It Had to be You!

It's been a while since I posted something here. Not that anyone is probably looking these days, but hey, you never know...

My two tap teams are coming along, working on new choreography, and we hope to compete in 2011. I'm very fortunate to have students who are extremely well-trained dancers (ballet, jazz etc.) because it allows for more varied choreography. I love my ballerina tappers - the girls can DANCE. :-)

Hopefully I'll get a video of them uploaded in the future.

Meanwhile, I might as well post this video of a little performance I did for the NC Highway Patrol Auxillary back in October. My partner is Ashley, one of my younger, but very talented and painfully cute tap students! It's was definitely somewhat inspired by Bill Robinson's adorable dances with Shirley Temple:

Welcome to my tap dancing blog.

This blog began life as a multigenre grad school project about Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, but I've decided to expand it into a personal tap dance blog. The original material can be seen below in the June 2010 posts.

Let's kick things off with a short tap dance improv performed by yours truly...

Bone jangler?

It sounds like the title of a Stephen King horror novel, doesn’t it?

Well, it isn’t anything like that! It is the basic etymology of the nickname, “Bojangles” (Ames & Siegelman, 1977, p.43). And no, it has nothing to do with fried chicken, despite the popularity of the restaurant franchise. Think of one who dances around and bangs bones together to make sounds. Think of the man named Bill “Bojangles” Robinson.

For those of you who know the name, wonderful! For those of you who don’t, even better! You’re going to learn a little about an extraordinary human being and artist. Furthermore, hopefully you’ll gain some appreciation for the art form that Bill Robinson contributed so much to – tap dancing. Being a tap dancer myself, it is my hope that this multigenre research paper will inform and entertain, as well as offer some insight into the art of tap dancing, and one of its legends.

Now then, shoe some taps, step onto wood, and let’s jangle some bones!

"Everything is copasetic!"

co·pa·set·ic (koh-puh-set-ik)

adjective (slang)

Absolutely great, fantastic, just fine, wonderful, crazy good, A-OK, ain't

nothin' to complain about in da whole wide world.

origin

Etymology is purportedly Hebrew. Popularized by tap dance star Bill
Robinson in the early 20th century.

Photograph of Bill Robinson (danceheritage.org)

Bones Jangling

Sound is a movement

It moves air and wood

The beats strike and thump

Pumping sound and rhythm

Like the heart pushing blood

Bleeding soul and mind

In time and syncopation

Bones jangle the ground

Beating fast and hard

Determined to be felt and heard

Like the heart pushing blood

"Best tap dancer in the world."

Tap dancing is a uniquely American art form. Its origins are multicultural in the truest sense of the term, with roots that reach far away, and long ago, into various African and European traditions of dance and music. It is no accident that many early tap dancers held themselves erect like clog dancers, while executing intricate polyrhythmic footwork with their feet. It's also no accident that National Tap Dance Day, an official American holiday, falls on May 25th of each year.

That date was chosen because it is the birthday of one of tap dancing’s greatest legends, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. Robinson was born in 1878 in Richmond, Virginia, and received his nickname, “Bojangles,” as a child who was already dancing in saloons at the age of six. By the age of twelve, he was performing onstage in shows like the 1891 play, “The South Before The War” (Knowles, 2002, p.121). He found initial fame by winning dance contests, and performed extensively in vaudeville, before moving in 1928 to Harlem in New York City, where he would become a stage dancing icon.

Robinson’s greatest claim to fame is undoubtedly the string of Hollywood movie musicals he performed in, although he was in his fifties when his film career began. While he performed many solo dance numbers onscreen, he is most often remembered for his charming dance duets with Shirley Temple, beginning with the “The Little Colonel” in 1935. Temple, when asked about her various film partners, said of Robinson, “he was the one who treated me most like an equal” (Frank, 1994, p.90). Robinson’s reputation for generosity and kind-heartedness extended well beyond young dancers, and he is said to have performed in over 100 benefit concerts per year (Frank,1994, p.180)

Bill Robinson & Shirley Temple, from "The Little Colonel," 1935.

Robinson’s most famous piece of choreography is probably his “stair dance,” which he performed both on and off screen. In the dance, Robinson deftly executes a myriad of complex and exquisitely executed tap steps while traveling up and down a set of specially constructed stairs. When asked about his inspiration for the piece, Robinson said, “I dreamed I was getting to be a knight, and I danced up the stairs to the throne, got my badge, and danced right down again” (Hill, Tap Dancing America, 2010, p.66).

