tap dance routine and is regarded as tap dance's national anthem. For swing dancers, today it is a kind of line dance that recalls the roots of swing.
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One of the most accomplished tap dance artists and producers in America, Hillary-Marie is an internationally acclaimed soloist and ensemble member and at age 17 founded the Jersey Tap Fest, New Jersey's sole dance festival featuring world-class tap faculty and extravaganza. In addition to Jersey Tap Fest, she is also the artistic director of FutureSTEP Tap Company and Grooves Unlimited Dance Studio. Hillary-Marie's dancing has been described as 'like feathers with steel bones' due to her combination of strength and grace. She has also been called ‘a brilliant artist’.......Read more at Hillary-Marie.com
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Follow me everywhere!
Facebook: / hillarymarieofficial
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Website: Hillary-Marie.com

[@jamesg7520]

I'm a street swing dancer with no formal dance training. I've been doing the Shim Sham Shimmy for 20+ years, knowing it began as a tap dance, but I haven't ever seen (or watched a tutorial of) the tap dance. This was such a pleasure to watch! It brought tears to my eyes! Thanks for your comments at the end, Hillary-Marie.

[@oliviah.7574]

Best Shim Sham tutorial I've seen! Easy to understand and very clear. Thank you!!!

[@HillaryMarieTap]

So glad you enjoyed it! Please join me at www.iTapOnline.com for more tap dance tutorials just like this one

[@carminad7037]

Great! simple to understand&follow! GOOD explanation & demonstration of beat&steps! AND BEST IS efficiency! NO WASTED TALK, & shown at a reasonable learning speed with the correct rhythm! THANK YOU FOR SIMPLE & excellent tutor!

[@HillaryMarieTap]

So glad you enjoyed it! Please join me at www.iTapOnline.com for more tap dance tutorials just like this one

[@bridget1811]

I learned this with my tap teacher a few years ago and I wanted to remember it so I can be reminded of her she’s not my tap teacher anymore but I will always remember her ♥️

[@tamaraadams9317]

I can’t stress enough how much I enjoy your tap tutorials! I’m a beginner and appreciate how you take each step, break it down and put it all together! I have a long way to go, but you’re a big inspiration to me! Thank you! ❤️💜💗

[@HillaryMarieTap]

Beautiful! So glad you enjoyed it! Please join me at www.iTapOnline.com for more tap dance tutorials just like this one

[@johnharpdalton4092]

Dear Hilary Marie, thank you for a truly brilliant lesson in this most enjoyable, historic routine. My friend Carole and I are having endless fun following your every well-illustrated move. Blessings to you! From two budding hoofers in Yorkshire, England x

[@Jeze23]

19:43 for the full run through! always reference this when introducing the shim sham to my students :)

[@HillaryMarieTap]

So glad that this video has been a solid resource for you as you introduce the Shim Sham to your students! Check out www.iTapOnline.com for more tap dance tutorials and be sure to join the iTapOnline Community Facebook group at www.iTapOnlineCommunity.com

[@TheGirlsSonyeo]

17:30 slow run 19:38 full run

[@septembervalle4947]

TERRIFIC break down of the shim sham!! You have allowed me to learn this complete routine. Now practice, practice, practice until I can tap cleanly at fulll speed! Thanks!!!

[@lillian5384]

This is a very good resource for learning the Shim Sham. I use it as a resource to teach the younger dancers at my dance studio

[@AudreyRusso]

The BEST tutorial on the Shim Sham I have ever come across...on video OR in person! Thanks so much!

