The American Tap Dance Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose primary goal is the presentation and teaching of

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 perf ...

. Its original stated purpose was to provide an "international home for tap dance, perpetuate tap as a contemporary art form, preserve it through performance and an archival library, provide educational programming, and establish a formal school for tap dance."

History

Originally called the American Tap Dance Orchestra (ATDO), the American Tap Dance Foundation was founded in 1986 by tap dancers

Brenda Bufalino Brenda Bufalino (born September 7, 1937) is an American tap dancer and writer. She co-founded, choreographed and directed the American Tap Dance Foundation, known at the time as the American Tap Dance Orchestra. Bufalino wrote a memoir entitled, ...

, Tony Waag, and Charles "Honi" Coles. Bufalino began working with Coles in 1973 when Bufalino produced the documentary, "Great Feats of Feet: Portraits Of the Jazz Tap Dancer" featuring Coles and ''The Copasetics''. ATDO's first major engagement was on July 4, 1986, at the Statue of Liberty Festival in

Battery Park The Battery, formerly known as Battery Park, is a public park located at the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City facing New York Harbor. It is bounded by Battery Place on the north, State Street on the east, New York Harbor to ...

in lower New York City. For the next 15 years, American Tap Dance Orchestra toured the U.S. and Europe. In 1989, ATDO appeared on PBS "

Great Performances ''Great Performances'' is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise theatrical performances such as plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is p ...

Tap Dance In America with

Gregory Hines Gregory Oliver Hines (February 14, 1946 – August 9, 2003) was an American dancer, actor, choreographer, and singer. He is one of the most celebrated tap dancers of all time. As an actor, he is best known for '' Wolfen'' (1981), '' The Cotton C ...

Woodpeckers Tap Dance Center (1989-1995)

On November 10, 1989, the ATDO opened Woodpeckers Tap Dance Center at 170 Mercer Street, near

Houston Street Houston Street ( ) is a major east–west thoroughfare in Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs the full width of the island of Manhattan, from FDR Drive along the East River in the east to the West Side Highway along the Hudson River i ...

in New York City. Mr. Coles served as Woodpeckers's chairman; Gregory Hines (who claimed that Woodpeckers was "the world's only tap-only center and had "the finest tap floor I've been on") was a member of the board. Woodpeckers began creating, producing, and presenting various educational programs for adults and children. It also initiated an annual winter tap intensive with master classes, courses and workshops taught by leading International artists and master tap dancers. A review in The New York Times in 1990 said, "The rough-hewn little theater has the air of both a place where hard and serious work is done and a cozy family living room." The Center closed in 1995 due to limited funding.

1996 through 2010

The Intervening Years

ATDO continued to perform and offer classes and workshops, renting classroom and rehearsal studios at various NYC locations and presenting new and classic works around the country and the world. Venues included Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater, the Sammy Davis Jr. Festival Plaza in L.A., and

Gus Giordano Gus Giordano (July 10, 1923 – March 9, 2008
''New York Times'', March 13, 2008), born August Thomas Gi ...

's Jazz Dance Congress 96, (Washington, D.C.'s

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

) as well as on live television in Rome, Italy, at the Stadttheater Furth Germany, and at the Rio de Janeiro Tap Festival, Brazil.

A New Name and Focus

Towards the end of 2001, ATDO was renamed the American Tap Dance Foundation (ATDF). The reasons were twofold: first, the new name allowed for a broader focus. The change reflected a new generation of tap dancers and a renewed focus on establishing the first-ever Center for Tap – an international home for dancers, based in New York City. Bufalino stayed on as an artistic mentor and Tony Waag became the Artistic/Executive Director. The new name also reflected the fact that an organized ensemble no longer existed. In 2009 the Foundation was awarded an American Masterpiece Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to reconstruct two ATDO pieces, "Buff Loves Basie Blues," and "Haitian Fight Song,". Both have been subsequently performed by ATDF at various venues around the country including Symphony Space and the

Joyce Theater The Joyce Theater (“The Joyce") is a 472-seat dance performance venue located in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. The building opened in 1941 as the Elgin Theater, a movie house, and was gut-renovated and reconfigured in 1981-82 to re ...

in New York City.

A New Home (2010 to the Present)

On January 4, 2010, the ATDF relocated to a 3,000 square foot space in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

that includes two large dance studios as well as office space.

Activities

The ATDF presents a variety of year-round educational programs, performances, festivals, classes, and public city-wide events.

Rhythm in Motion

''Rhythm in Motion'', is an annual showcase for tap choreographers to showcase their work. The showcase includes works by emerging and established tappers and aims to highlight the "rich diversity of contemporary tap dance." In 2015, RIM featured new choreography by

MacArthur Fellow The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...

