Winding down summer....

Well, yesterday was Labor Day, the unofficial sign that summer is ending.  A lot of tap has gone on in the last few months, the season for many tap festivals.  Feet were hitting the boards in Detroit, St. Louis, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, Prague, Vancouver, San Francisco, to name a few places.  I had the pleasure of participating in the 3rd Annual New Jersey Tap Festival held in Bloomfield, NJ at the end of August.  Classes were held at Broadway Performing Arts and the final concert at Westminster Arts Center, a part of Bloomfield College, where I teach.

I did the history sessions, showing clips of dancers of importance and sharing some stories.  At one session I focused on Sammy Davis, Jr., because he's one of those people a new generation really know little about.  Below are three clips of Sammy and a clip of Michelle Dorrance, Hillary-Marie Michael (founder and director of the festival), Jeff Foote, Kyle Wilder and Evan Ruggiero jamming at the festival.

                            Sammy at age 7

Sammy in his 20's with his dad, Sammy Davis, Sr., and his "uncle" Will Mastin - The Will Mastin Trio

Sammy's last performance at a televised tribute for him.

By the way, if you haven't seen it already, check out the NY Times article about Michela Marino-Lerman's Wednesday tap jam at Small's in Greenwich Village.