Help! My taps are falling off!

Are your tap shoes beginning to feel a little wobbly?  Do the taps seem to be hanging by a thread?  Has one become totally un-attached from your shoe?  Here are some common causes and fixes for troublesome taps.

Usually tap shoes fall apart because the dancer’s skill level exceeds quality of shoe.  Cheaper (under $50), lower quality tap shoes are usually meant to be used by only young children and beginning dancers.  An “intermediate” level tap shoe should cost between $50 and $100, and an “advanced” or “professional” tap shoe should cost over $100.  Intermediate and advanced teen and adult dancers will undoubtedly destroy cheap, poor quality tap shoes.  One of the first things to go is the toe tap.  If taps are held on with rivets (this is the case with most very cheap patent-leather mary-jane tap shoes), once you bust one it’s gone for good.  Super glue can re-attach it for a short amount of time (for a recital, etc.), but it will probably fall off again within a couple of times wearing it.

Tap shoes with screw-on taps usually fall apart for three reasons: crappy shoe, old shoe, or dancer error.  Even shoes at the appropriate level and price point can be poor quality.  Shoes from more luxurious brands or brands known for their tap shoes often last longer than those from lower brands.  As far as major dancewear brands go, Capezio and Bloch tap shoes are usually better than shoes from Sansha or So Danca.   Even though Sansha TA99 oxford tap shoes are pretty heavy-duty and usually cost over $50, advanced or physically larger dancers loose the taps within a few months. 

When tap shoes get old, the threading on the screws and the holes they go in (basically the elements that hold the tap to the sole of the shoe) start to wear away.  This makes the taps loose and prone to falling off.  Short of a solid metal shoe, there isn’t much that can be done to prevent this eventual wear-down.  If you are an advanced dancer and your tap shoes are more than a year old, expect there to be some breakdown.  When your taps begin to come off, you know you need a new pair of shoes.

Some tap shoes, like Capezio CG09 teletone adjustable taps, boast a toe tap that can be tightened or loosened with a single screw (this allows dancers to change the sound of the tap).  Only adjust shoes that specifically say they can be adjusted like this.  Loosening the screws on taps that are not specifically made to be adjusted will degrade the shoe and make the taps prone to falling off.  If you have a shoe with adjustable taps, it is smart to adjust the tap to the sound you want, then apply super glue or screwset to the screw to keep it from loosening on its own.