, Michelle Dorrance, Brenda Bufalino, Derick K. Grant, Chloe Arnold, and others over a five-day, six-performance program.

Tap City

The ATDF organizes "Tap City", which has been called, "The preeminent annual tap dance festival of the world.". This annual week-long international event features classes, panels, screenings, and performances. Highlights include awards ceremonies, concert performances, and ''Tap it Out'', a free, public, outdoor event performed in Times Square by a chorus of 300 people "in a pre-choreographed orchestral collage of ''a cappella'' unison rhythms, contrapuntal sequences, individual riffs, movements and grooves."

Other

In 2001, ATDF created the annual Hoofer Award to be presented to prominent tap artists as leaders in the community for their unique contribution to the form and for inspiring future generations. Recipients have included: *2001 -

*2002 -

Jimmy Slyde James Titus Godbolt (October 2, 1927 – May 16, 2008), known professionally as Jimmy Slyde and also as the "King of Slides", was an American tap dancer known for his innovative tap style mixed with jazz. Slyde was a popular rhythm tap dancer i ...

and Buster Brown *2003 -

*2004 -

Dianne Walker Dianne Walker (born March 8, 1951), also known as Lady Di, is an American tap dancer. Her thirty-year career spans Broadway, television, film, and international dance concerts. Walker is the Artistic Director of TapDancin, Inc. in Boston, Massa ...

LaVaughn Robinson LaVaughn Robinson (born LaVaughn Evett) (February 9, 1927 – January 22, 2008) was an American tap dancer, choreographer, and teacher. A virtuoso tap dancer, Robinson perfected a high speed, low to the ground, a cappella style of dance tha ...

and Ernest Brown *2005 - Sarah Petronio *2006 - Lynn Dally *2007 - Deborah Mitchell *2008 - Derick K. Grant and Tina Pratt *2009 - Randy Skinner and Mercedes Ellington *2010 - Acia Gray and Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards *2011 -

Max Pollak Max Pollak (born 1970) is percussive dancer and World Music expert. He was born in Vienna, Austria and became known for his work in percussive dance, World Music, tap dance, and choreography. He created "RumbaTap", which merged American Rhythm T ...

*2012 -

Jason Samuels Smith Jason Samuels Smith (born October 4, 1980) is an American tap dancer, choreographer, and director. Early life and career Samuels Smith was born in New York City to professional performing arts parents Sue Samuels and JoJo Smith. He began his pr ...

*2013 - Dean Diggins and Barbara Duffy *2014 - Michelle Dorrance *2015 - Heather Cornell and Karen Callaway Williams *2016 - Ted Levy and Roxanne Butterfly *2017 -

Ayodele Casel Ayodele Casel (born June 5, 1975) is an American tap dancer and choreographer. Raised in Puerto Rico, she derived inspiration for her tap style from salsa music. While in college, she studied witBaakari WilderanCharles Goddertz She became the firs ...

and Sam Weber *2018 - Jared Grimes and Katherine Kramer ATDF also created the Tap Preservation Award in 2001 to honor an outstanding organization or individual for the superior advancement of tap dance through presentation and preservation. It founded the International Tap Dance Hall of Fame in 2002 which includes such notable tap dancers as

Bill Robinson Bill Robinson, nicknamed Bojangles (born Luther Robinson; May 25, 1878 – November 25, 1949), was an American tap dancer, actor, and singer, the best known and the most highly paid African-American entertainer in the United States during the f ...

Eleanor Powell Eleanor Torrey Powell (November 21, 1912 – February 11, 1982) was an American dancer and actress. Best remembered for her tap dance numbers in musical films in the 1930s and 1940s, she was one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's top dancing stars du ...

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...

, the

Nicholas Brothers The Nicholas Brothers were an entertainment act composed of biological brothers, Fayard (1914–2006) and Harold (1921–2000), who excelled in a variety of dance techniques, primarily between the 1930s and 1950s. Best known for their ...

Jeni Le Gon Jeni LeGon (born Jennie Ligon; August 14, 1916 – December 7, 2012), also credited as Jeni Le Gon, was an American dancer, dance instructor, and actress. She was one of the first African-American women to establish a solo career in tap d ...

, Ann Miller,

, and Gene Kelly among many others. ATDF co-created the Gregory Hines Collection of American Tap Dance with the

Jerome Robbins Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television. Among his nu ...

Dance Division at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

References

External links

American Tap Dance Foundation records, 1935-2019
Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

Cited Sources

# # {{Authority control Dance organizations