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Flo-Bert Awards
The Flo-Bert Award honors "outstanding figures in the field of tap dance".Egan, BillFlo-Bert Awards florencemills.com History Named for eminent African-American performers Florence Mills and Bert Williams, the awards began in 1991. Flo-Bert, Ltd, the non-profit organization that makes the selections, was founded by historian and researcher Delilah Jackson in 1989. The organization is sponsored by the New York Foundation for the Arts. The Flo-Bert Award is given annually. Honorees include Gregory Hines, Cab Calloway, Gene Kelly, Savion Glover, and the Nicholas Brothers. The award is meant to recognize life achievement in performing, teaching or supporting the art of tap dance. The organization holds an awards show, The Tap Extravaganza. It is produced by The New York Committee to Celebrate National Tap Dance Day. Honorees :''listed alphabetically; year of award indicated'' *Jerry Ames, founder and artistic director of Jerry Ames Tap Dance Company; 2006 *Maceo Anderson, original ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tap Dance
Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely performed in musical theater. Rhythm tap focuses on musicality, and practitioners consider themselves to be a part of the jazz tradition. The sound is made by shoes that have a metal "tap" on the heel and toe. There are different brands of shoes which sometimes differ in the way they sound. Ok History The fusion of several ethnic percussive dances, such as West African step dances and Welsh, Irish, and Scottish clog dancing, hornpipes, and jigs, tap dance is believed to have begun in the mid-1800s during the rise of minstrel shows. As minstrel shows began to decline in popularity, tap dance moved to the increasingly popular Vaudeville stage. Due to Vaudeville's unspoken "two-colored rule", which forbade blacks to perform solo, many Vaudevi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Original Copasetics
The Original Copasetics were an ensemble of star tap dancers formed in 1949 on the death of Bill Bojangles Robinson that helped to revive the art of tap. The first group included composer/arranger Billy Strayhorn and the choreographer Cholly Atkins, as well as Honi Coles, Charles “Cookie” Cook and his dance partner Ernest “Brownie” Brown. by , August 25, 2009 Other dancers included Chuck Green, and [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, and Quincy Jones. In 1992, he was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, and he was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1996. Biography Early life Lionel Hampton was born in 1908 in Louisville, Kentucky, and was raised by his mother. Shortly after he was born, he and his mother moved to her hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. He spent his early childhood in Kenosha, Wisconsin, before he and his family moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1916. As a youth, Hampton was a member of the Bud Billiken Club, an alternative to the Boy Scouts of America, which was off-limits because of racial segregation. During the 1920s, while still a teenager, Hampton took xylophone lessons from Jimmy Bertrand and began to play drums. Hampton was raised ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chuck Green
Charles Green (November 6, 1919 – March 7, 1997) was an American tap dancer. Green was born in Fitzgerald, Georgia. He would stick bottle caps on his bare feet as a child and tap dance on the sidewalk for money. He won third place in a dance contest in 1925 in which Noble Sissle was the bandleader. Soon, Green would be touring the South tap dancing. When he was nine he was brought to New York by a talent scout to study tap dancing. A famous talent agent, Nat Nazzaro, signed Green up as a client when he was just twelve years old. He and his childhood friend James Walker teamed up and called themselves "Shorty and Slim". Walker was a talented comic dancer and would be "Slim" to Green's "Shorty". They changed their name to "Chuck and Chuckles," and played New York's Palace Theatre. Described as a modern Buck and Bubbles, Chuckles, an expert ilegomania played the vibes, while Green performed tap in a breathtaking yet gentle style of John Bubbles, whose protoge' he later became. U ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based in New York City from the mid-1920s and gained a national profile through his orchestra's appearances at the Cotton Club in Harlem. A master at writing miniatures for the three-minute 78 rpm recording format, Ellington wrote or collaborated on more than one thousand compositions; his extensive body of work is the largest recorded personal jazz legacy, and many of his pieces have become standards. He also recorded songs written by his bandsmen, such as Juan Tizol's " Caravan", which brought a Spanish tinge to big band jazz. At the end of the 1930s, Ellington began a nearly thirty-year collaboration with composer-arranger-pianist Billy Strayhorn, whom he called his writing and arranging companion. With Strayhorn, he composed multipl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
June Taylor Dancers
Marjorie June Taylor (December 14, 1917 – May 16, 2004) was an American choreographer, best known as the founder of the June Taylor Dancers, who were featured on Jackie Gleason's various television variety programs. Early life and career Taylor was born in Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, the daughter of Percival Guy Taylor and Angela Taylor. She started taking dance lessons at age eight; by age 14, she lied about her age and became one of the dancers at the Chicago nightclub, Chez Paree. At age 19, she was touring the US and Europe as a dancer in various nightclubs. She returned from London and began performing again in Chicago. In 1938, at age 21, Taylor collapsed on stage, ill with tuberculosis; she spent the next two years in a sanitarium, after which she turned to choreography, founding her own dance troupe in 1942, which made its first professional appearance at Chicago's Blackhawk (restaurant), Blackhawk restaurant. In 1946, Taylor met Jackie Gleason at a Baltimore, Maryland ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mercedes Ellington
