It's a milestone: Nierenberg films on tap at Quad Cinema

The late tap dance great Chuck Green in Harlem
At right, Harold "Sandman" Sims and Bunny Briggs
(still from No Maps on My Taps, 1979,
by George T. Nierenberg, courtesy of Milestone Films)

Two more giants of the art:
Gregory Hines embraces his mentor Jimmy Slyde.
(photo: George T. Nierenberg, courtesy of Milestone Films)

Time has taken from us all of the beloved master innovators and mentors shown in the photos above. But contemporary tap lives and shines in exemplars like Savion Glover, Michelle Dorrance, Jason Samuels-Smith, Chloe Arnold, Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, Derick Grant, Ayodele Casel, Max Pollak, Roxane Butterfly, Caleb Teicher and a slew of eager youngsters coming up behind them. That torch keeps getting passed and won't go out as long as there are places where people can see and appreciate the riches tap has to offer.

Filmmaker George T. Nierenberg was an early hero in tap's recovery from the rise of television and rock 'n' roll, changes in the nature of choreography for Broadway musicals, and the subsequent loss of tap venues and gigs. His two intimate and beautiful films, No Maps on My Taps (1979) and About Tap (1984), featuring chats and performances by Chuck Green, Bunny Briggs, Harold "Sandman" Sims, Steve Condos and Jimmy Slyde, helped revive interest in the art and turned on new generations of dancers and dance educators. In 2014, American Tap Dance Foundation presented Nierenberg with its American Tap Dance Preservation Award.

Film producer/director George T. Nierenberg
(photo: George T. Nierenberg, courtesy of Milestone Films)

At Manhattan's Quad Cinema, Milestone Films will now present the first theatrical release of No Maps on My Taps (58 min) and About Tap (28 min), digitally restored from the original camera negatives, for a week-long run coinciding with ATDF's popular Tap City: The New York City Tap Festival.

I can only say, GO! You cannot fail to enjoy these films and be moved by these artists. If you can, please take some young folks who might think tap has nothing to do with them. It has everything to do with musicality, mad skills, collaboration, imagination, feeling and excellence. So, yes, it has everything to do with them.

No Maps on My Taps and About Tap open at Quad Cinema on Friday, July 7 and run through Thursday, July 13. Schedule information and ticketing will be available onsite tomorrow, Monday, July 3.

For Tap City 2017--which, once again, includes everything from shows and screenings to a ride on the Circle Line--click here to see some of what's up with tap today and what's coming tomorrow.

Quad Cinema
34 West 13th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues), Manhattan
(map/directions)

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Tapilosophy: A dialogue on tap

(Photos: Jane Goldberg; Greg Hines, photo by Greg Gorman)

With her new blog series, Tapilosophy: Gregory Hines to Jane, tap's champion, Jane Goldberg opens her trove of email correspondence with the late, great Gregory Hines. Goldberg describes Tapilosophy as "emails to be read, inspired by, and discussed in your tap lives as you travel the world."

So, was Greg Hines a PC guy? Or a Mac guy?

Definitely a Mac guy, and he had people figured out PC or Mac-wise, too. Like the beloved tap master Buster Brown:

Buster was a Mac. Very attractive to look at and to spend time with. Easy to know. Rarely crashed. Displayed a very intuitiveness about his dancing and made it look easy. Anyone who got to spend time with him loved Buster. Oh yes….. Buster was a Mac.

I grieve that we do not have Hines's voice in the mix today. And certainly his tapping feet.

Thanks for bringing us Tapilosophy, Janie!

Dance treasures, one and all!

Dance Heritage Coalition--founded in 1992 with the mission of documenting dance and preserving its record--has announced twelve additions to its list of America's Irreplaceable Dance Treasures. The roster includes:

Josephine Baker

Joan Myers Brown

Clark Center for the Performing Arts

Alonzo King

Isamu Noguchi

Ginger Rogers

Urban Bush Women

See the complete list here.

Gregory Hines in The Cotton Club (1984)
(photo: Photofest.)

See the page for Dance Treasure Gregory Hines here.

Dance History Coalition is the sole national non-profit alliance of institutions holding significant collections of materials documenting the history of dance. Its mission is to preserve, make accessible, enhance and augment the materials that document the artistic accomplishments in dance of the past, present, and future.

Learn more here.

Tap royalty at Jacob's Pillow: Be still, my heart!

Gregory Hines, Dianne Walker, Jimmy Slyde
recorded June 22, 1996

A one-time-only gala performance in 1996 provided the occasion to bring together three extraordinary tap artists. Gregory Hines (1946-2003) helped revitalize the tap genre in the 1980s, appearing on Broadway and in films such as White Nights and The Cotton Club. Dianne Walker, also known as "Lady Di", is a Boston-based artist who is among the few internationally-recognized women in tap. Her mentors included Leon Collins, with whom she ran a popular Boston school in the 1980s. Walker has also been closely associated with Jimmy Slyde (1927-2008), who was born and raised in Boston. Slyde danced with many leading big bands including those of Count Basie and Duke Ellington. All three of these artists appeared in the movie Tap, but this Pillow footage represents a unique record of them dancing together. Dianne Walker and Jimmy Slyde were most recently seen at the Pillow with Savion Glover in 2005.

Music: Bross Townsend Quartet

Just a sample of the many treasures and pleasures you can find at Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive. Visit now!

Gregory Hines Youth Scholarship Fund [video]

Gregory Hines Youth Scholarship Fund (2:56)
A project of the American Tap Dance Foundation


Scholarships are given all year to kids ages 3.5-19 for various youth tap dance training programs. For all information, including application details and deadlines, click here.

We miss you, Gregory Hines!

The late, great, blazingly talented Gregory Hines would have been 66 today. Happy birthday, Greg!

Love tap?