While he may not have become a knight, he certainly became a hero to tap dancers around the globe, and his legend persists. As one of his protégé’s, Ralph Brown, said of Robinson, “Best tap dancer in the world. Why he could do more with his feet than any dancer I ever heard”(Frank, p.97). Unfortunately Robinson, like all African American performers in his time, wasn’t always afforded the treatment and respect he deserved, and was generally “shunted into humble, old south servant roles” (Hill, Brotherhood of Rhythm, 2002, p.93). One exception to that rule was a solo piece he performed for the 1937 Hollywood musical, “Café Metropol,” in which he dances in full tuxedo and top hat, looking as dapper as Fred Astaire. Unfortunately theatre owners objected, lest audiences become outraged by the image of a black man dressed too well, and the scene was cut from the film. Thankfully, the scene was preserved for posterity, and Robinson’s talent, personality and legendary tap dancing all live on despite the temporal challenges he faced.

Bill & Fred

Shoes with wooden taps                            Shoes with metal taps
Body erect but fluid

                                                                   Head held high arms moving
Like the irish clogger       
                                                                   Like the ballroom dancer
Who was my friend
                                                                   That I also am
Sounds exquisite                                        Sounds exquisite
Moves smooth and I smile                           Moves smooth and I smile
Bone jangler they called me
                                                                   Dapper, ever the aristocrat
Dignified, but still the servant
I play my parts                                            I play my parts
Perfectly and dance                                   Perfectly and dance
With a little white girl
                                                                   With beautiful white women
A man in his fifties I dance                         A man in his fifties I dance
                                                                   Seen in top hat and tails
Seen the way they want to see me

Note: In the 1936 film, "Swing Time," Fred Astaire paid tribute to Bill Robinson in the dance number "Bojangles from Harlem."

Anatomy of Bones

Photograph of a pair of the author's tap shoes.

     The toe bone
(a) Toe Tap - usually gives a brighter, more treble-like sound (Teletone taps, no jingle taps!)

     is connected to the heel bone
(b) Heel Tap - usually gives a harder, more bass-like sound

     is connected to the rubber bone

(c) Rubber Sole - a layer of tough, textured rubber to keep the dancer from slipping around

     is connected to the sole(soul) bone

(d) Leather Sole - a strong leather sole is the basis for a quality tap dancer's shoe

Cafe Metropol

Bojangles is dressed exquisitely in clothes he shouldn't be wearing according to some. But his marvelous toothy grin never stops, and the only thing that shines brighter are the sounds emanating from his tap shoes. Only two movie musical stars of the day always insisted on dubbing their own sounds - Bill Robinson and Fred Astaire.

His eyes flit about playfully, like he's got some magic tricks up his sleeves. But the tricks are located much lower. In tap terminology, he pulls off a furious flurry of double pull backs, so fast you can't count the sounds unless you listen very carefully. But they're there, all of them. And all the while his white gloved hands and white smile gleam and glimmer as sounds sparkle all around him.

Dressed like Fred Astaire, with all the dignity to carry off the tuxedo, he dances to an appreciative white audience. There isn't a flicker of spite in those magical eyes, even though he wouldn't be allowed to sit in that audience himself. But nothing deters the artist from creating something beautiful. Thank God for that.

Bill Robinson's infamously deleted dance from "Cafe Metropol", 1937.

Personal Recollection

Being a dancer in New York City has its advantages. Not only do you have the luxury of training with the best teachers in the world, but if you're lucky you get to meet and work with some extraordinary people. And sometimes they give you some good advice. 

For example, way back in 1989 I danced with DancEllington, a tap dance company directed by Mercedes Ellington. 

I'd previously performed in several mostly non-tap musicals upstate, and a small ballet company in New Jersey, and was just coming back from arthroscopic knee surgery for a torn cartilage (my first major injury). That wasn't fun, but when you're young you bounce back fast. Being a tap dancer first and foremost, I was excited to work with Mercedes Ellington, who was not only Duke Ellington's granddaughter, but a remarkable dancer who'd done it all. I don't know exactly how old she was at the time, but she was someone to respect and admire. She was also very beautiful.

It was a great opportunity to perform in her company. I remember seeing Gregory Hines in the audience one night, and getting to meet him after the show. I also worked with some amazing tap dancers in DancEllington - guys like Bob Finch and George Bohn - who weren't famous to the world, but were brilliant artists nevertheless. 

But the thing I remember most clearly is some advice Mercedes gave me one night after rehearsal.

"Don't get stuck in a style."

For a tap dancer, that means not limiting yourself to a particular school, or a particular type of sound. It means a lot of things, really. But it was great advice and I took it. And I became a better dancer for it. Thank you Mercedes.

Tap dancers are always trading steps, or stealing them. And sometimes, we just trade advice, like anyone else. Feel free to steal that bit of advice if you like. I won't mind. 

Mercedes Ellington (nydailynews.com)

How's that go again?