Mercedes may refer to: People * Mercedes (name), a Spanish feminine name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or last name Automobile-related * Mercedes (marque), the pre-1926 brand name of German automobile models and engines built by Daimler Motors company * Mercedes-Benz, the post-1926 German brand of automobiles, engines, and trucks now owned by the Mercedes-Benz Group * Mercedes-AMG, a subsidiary of Daimler AG that builds customized and high performance Mercedes-branded automobiles * Mercedes-Benz in Formula One, the Mercedes Formula One racing team, currently known as Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport * Mercedes-Benz in motorsport, its activities in sportscar racing, rallying, Formula Three, DTM, V8 Supercars Australia and Formula One * American Mercedes (1904 automobile), a company licensed to build Mercedes automobiles in America Places * Mercedes, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina ** Mercedes Partido, Argentina * Mercedes, Corrientes, Ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Duncan
Arthur Duncan (born September 25, 1933) is an American tap dancer, also called an "Entertainer's Entertainer,"“About the International Tap Dance Hall of Fame: Biographies,” American Tap Dance Foundation, accessed April 27, 2022. known for his stint as a performer on ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1964 to 1982. This, along with his earlier inclusion (despite objections) on '' The Betty White Show'' in 1954 and with the help of White herself, made him the first African-American regular on a variety television program. He has performed all over the world and notably at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. Early life Born in Pasadena, California, Duncan entered show business at age 13, when he was a member of a dance quartet that performed at McKinley Junior High School in Pasadena. He later entered Pasadena City College to study pharmacy, but left to pursue a career in show business. Personal life Not much can be found on Arthur Duncan’s personal life, but at one point in h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larry Adler
Lawrence Cecil Adler (February 10, 1914 – August 6, 2001) was an American harmonica player. Known for playing major works, he played compositions by George Gershwin, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Malcolm Arnold, Darius Milhaud and Arthur Benjamin. During his later career, he collaborated with Sting, Elton John, Kate Bush and Cerys Matthews. Early life Adler was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Sadie Hack and Louis Adler. They were a Jewish family. He graduated from Baltimore City College high school. He taught himself harmonica, which he called a mouth organ. He played professionally at 14. In 1927, he won a contest sponsored by the ''Baltimore Sun'', playing a Beethoven minuet, and a year later he ran away from home to New York. After being referred by Rudy Vallée, Adler got his first theatre work, and caught the attention of orchestra leader Paul Ash, who placed Adler in a vaudeville act as "a ragged urchin, playing for pennies".''Current Biography 1944'', pp. 3–5 Career From ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Draper (dancer)
Paul Draper Jr. (October 25, 1909 – September 20, 1996) was a noted American tap dancer and choreographer. Born into an artistic, socially prominent New York family, the nephew of Ruth Draper was an innovator in the arts. His passion and unique style led him to international stardom. One signature piece was ''Sonata for Tap Dancer'', danced without musical accompaniment. Draper was a natural dancer. He took six tap dancing lessons at Tommy Nip's Broadway dance school in 1930 before performing solo in London in 1932. He enrolled in the School of American Ballet and realized the possibilities of combining tap and classical ballet, forming his unique style. By 1937, he was performing at such venues as the Persian Room at the Plaza Hotel and the Rainbow Room. Carnegie Hall followed, then Broadway and a film version of William Saroyan's '' Time of Your Life'' (1948). In 1940, he teamed up with Larry Adler, a virtuoso harmonicist. The two became a world-famous act, performing togeth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stanley Donen
Stanley Donen ( ; April 13, 1924 – February 21, 2019) was an American film director and choreographer whose most celebrated works are '' On the Town,'' (1949) and ''Singin' in the Rain'' (1952), both of which he co-directed with Gene Kelly. His other films include ''Royal Wedding'' (1951), ''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' (1954), ''It's Always Fair Weather'' (1955), ''Funny Face'' (1957), '' Indiscreet'' (1958), and ''Charade'' (1963). Donen began his career in the chorus line on Broadway for director George Abbott, where he befriended Kelly. From 1943, he worked in Hollywood as a choreographer before collaborating with Kelly. After ''On the Town'', Donen worked as a contract director for MGM under producer Arthur Freed producing critically well-received box-office hits. Donen and Kelly co-directed the musical ''Singin' in the Rain'', released in April 1952, which has appeared on lists of the best films ever made. Donen's relationship with Kelly deteriorated during thei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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