[@HillaryMarieTap]

Thanks, Audrey! Super kind of you. Check out www.iTapOnline.com for more tap dance tutorials and be sure to join the iTapOnline Community Facebook group at www.iTapOnlineCommunity.com

[@StephanieGraham83]

Thank you for this and for contributing to the continuation of this anthem of tap dancers everywhere! Great refresher for me, as I will be teaching my students the Shim Sham tomorrow! :)

[@HillaryMarieTap]

My pleasure! Thankful to hear that you'll be sharing it with your students :) Please join me at www.iTapOnline.com for more tap dance tutorials just like this one

[@Kateire]

I love this tutorial. I can't tell you how many times I've watched it, and because of you, I have learned the Shim Sham Shimmy!!!! I really needed help on the Tacky Annie and the Half-Break, and you provided it. My tap teacher will be very pleased since I'm ahead of the game. We aren't even learning half the stuff in this dance until winter classes. THANK YOU!

[@HillaryMarieTap]

It brings me great joy to pass these beautiful historical dances down to hungry students like you! Please join me at www.iTapOnline.com for more tap dance tutorials just like this one

[@inahogg8612]

Kateire The

[@yasminezv]

I LOVED this video! Thank you so much! Kisses from Brazil.

[@statzsinger]

This is excellent pacing and instruction. I needed a brush up and this was perfect, but I also could have learned the first time this way.

[@HillaryMarieTap]

Glad you enjoyed the breakdown! Check out www.iTapOnline.com for more tap dance tutorials and be sure to join the iTapOnline Community Facebook group at www.iTapOnlineCommunity.com

[@jejo5586]

Thanks for the video. i haven't tapped in several decades but your videos have helped a lot.

[@7menandme]

I LOVED THIS, thank you so much. I have been trying to get this for my Lindy Hop and have found it so hard. You have broken this down so well and it was brilliant to just see your feet as its so distracting on other videos to see everything else going on.

[@nadiaverlent3622]

It was a real pleasure to look at your performance. Thanks a lot.

[@HillaryMarieTap]

Check out www.iTapOnline.com for more tap dance tutorials and be sure to join the iTapOnline Community Facebook group at www.iTapOnlineCommunity.com

[@luisamatsushita1802]

yes! best tutorial and I just learned today at the class in brazil! Thank you Hillary!

[@HillaryMarieTap]

My pleasure! I'll be in Brazil soon for the tap festival, hope to see you there. Check out www.iTapOnline.com for more tap dance tutorials and be sure to join the iTapOnline Community Facebook group at www.iTapOnlineCommunity.com

[@GrammyTapDancing]

Do this about 10 times in a row great work out awesome 👌 your great teacher

[@JeannieRapstad]

Thank you so much for this step-by-step instruction. I am so grateful.

[@shealeighhanna1233]

Tap is so impressive. I do Lindy hop and we have our own adapted version of the shim sham. Seeing the movement in the tap original is so cool.

[@susanchilcote-wade3381]

You teach this ditty so well! Thanks!

[@JustHereToLaugh697]

this was awesome! it was pretty easy to understand and broken down nicely

[@HillaryMarieTap]

Thanks, Ashley! Please join me at www.iTapOnline.com for more tap dance tutorials just like this one

[@alisamcalister3686]

You are beautiful! Your teaching is marvelous! Thank you so much!

[@alenanahlovska]

Thank you so much for your tutorial!!!! It s great! And you re amazing❤️an inspiration for us beginners🙋‍♀️Greetings from the Czech Republic

[@chcarlo5129]

I love it!!!. Its so easy to follow you. I've already learned a bit more than half of the routine... Thank you... Soon I will be able to do it properly... and faster...:))))

[@HillaryMarieTap]

Love it! Share your progress in the iTapOnline Community Facebook group at www.iTapOnlineCommunity.com and check out www.iTapOnline.com for more tap dance tutorials like this one.

[@lesleynicholls9930]

Brilliant, My tap classes are suspended due to coronavirus so I will learn this at home, many thanks from the UK

[@kathryngateslmft1333]

Best shim sham tutorial! Thank you!

[@tamaraadams9317]

Absolutely awesome!!! Love your instruction style!

