Love comes to us in many sizes, shapes and forms. The love that I am speaking of is the passion in our hearts to do what we love to do, creatively. A more concise definition is “bringing something new of value into existence” which results in bringing forth the energy that is needed for the enrichment and fulfillment of life. The arts are the key. They create a sense of community in which each person’s contribution is respected. In sum, the arts enhance the quality of life.
I have never encountered something as simple and complex as the study of tap dance. I relate to it on the most basic, visceral levels, but also the most abstract. I experience so much of life through dance, from monumental epiphanies to small, quotidian occurrences, and I think all of it is beautiful.
How should we react today to “Bojangles of Harlem,” the extended solo in the 1936 film “Swing Time” in which Fred Astaire, then at the height of his fame, wears blackface to evoke the African-American dancer Bill Robinson? No pat answer occurs.
The first time I met Savion Glover was during a rehearsal for an event that Bill Cosby was hosting at Lincoln Center in 2000. The scene onstage was making him tense — meaning that Mr. Glover had no desire to perform a mugging number in the manner of a “Cosby Show” episode — so eventually, without a word, we left. (I interviewed him in his car as we headed downtown.) Mr. Glover’s struggle was obvious: how to present tap, the art form, in a serious way?
The award-winning tap dancer Derick Grant, 38, is a veteran of Broadway and international stages. He’s also among today’s tap vanguard—improvising, choreographing, producing, and sharing his expertise with beginner and professional students alike. Fresh from teaching and performing in Berlin, Grant spoke with L.J. Sunshine about his life and work.
L.J. Sunshine (Rail): You started dancing when you were two years old and soon began performing. Do you remember that at all?
Constance Valis Hill, author of Tap Dancing America, A Cultural History (Oxford University Press 2010), is joined by tappers Dianne Walker and Derick K. Grant to discuss the rooted history and the cutting edge future of tap dance in America. Moderated by Jacob's Pillow Scholar-in-Residence Maura Keefe.
As the least advanced student in my Intermediate II class, I've picked up a few things on the dance floor that can be applied to life's daily rises and falls and that would also have come in handy during my formative kindergarten days.
1. Stay loose and relaxed. Repeat, stay loose and relaxed!
“Rap A Tap Tap: Here’s Bojangles – Think of That”
by Leo & Diane Dillon
(The Blue Sky Press, 2002)
I have never encountered something as simple and complex as the study of tap dance. I relate to it on the most basic, visceral levels, but also the most abstract. I experience so much of life through dance, from monumental epiphanies to small, quotidian occurrences, and I think all of it is beautiful.
How should we react today to “Bojangles of Harlem,” the extended solo in the 1936 film “Swing Time” in which 
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As the least advanced student in my Intermediate II class, I've picked up a few things on the dance floor that can be applied to life's daily rises and falls and that would also have come in handy during my formative kindergarten days.
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