Tap dancing is all about trades. And a fair amount of stealing, but it's legal stealing. When you're not paying a teacher for class, you're pulling steps from performances you watch. Otherwise, you're trading steps with other dancers. And if you're talented and creative enough, you're making up new ones, and hoping no one steals them from you. But then again, not really.

Dancer 1: Wait, wait... how's that go again?

Dancer 2: Shuffle hop step flap step.

Dancer 1: (does the step) Like that?

Dancer 2: Well, no, not exactly. The steps are right, but the rhythm's off. It should be like, yadda DUMP, bump a dee DUMP, yadda DUMP bump a dee DUMP. Shuffle HOP step fuh lap STEP. (does the step a few times) Hear that? 

Dancer 1: Oh, I see. Hmm. (does the step again)

Dancer 2: Yeah, that's better. Syncopate a little more. Counts 1 and 3& are accented. Here, do it with me. You'll get it.

(they practice together)

Dancer 1: OK, I feel it now! I got it!

Dancer 2: Your turn. Show me something.

Dancer 1: Well, I learned this step from this girl last week in Bob's class. It kinda travels sideways, looks like a crab crawling. (does the step) See what I did?

Dancer 2: Not exactly... how's that go again?

American as Apple Pie

RECIPE:

Bojangles Pie - a delicious Amercan classic, full of flavor and rich with happiness.

INGREDIENTS:

175 pounds of genius
100 table spoons of smiles
12 liters of sheer talent
2 tons of hard work
Several pairs of leather shoes
Several sets of wooden taps
1 extremely large pie crust

DIRECTIONS:

(1) Carefully pour 175 pounds of genius into an exceedingly large bowl containing 100 table spoons of smiles. Gently stir until a smooth consistency is evident. Add 12 liters of sheer talent into the mixture until a bright, beaming glow is apparent. 

(2) Pour mixture into 1 extremely large pie crust, then bake for 2 hours. When done, the crust should be a rich dark brown color.

(3) Carefully jangle several pairs of leather shoes and several sets of wooden taps around the crust, and bake until a marvelous flurry of syncopated sounds can be heard coming from the oven. Serve steaming hot and full of energy.

Stairway to Paradise

The Life & Times

Bill Robinson, Tap Dancing Superstar, Dead at 71
by Ran Domwriter
published Nov. 25, 1949

Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, one of the world's preeminent tap dancers and Hollywood icons, passed away from heart failure on November 25th, 1949.

His funeral in Harlem was arranged by his friend Ed Sullivan, and was attended by 32,000 people. Tap dancers and admirers around the world mourned the loss of this great dancer and remarkable human being, who was as generous as he was gifted.

In life he often performed an astounding stair dance, in which he imagined himself ascending to a king's throne to receive just dues as a knight. Perhaps in death he ascended to someplace grander. As the old Gershwin tune goes, perhaps he tap danced right up some copasetic stairway to paradise. Rest in peace, and thank you, Mr. Bojangles.

Bill Robinson's famous stair dance, 1932.

End Notes

Following are notes explaining how/why the various parts of this multigenre paper came to be:

Everything is copasetic - a dictionary entry. In fact, if you look the word up, you'll find it in almost any modern dictionary, although it won't read quite like my entry does.

Bones Jangling - a metaphorical poem. Pretty obvious stuff. 

Best Tap Dancer in the World - this essay went through several revisions over the past few weeks. It began life as a bonifide research paper in my mind (before I realized the essay was supposed to be, well... short). What you see here is a cut-down, shortened version of the original. Most painful was the deletion of two good paragraphs about the African and European roots of tap. *sigh*

Bill & Fred - pretty self explanatory. Bill Robinson & Fred Astaire in a double voice poem.

Anatomy of Bones - a strange free form photo commentary, play on words with (painfully bad) poetic overtones.

Cafe Metropol - character description of Bojangles as he appears in the deleted dance scene. Video provided, of course...

Personal Recollection - free form selection. Part journal entry, part letter to the reader.

How's that go again? - dialog, but you already knew that.

American as Apple Pie - recipe, but once again, you already knew that.

Stairway to Paradise - obituary entry, newspaper style. And you know, I just had to link one last video.

Bibliography

Ames, Jerry & Siegelman, Jim. (1977). The Book of Tap. New York: David Mckay Company, Inc.

Frank, Rusty E. (1994). Tap!. New York: De Capo Press, Inc.

Hill, Constance Valis. (2002). Brotherhood in Rhythm. New York: Copper Square Press.

Hill, Constance Valis. (2010). Tap Dancing America. New York: Oxford University Press.

Knowles, Mark. (2002). Tap Roots. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc.

Reflection

(submitted via moodle)