[@HillaryMarieTap]

Thanks, Tamara! Please join me at www.iTapOnline.com for more tap dance tutorials just like this one

[@katherinestott3766]

Your treatment and teaching of the shim sham is the best example I've yet to see. I chequed out your dancing too, it was staggeringly brilliant. Thank you so much. Its encouraged me to dance, being as you have made it idiot proof.

[@HillaryMarieTap]

You're super kind, Katherine! Check out www.iTapOnline.com for more tap dance tutorials and be sure to join the iTapOnline Community Facebook group at www.iTapOnlineCommunity.com

[@luisamatsushita1802]

Hillary, Thank you so much for posting this. I learned the shim sham at my class but couldn't remember everything and wanted to practice at home. Your video took me through it and now I got it by heart. just need to keep on practicing to improve speed but the steps are down! Thank you for taking the time to do this. Hugs and all the best from the south of brazil.

[@HillaryMarieTap]

Sending you love to Brazil! I haven't been to Brazil yet, but hope to have the opportunity to travel out there soon. So glad you enjoyed this video! Please join me at www.iTapOnline.com for more tap dance tutorials just like this one

[@susanboyd3062]

Love this!

[@seaofglass77]

LOVE this!! At 13:06 you can do the whole thing at the slow tempo minus the stop time. That's the level where I am right now.

[@HillaryMarieTap]

Keep pushing through, Sarah! Keep on shuffling. Check out www.iTapOnline.com for more tap dance tutorials and be sure to join the iTapOnline Community Facebook group at www.iTapOnlineCommunity.com

[@JohannaVeerenhuis]

Yes, wonderfully explained!! Thank you! (only the sound is a bit soft, but I could still hear it.) 💕

[@evap.9388]

Oh my gosh! You are great. Thank you.🌹❤️

[@HillaryMarieTap]

Thanks, Eva! Check out www.iTapOnline.com for more tap dance tutorials and be sure to join the iTapOnline Community Facebook group at www.iTapOnlineCommunity.com

[@thefilmcine]

Divine! Thank you!

[@CristianeCipolla]

Loved your video!!!

[@kurodabusi]

Easy to understand. Helpful. Thank you very much.

[@HillaryMarieTap]

You're very welcome! Please join me at www.iTapOnline.com for more tap dance tutorials just like this one

[@ennamorgan9673]

Beautiful! Thank you for sharing :)

[@jtika1978]

Those tap boots tho!

[@HillaryMarieTap]

These are by Matt at Dancing Fair. Give them a call!

[@tonyduran4293]

Born to do it!! Need a little sand for the stage

[@ennamorgan]

YOu are awesome! I am catching up with ya in speed :)

[@SarahM-lw2gd]

I practiced this so much, and I still have a long way to go...

[@HillaryMarieTap]

Keep on practicing, Sarah! Check out www.iTapOnline.com for more tap dance tutorials and be sure to join the iTapOnline Community Facebook group at www.iTapOnlineCommunity.com

[@angelanyk]

My favorite

[@LoriStrussgenarts]

Love you H!

[@marieazrak1951]

You’re really good.

[@ArashFarahaniM]

Thank you! You are such a good teacher! :)

[@astrucastruc1443]

merci

[@HillaryMarieTap]

Thanks, Arash! So glad you enjoyed it! Please join me at www.iTapOnline.com for more tap dance tutorials just like this one

[@JsCompanyCwb]

THANKKKK UUUU

[@benoitderoche9751]

JsCompanyCwb ci

[@HillaryMarieTap]

Check out www.iTapOnline.com for more tap dance tutorials and be sure to join the iTapOnline Community Facebook group at www.iTapOnlineCommunity.com

[@magusl9628]

Thank youuuuuu!!!! 🙌

[@StefaniePotterMusic]

Thank you!

