Fancy Footwork

Talk about fast-moving feet.

This weekend, the UCLA Center for the Performing Arts sponsors “Jazz on Tap,” a multi-generational lineup of tap artists performing everything from traditional jazz favorites to trendy hip-hop.

Artistic director and master of ceremonies Cholly Atkins, best known as the creator of Motown-style dancing and as half of the tap duo Coles & Atkins, has brought together a talented group of dancers. Scheduled to appear tonight through Saturday at the Wadsworth Theater are Dianne Walker, LaVaughn Robinson, Fred Strickler, Van Porter, Germaine Ingram, Wayne Doba and the Nicholas Sisters, granddaughters of the famed Nicholas Brothers.

“It’s really getting to see tap-dancing at its best,” said Strickler, a 51-year-old Riverside resident and longtime tap performer. There is a “wonderful, friendly one-upmanship” among the performers, Strickler said.

The performances will feature virtuoso tap-dancing, jazz music, popular show tunes and vintage film clips. Tappers perform class acts, funk, hip-hop, jazz and comic pieces accompanied by a local jazz trio. Some performers dance alone; others perform in duos, trios and with full ensembles.

Known for using their feet as percussive instruments, tappers are musicians as well as dancers. The toes tap the melody and the heels play the bass.

“Jazz on Tap” celebrates a legendary art form that has been nearly lost. Tap-dancing reached its height of popularity on the Broadway stage and in Hollywood musicals more than six decades ago. The uniquely American art form suffered a decline between the mid-1940s and the late 1960s, when television and rock music came onto the scene.

Recently, however, tap-dancing’s popularity has experienced a resurgence of sorts as young artists attempt to carry on the tap heritage and forge new styles that are hip to today’s music.

“Tap artists are pushing (the craft) forward with new things like hip-hop,” said Strickler, who began dancing professionally at age 19. “This (show) is a celebration of dancing and the human spirit.”

“Jazz on Tap,” Wadsworth Theater, Wilshire and Sawtelle boulevards, Westwood, 8 tonight through Saturday. All shows feature a pre-performance discussion at 7 p.m. with Dave Gere, faculty member of the UCLA Dance Department. Tickets are $28, $25 and $9 for students. Reservations and information: (310) 825-2101.