I think the most popular vision many people have of Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson, is his amazing dance with Shirley Temple in the movie, The Little Colonel. The routine they did together going up
and down the stairs captured the hearts of millions of people and is
a classic to this day.
He had though, a long career before this 1935 film. He got his first professional
job in 1892, performing as a member of the pickaninny
chorus for Mayme Remington with The South Before the
War.
Robinson then went on to New York to hit the vaudeville Orpheum circuit, but did not wear blackface makeup that performers customarily used. He was an inductee in 2002 American Tap Dance Foundation's Hall of Fame, where they outline his prestigious career in this article :
http://www.atdf.org/awards/bojangles.html
The following is one of my favourite videos I have seen of his
famous 'step dance'. The 1932 footage is a bit grainy, but well worth a peek, enjoy !!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjCFYpWDmfM
Just a note, I actually meant for you all to watch THIS following
clip from Bill Bojangles, truly amazing !!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4D4OER3vts
Every once and a while I will stumble upon rare, and not so rare footage of some of my favourite tappers in film, old and new. Classics like "Jumpin' Jive" with the Nicholas Brothers in the film Stormy Weather, how they could even walk after doing that number blows me away.
Sammy Davis Jr. and Gregory Hines in the number, "Challenge"
scene from the film Tap.
Bill 'bojangles' Robinson's Stair dance from Harlem is Heaven.
Gene Kelly in "Singin' In the Rain"
Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire in Swing Time.
and the amaaaaazing Ann Miller, whirling, twirling, and speed tapping her way through "Shakin' the Blues Away" in Easter Parade.
How she didn't fall over after doing all those turns is a mystery to me, I don't care how well she spotted !
These are just to name a few of the countless women and men that have left me awe-inspired over the years. So, as a tribute to these talented tappers that have brought so much joy and inspiration to so many people, young, and also late bloomers like myself, I decided that now and then I would write "Tap Tidbits", showcasing an artist/artists with a tap number that left me saying "I want to learn THAT!" or "HOW did they do THAT?"
This first one may surprise you. I have never seen it before, and never thought that this celebrity, who was an amazing philanthropist/comedian, was also a damn good dancer. I hope you enjoy !!
http://videos2view.net/Hope-Cagney.htm
This video came to me via my good childhood friend, Peggy Bentley.
I have been fortunate enough in my few years of tapdancing to find a rare gem that does not come along all the time. It is having someone you dance with and have fantastic chemistry with because of the loving friendship you share.
Anna Kramer and I really connected about 3 years ago while dancing in a number called "Feeling Good" by Michael Buble, choreographed by our amazing teacher, Mika Komatsu.
For some reason, the song just made us click together, and since then, we have been on an amazing rollercoaster ride in tap and friendship.
These photos were taken this summer at the Chinatown Festival, I think the expressions on our faces show everything. Here we are dancing to another song Michael Buble' sang called "Sway" choreographed by the lovely and talented MaryLou Brien. This has become one of our favourite songs to perform ever!
We are so comfortable with each other that when and if (oh gawd forbid, we do it SO rarely, mmph!) we make a mistake, we both just laugh and get back on track, and have a good time. I think the audience really picks up on it.
Thank you Anna, for making the journey a joyful one.
We are working on something right now that is going to be hilarious, and we think its a swell number that everyone will love..... stay tuned !!
My favourite inspirational tapper of all time is Gene Kelly. I believe that when someone starts to embrace dancing, any kind of dancing, they are often inspired by someone very early in life. There have been many great dancers that I grew up watching, but none of them inspired me more than Gene Kelly. He had the unique combination of grace and athleticism that I have rarely seen since his time.
As much as things have changed in the past few years, I think there is still the stereotype that people place on male dancers, especially when they are kids. It is labelled as effeminate, or boys are called sissies for taking dance classes. If you took dance classes as a boy in our neighbourhood, often these kids would come home with a bleeding nose.
With his masculine good looks and style of dancing, Gene Kelly made it a lifetime goal to get rid of this type of thinking by doing projects such as the following :
"His first foray into television was a documentary for NBC's Omnibus, Dancing is a Man's Game (1958) where he assembled a group of America's greatest sportsmen – including Mickey Mantle, Sugar Ray Robinson and Bob Cousy
– and re-interpreted their moves choreographically, as part of his
lifelong quest to remove the effeminate stereotype of the art of dance,
while articulating the philosophy behind his dance style. It gained an Emmy nomination for choreography and now stands as the key document explaining Kelly's approach to modern dance." (Quote courtesy of Wikipedia)
One of my only regrets in life, is that I didn't follow my heart AND my ever moving feet which were always trying to imitate dancers like Gene, Fred, the Nicholas Brothers etc. by putting tacks on the bottom of my shoes and driving everyone around me absolutely crazy !
I think when parents see that their boys are excited about, or start copying dancers of their day at a very early age, they should encourage them to take lessons. More often, especially the dads, parents encourage boys to play sports like hockey, football and soccer so their sons will grow up and "be a man". This type of thinking is slowly changing, but we still have a long way to go.
Gene Kelly showed the world that to be a great dancer, one also had to be a great athlete. You only have to see any of his performances to believe this. On YouTube you should check out his performance with the Nicholas Brothers in the classic number "Be a Clown", then tell me dancing is for sissies !
I have a studio promotional picture of Gene Kelly from "Singing in the Rain" which hangs in front of my desk, and, every once in a while, when I think maybe I should stop dancing, for various reasons, I just look at that
picture of Gene, hanging off of a lamppost, soaking wet, with the biggest smile on his face, and think, why would I want to stop something that brings me so much joy..... Gene Kelly, I thank you !