[@angelanyk]

More videos like this please

[@jillalexander3754]

Would love the English count system overdubbed on to this please - so as I always taught - 8-a-1, 2-a-3-,4-a-5-n-6-n-7 etc etc. Struggling to write the counts down from your demo

[@francisalanbeattie4458]

Thanks. Alan

[@emmajeanne5321]

When you do the step heel step heel step for a little spice you can do a heel scuff. If you are going to the right do a heel scuff ball change and do the other side

[@bp717]

Thank you for sharing! What kind of flooring are tapping on?

[@fabienneluisetti553]

Most authentic Shim Sham online tutorial and so well explained. Thank you!!! just need to practice, now :-)

[@HillaryMarieTap]

My pleasure!! I hope you've been enjoying your practice. Please join me at www.iTapOnline.com for more tap dance tutorials just like this one

[@Caitio22]

Your tap shoes😍 can you tell me the brand?! Love them!

[@francisalanbeattie4458]

Super. Alan

[@jillalexander3754]

Well explained, clearly demonstrated - and good to see custom shoes rather than those awful ready made rivet things. Are you using capezios? They are my favourite for clear sound.

[@HillaryMarieTap]

Thanks, Jill! These are the GS1 boots by Matt at Dancing Fair, truly my favorite shoe. Check out www.iTapOnline.com for more tap dance tutorials and be sure to join the iTapOnline Community Facebook group at www.iTapOnlineCommunity.com

[@petera.4707]

thank you

[@robertschoenberg3972]

Hello, Thank you for the great tutorial on the shim sham! I am trying to build up speed on the shim sham step 1. It appears that on the full speed version of the dance at the end, you are gaining speed by modifying the ball change done in the syncopation to a "touch" on one foot and a "heel drop" on the other. Thus never doing a weight change and gaining speed. Is this correct, or an illusion on my part. I slowed down the vid to .25 speed and that's what it looked like. Thanks for any advice!

[@johnharpdalton4092]

Dear Hillary-Marie, we love this lesson and we've nearly got it down, but... The hardest part is the Shave & A Haircut, those four RAPID taps after the clap and both feet down... PLEASE can you explain what you do there? We've got the clap, the two-feet.... and then the last heel-tap is clear, too! Thanks in advance from John and Carole in Yorkshire, England!

[@chuckcoley811]

Can Hillary-Marie do the shimsham that was part of the movie TAP with Gregory Hines among others?

[@clickerbootsmoir1012]

I love you marie hillary xoxo

[@NAMUR6]

the best shim sham, but could you finish the music and it would be a perfect video please, I follow you to learn more tap thanks from chile I greet you

[@kandacehead9544]

What kind of tap shoes are you wearing in this video?

[@melizmatea]

I'm a beginner and just learning this butit seems like you are flat on your foot (not counting stomping) a lot! I've been learning, not just the shim sham, but a lot of things in which you remain on your toe and don't put your heels down. It does seem more "tap-like" the way you are doing this, but I am confused as to why we aren't doing things that way! I don't know if that made sense! I'll have to ask my teacher...

[@margaretzander3171]

how in tarnation do you do a double pullback that slowly!!????!!

[@margaretzander3171]

please help me...

[@HillaryMarieTap]

lol! With lots of practice and control :) Check out www.iTapOnline.com for more tap dance tutorials and be sure to join the iTapOnline Community Facebook group at www.iTapOnlineCommunity.com

[@JoJoMaMa_]

Well... I’m sweaty.

[@orcaletta]

17:28

[@christdiedforoursins5756]

Thank you very much it's a very good tutorial. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures was buried in rose again on the third day according to the scriptures 1 Corinthians 15 verse 3

[@kydeafie]

No Closed Captioned.. Thumb down!

[@kevinabel2370]

I don't know the dance yet but if you told me how to add the cc I would enter the dialog. Maybe someone who knows how to write the rhythm could do the 1n 2n 3 4 kind of notation.

[@deehan177]

It’s to fast for beginners. Need a slower tutorial!

[@brynndurham9957]

you can pause and rewind or put it on a slower playback speed