The year so far...

Well, no new postings since last September.  You can see that September to May is basically one school year (college-wise that is!) and that's the reason for no posts.  I just get too busy with the responsibilities at Bloomfield College, where I teach, to keep up with the blog.  But hopefully after next year I can stay on top of it more.  Yeah, it will be "retirement" time for me....well, from the college, but not from life!!

May just ended a few days ago, a month traditionally filled with a lot of tap activity, mainly because of National Tap Dance Day.  It also sort of ended the first half of a year of fascinating tap dance performances and events in the local NY/NJ area.  So, here's my brief take on Tap 2013 so far, at least what I got to see or participate in.

Michelle with Dormeshia Sumbry Edwards
and Dormeshia's daughter, Ebony, post-show at
St Marks Church

January:  The year kicked off with Michelle Dorrance & Dorrance Dance at St. Marks Church in the East Village.  The full evening piece, " SOUNDspace", was quite inventive with a large cast of performers.  The floor of the church is not conducive to using metal taps, so the dancers performed in
socks, bare feet, and shoes with leather and/or wooden soles.  It gave for a nuanced sound.  I like Michelle's work because it goes beyond just straight tap dancing and she has a nice sense of humor and adventure.  This summer she's being given the 2013 Jacob's Pillow Dance Award of $25,000 to acknowledge her artistic work.  Well done, Michelle!

February:  My good friends, Michael "Toes" Tiranoff and Megan Haungs, arranged a show at Zeb's

Toes and Megan rehearsing 

in mid Manhattan called, "A Love Supreme:  A Celebration of the Spiritual Music of John Coltrane".  It was a big line up of singers and dancers who performed with the back up of The Sugar Hill Quartet, led by Patience Higgins.  Toes and Megan have been in San Francisco for a few years attending and performing at the Saint John Coltrane African Orthodox Church.  Their experiences there, incorporating tap in the services, inspired them to do this show.  In fact, they have both been appointed Ministers of Tap Percussion Dance by the Church and Megan is now starting something called, The Sacred Tap Dance Project.  The spirit of tap stays alive!

Khalid Hill and Jason Janas
warming up backstage of
"Rhythm is Our Business"

 March:  The American Tap Dance Foundation mounted two shows, "Rhythm is Our Business" and "Rhythm in Motion", at The Theater at the 14th Street Y.  I had the pleasure of performing in "Rhythm is Our Business" and it was a great experience.  It was just a basic straight out show of
entertainment, about one hour long, that gave the audience a good ole time.  Directed by Derick Grant,
with choreographic contributions of Dormesha Sumbry Edwards, it had chorus line dancers, comedy, killer tap numbers and headlined by the one and only Mable Lee.  At 91, she is literally still kickin'.  The musical director was the great Frank Owens.  "Rhythm in Motion" was a collection of contemporary tap pieces that had a wide range of material.  Some pieces were weaker than others, but I was particularly moved by a solo number that Kazu Kumagai did that was sort of a meditation of recent events in Japan.  The two shows demonstrated the breadth of what tap dance can be.

April:  Jane Goldberg presented an afternoon of "Rhythm and Schmooze" as part of the Karen Bernard/New Dance Alliance's "Performance Mix" Festival.  In addition to Jane's dancing and words, there were the outstanding Michela Marino Lerman, Roxane Butterfly and Cheryl Johnson.  Another instance of variety in tap.  Some storytelling, some improvisation, and some staged dramatic movement.  The main theme seemed to be the relationship to music and motion, whether the music was live, recorded or music of words.  Jane has been at this for a while, dancing, writing and dialoguing about the art form.  She still is often referred to as the "Tap Goddess of the Lower East Side"...although she hasn't lived there in a while!

Jane Goldberg, Roxane Butterfly, Michela Marino Lerman,
Cheryl Johnson.  Photo by Joy Nagy

May:  The Queens Tap Extravaganza was held on May 11th at Flushing Town Hall, produced by Traci Mann and Al Heyward in conjunction with Cobi Narita.  The line up was essentially the same "usual suspects" that wind up doing the show each year.  It was fun to do and honors/awards were

Pre Queens show moment;  Bernice Brooks,
Michelle Dorrance, Frank Owens

given out to a few people, including Michela Marino Lerman and Tony Waag for their work in tap.  On May 25th, which is National Tap Dance Day, the NY Tap Extravaganza was done, with some of the same performers doing their thing.  

Dianne Walker talking
about Buster at Swing 46

But the big event during May this year, as far as I'm concerned, was the James "Buster" Brown Centennial Celebration, held the weekend of May 17 - 19th.  Buster was an important person in the tap world, mainly as a supporter of anyone who wanted to dance.  Beginning in 1997, he ran a sort of tap jam at Swing 46 on 46th St., that became the place to be on Sunday nights.  He passed away in 2002 and would have turned 100 this year, so the weekend was to celebrate him with classes, film, video, discussions and a final "reunion" at Swing 46.  It was spearheaded by Michela Marino Lerman, one of Buster's proteges, with support from Tony Waag and the American Tap Dance Foundation and the wonderful Cobi Narita.  I can't begin to describe all that happened, but the final performance at Swing 46 was great and emotional.

Upcoming:  Savion Glover is coming to the Joyce this month for a three week engagement.  July will bring American Tap Dance Foundation's Tap City, a festival of classes and performances in NYC, which will be kicked off with Laraine Goodman's tap jam, "TAP & ROLL" at The HUB in the West Village.   In August we have the NJ Tap Festival, and there will be more tap activity this summer across the country and 'round the world.  Check "Tap related websites" for more information.

All photos by Hank Smith, unless otherwise noted.