Do you love tap the way I love tap?

If so, there's lots of it here to enjoy, thanks to Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive!

"Tap" and its legacy

Tap Legacy Foundation, dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the art of tap dance, celebrates the anniversary of its founding on Saturday, February 14, 2009 with a 20th Annviersary screening of the classic 1989 dance film, Tap, starring Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis, Jr., at the Directors Guild Theatre in NYC. The screening will be preceded by an announcement of the launch of the Foundation’s first Capital Campaign, and followed by a Champagne Reception for all ticket holders.

Gregory Hines co-founded Tap Legacy Foundation (TLF) which is dedicated to preserving and advancing the art of tap dance, in 2002 with Andrew J. Nemr. The Foundation champions the cultural contribution tap dancers have made over the years and presents programs developed to ensure that the art form continues to thrive.

February 14 has special significance to the Foundation. It is the 7th Anniversary of its founding, it is Gregory Hines’ birthday, and it is the 20th Anniversary of the opening of the film, Tap.

Tap, directed by Nick Castle, starred some of the world’s greatest living tap dancers of the time: Gregory Hines, Sammy Davis, Jr., Harold Nicholas, Sandman Sims, Bunny Briggs, Steve Condos, Jimmy Slyde, Arthur Duncan, Henry LeTang and a young Savion Glover. The film maintains a special place in tap dance history, signifying the success of the grass roots resurgence which began in the 1970's and the beginning of the new wave of tap dancers lead by Savion Glover.

The screening will be held on February 14 at 8pm at the Directors Guild Theatre, 110 W. 57th Street (between 6th and 7th Avenues) at 8pm. Tickets are available by calling 212-279-4200 or through Ticket Central. Tickets are $25 and include the post-screening Champagne Reception. For more information, visit Tap Legacy Foundation.

Jane Goldberg: Body and Soul podcast

Jane Goldberg--tap dancer and journalist--discusses her entertaining and insightful new book, "Shoot Me While I'm Happy: Memories from The Tap Goddess of the Lower East Side."

Program notes--http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Guest info at http://www.janegoldberg.org. (c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

MP3 File

Program Notes: Upcoming on "Body and Soul"

Jane Goldberg--tap dancer and journalist--discusses her new book, Shoot Me While I'm Happy: Memories from The Tap Goddess of the Lower East Side.  This engaging and enjoyable memoir--including a wealth of photos and unforgettable profiles of master performers such as Honi Coles, Charles "Cookie" Cook, Bunny Briggs, Leon Collins, Buster Brown, Sammy Davis, Jr., Ginger Rogers, Mable Lee, Gregory Hines and Savion Glover--will appeal to many readers: tap fans, students, performers, dance journalists and scholars who are interested in the human stories and provocative issues behind the history of this great American art form.

 
Click here for my commentary on Shoot Me While I'm Happy, and here for a complete bio of Jane Goldberg.

Buy the book through Goldberg's Web site for this exclusive offer--a bonus DVD of By Word of Foot: Tap Masters Pass On Their Tradition (1980) and excerpts from Rhythm & Schmooze.

Tap Goddess of the Lower East Side to read from her new book  at Girls' Club of the Lower East Side!

Jane Goldberg's First Book Signing Party! Changing Times Tap Dancing Company, Inc. DATE: SATURDAY, September 20th TIME: 6:00-8:00pm LOCATION: The Lower Eastside Girls Club at the Art + Community Gallery 56 E. 1st St NYC between First and Second Avenue *See a map here* MORE: Join us for some Reading, Rhythm & Schmooze!

BUY your copy of Jane's book, "Shoot Me While I'm Happy," on her website here, and bring it to the party to get it signed!

STAY TUNED! Upcoming Signings, Performances & Classes... Saturday, October 18th Reading + Shopping @ Great Eastern Trading Co. (Vintage Clothing Store) in Cambridge, MA. Website here Sunday, October 19th Class, Video, and Book Signing @ Dance Inn Lexington at the Regent Theater Underground in Arlington, MA. Website here Thursday, October 30th Reading and Book Signing Books & Books in Miami Beach, FL. Website here   For more information about all events, email WoodshedProductions@yahoo.com

(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa

While I'm happily reading

Another winning thing about summer--at least, theoretically--is that with a less intense dance calendar, there's more time for reading. (I wrote "theoretically" because frankly I'm still trying to find unclaimed and undisturbed time to concentrate on what I want to read for pleasure, let alone what I've promised to review.) Most recently, I was sent a galley copy of Jane Goldberg's memoir, Shoot Me While I'm Happy: Memories from The Tap Goddess of the Lower East Side. I knew that Jane had been working on this little number for...what has it been? seven decades now? whatever... Well, I'm far from being able to give you a straightforward review, but I'm so excited by what I've already read that I wanted to let you know about it right away!

From its foreword by the late Gregory Hines--one of Goldberg's staunchest friends--to the wealth of personal and historical images from the author's archives, this memoir both entertains and informs about how the great art and artists of tap dance were brought out of undeserved obscurity by Goldberg and her colleagues. This is a charming page-turner, not an academic History of Tap, and I'm sure others will have their own take on things, as Jane Goldberg--a former investigative journalist for an alternative weekly in Boston--has never been anything but forthright about her point of view and her quirks. But it's the book I want to read now. The writing is generous, funny, honest and insightful--full of good stories in which you will meet a slew of unforgettable characters, the Down-to-Earth Goddess Goldberg chief among them.

A DVD of Goldberg's By Word of Foot: Tap Masters Pass on Their Tradition, an excerpt from Rhythm & Schmooze and "other Tapperabilia" round out the goodies. This extra is included only when either the hardback or the paperback edition is purchased directly from Goldberg's site, not from Amazon.com.

Don't worry. Get reading. Be happy.