Tapping Through Time: New Perspectives on Tap Dance
Sidney DuPont as Washington Henry, A.J. Shively as Owen Duignanand ensemble in Paradise Square. Photo by ©Kevin Berne.jpg
At a recent Routes editorial meeting, there was a deep and somewhat heated conversation about the new musical on Broadway called “Paradise Square.” Produced by the Tony-winning producer Garth H. Drabinsky and conceived by Larry Kirwan, the show is set in the Five Points neighborhood of New York City circa 1863. It puts poor Irish immigrants escaping the devastation of the Great Famine and Black Americans (both escpaed slaves and free-born) into the Lower Manhattan slum. The two communities co-existed, intermarried, raised families, and shared their cultures, in part through raucous dance contests held in neighborhood bars and dance halls. It is here, at least as far as the play represents where tap dancing was born.
The musical was inspired, in part, by the songs of Stephen Foster and it features a book by Christina Anderson, Craig Lucas and Larry Kirwan. With music by Jason Howland, lyrics by Nathan Tysen and Masi Asare, the play relies heavily on dance as a means to weave its tale. It is through the exuberant choreography by modern dance master Bill T. Jones, that “Paradise Square” elucidates the historical, but still sometimes conjectured, connection between Irish step dancing such as Hammerstep and the Jig with the Juba style of dance originating from Enslaved Africans in American plantations. The Anglo dance choreography is by Garrett Coleman and Jason Oremus.
The musical represents a brilliant artistic collaboration nothing short of dynamic. And, one can only imagine the conversations had among the creative team and cast. My guess is that it was similar to our own collegiate conversation at Routes, which was not without its own impassioned finger wagging and foot-tapping about the origins of tap, and for that matter, its future. So, I decided I would delve into the rich history of a dance form that I love: tap.
The Footprints of Tap
It is important to understand that the footprint of tap dancing is indeed deeply embedded in African-American history and culture. With its highly syncopated rhythms, this percussive dance form has roots in sacred and secular African tribal step dancing. It also should be noted that tap dancing does include elements of English, Scottish, as well as Irish jigs and clog dancing. African step dancing is connected with clog dancing from the British Isles; it created a unique form of rhythm, sound, and movement — an Afro-Irish fusion of “jig and juba,” that evolved into “jigging.” It is believed that tap dancing emerged in the southern United States as early as the 1700s. Slave owners had taken away African drums and other percussive instruments, so the enslaved sought out creative ways to mimic those sounds, consequently turning to percussive dancing as a substitute form of cultural expression.
Tapping in the Turn of the Century
This dance form was given birth by Master Juba. During the late 1800s, Juba was the first and only African-American tapper to tour with a Blackface Minstrelsy group. Tap dancing featured prominently as a major dance niche throughout The Harlem Renaissance (during the 1920s and 1930s). It was also very popular in Vaudeville variety and traveling shows. Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, known for his elegant soft shoe footwork, performed on Broadway and starred in 14 Hollywood movies, many of them played opposite child star Shirley Temple. As well, Robinson founded the Negro Actors Guild of America, an organization that advocated for the rights of African-American performers.
During the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, tap dancing continued to develop in direct relationship to jazz music. Led by the preeminent Nicholas Brothers, Fayard and Harold. They introduced an acrobatic technique of tap dancing called “flash dancing.” Featured in the 1943 movie, Stormy Weather, their “Jumpin’ Jive” with Cab Calloway and his Orchestra is considered one of the greatest dance routines ever captured on film.
Tap dancing, coupled with jazz music, was further popularized during World War II, by the dynamic team of Charles “Honi” Coles and Charles “Cholly” Atkins who performed in touring road shows with the likes of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Cab Calloway’s big bands.
In 1949, upon the death of Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, an ensemble of star tap dance artists formed the Original Copasetics—a name derived from Robinson’s familiar saying that “everything is copasetic.” The Copasetics helped to popularize and revive the art of tap dancing as we know it from classic Hollywood films and Broadway musicals and revivals.
Carrying forth the legacy of Robinson and the Nicholas Brother were two other dancing siblings — the Hines Brothers. Maurice and Gregory Hines were a dancing duo very much patterned after the Nicholas Brothers. They can be credited with bridging the connection between great tappers of the past and current dance and musical trends of today. Even more so, they greatly influenced and trained a generation of dancers that would follow.
Though new works like “Paradise Square” serve up a new perspective on the history of tap dancing and more than hints at its relationship to other forms of dance, tap is too often relegated to a bygone era. In order to explore the future of tap and its continued relevance, I sat down for an up close and personal interview with two of today’s modern masters — Omar Edwards and Michela Marino Lerman.
(click HERE for part II)
My dad Arnold Wiley is featured in 2 of Oscar Micheuaxs films made in 1932. Ten Minutes to Live in the beginning of the film tapping and The Veiled Aristocrats at the end singing and tap dancing These films were found in 1989 and restored as well as other films directed by Micheaux from that time.