Steppekorpset (the tap band)

Steppekorpset: marching drums and second line drum rhythms from New Orleans, but played with the feet!

With the tap band we wanted to dive deeper into history of tap dance and jazz music, and study the roots of tap and jazz that can be found in New Orleans’ Second line drumming, the ring shout and stepping. This resulted in a set of dances where our focus lies in maintaining the groove together, mostly in unison and sometimes polyphonic, sometimes trading and soloing, and also adding singing and whistling. With different sounding podiums, combined with tambourines on the wood and drum sticks in our hands, we try to emulate different parts of a drum line. 

We've had classes with Torstein Ellingsen, drummer of Gigaphonics, and Max Pollak, a tap dancer who's an expert on Cuban and jazz rhythms. 

Second line drumming
Second line drumming is a syncopated, polyrhythmic marching cadence originating from traditional New Orleans brass band and jazz funeral parades. The drummers marching right behind the first line played improvised "street beats". Over time, this style evolved into a foundational rhythmic groove that heavily influenced early jazz, R&B, and funk. On a standard drum kit, it translates into a highly syncopated groove characterized by an active snare drum ghost-note shuffle, a heavy swung offbeat, and conversational bass drum patterns.
Core Musical Characteristics:

• Swing Feel: It is built on an underlying triplet or shuffled feel rather than a rigid, straight rhythm.
• Syncopated Snare: The snare drum acts as the melodic driver, featuring a combination of tight press rolls, loud accents, and "ghost notes" (very quiet, unaccented taps) that push and pull against the beat.
• Conversational Bass Drum: Rather than a strict "four-on-the-floor" pulse, the bass drum plays unpredictable, bouncing syncopations that echo the tuba lines of a marching brass band.
• The Bo Diddley Connection: Traditional grooves often heavily borrow from the 3/2 son clave rhythm.

The ring shout
The ring shout is a transcendent, communal ritual developed by enslaved Africans in the American South. It combines West and Central African circle dances with Christian spirituals, serving as an expression of faith, cultural preservation, and a subtle act of resistance against enslavement.
The ritual involves a specific set of practices: 

• The Circle: Participants move in a counterclockwise circle, which symbolizes the infinite cycle of life and a connection to ancestral homelands.
• Shuffling & Stomping: Rather than picking up their feet (which was often forbidden in strict religious doctrines), worshippers would shuffle, stomp, and drag their feet in perfect rhythmic cadence.
• ​Call and Response: A leader sings a line while the rest of the circle answers with a cooperative chant or vocal response.
• ​Rhythm: Because traditional drums were usually banned by slaveholders, participants created percussion by clapping, patting their bodies, and rhythmically striking the wooden floor with a walking stick or broom.

Stepping
Stepping is an African-American percussive dance where the performer’s entire body acts as an instrument. Participants produce complex, synchronous rhythms through a combination of footsteps, clapping, and spoken word. It is deeply rooted in the traditions of Black Greek-letter fraternities and sororities. It shares historical ties to the Juba dance (an African American percussive tradition) and the South African gumboot dance. In Norway, the English word stepping can be confused with tap dance, but it's not the same. 

Upcoming:
​June 7, Frank Znort, Blå

Previous shows: 
Dansens Dager:
April 25, 12:00 Tøyen Torg, 13.23 Voldsløkka
April 29, 16.20 Majorstua, 17.20 Sagene

​Repertoire
Regular drum marches, with tap dance steps that imitate marching grooves from Norwegian school bands and Crazy Army by Steve Gadd.
Iko Iko, with traditional tap steps that emphasize the syncopations of New Orleans music.
Joe Avery's Blues, with ring shout steps and grooves that we learnt from Max Pollak.
Big Chief, an arrangement of Max Pollak's choreography inspired by stepping.

Tap dance:
Mari Marie Øinæs Nyvoll
Anneli Moe
Ole Marius Larsen
Kevin Haugan
Janne Eraker (band leader)
  
Tuba:
​Magnus Breivik Løvseth

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