2018 in Review: Tap Happy!

Hi everyone,

I know 2019 is nearly half over, but I finally made a list of my favorite performances from last year. Indulge me this week while I reminisce. First up are tap dance extraordinaires, Savion Glover and Michelle Dorrance.

Savion Glover's show, All FuNKD' Up, premiered at National Theatre in February. His tapping is all about sound, and this show began with that. With the curtain still down, the music and tapping started. The audience listened attentively until Savion called out, "Is anyone out there?" The curtain rose while we cheered, revealing a six-piece live band accompanying Savion's warp-speed tapping. As usual, he danced for long stretches of time, sometimes 20 minutes or more. His otherworldly stamina makes him seem like the Energizer Bunny. "I hope you're as prepared as we are to get all funked up," he said, while tapping away. "We're just gonna be groovin', so if you've got something better to do, you better cancel."

This show was full of joy. Savion was chatty and joked with us: "If you feel like getting up and dancing, coming up on stage and dancing, don't do that!" Toward the end of the show – again, all while tapping – he asked how many tappers were in the audience and got a loud response. "You have your tap shoes?" he asked someone in the front row. "Well, remember what I said at the beginning. We got this."

All FuNKD' Up felt like a casual party, but everything was thoughtfully choreographed. The moves were purposeful to make interesting sounds and echos. Savion always makes moves I've never seen before, like tapping on his toes or on the sides of his feet. He surprised us when he took over playing the drums for a while and did some scat singing. He danced with a few members of his troupe at times too. During one dance, they all rotated in a circle, taking turns doing solos.

Savion always plays with the musicians, mimicking their sounds with his taps or having them follow his taps with their instruments. The band played a couple of tunes I recognized, like songs by Adele and Bruno Mars. He explained his mission: to bring tap to us through these shows, making it just as accessible and exciting as a Bruno Mars type concert. He gave us an exuberant finish and two encores. By the time this thing was over, we were all funked up. Mission accomplished.

A few minutes of All FuNKD' Up, courtesy of Kurt CD, National Theatre, February 2018

While I am a Savion groupie, Michelle Dorrance is relatively new to me. I've only seen her perform once before, in 2017, but got hooked. Dorrance Dance – ETM: Double Down was at Strathmore in March. Although an entirely different kind of show from Savion's rockstar-style concert, it also focused on sound.

Michelle Dorrance and musician Nicholas Van Young mixed percussion into each performance by using flat disc-like drum surfaces and other platforms that were strategically placed on the stage for the dancers to tap on or beat with their hands. At times, everything was so in sync that it was hard to tell where the sounds were coming from. Like All FuNKD Up, this show had a back-up band with singers, but the stage full of varied platforms became a musical instrument too. The short, polished dances had moments of improvisation, but the dancers always came together with precision. Everything became part of the dance, and it was clean, crisp, and textured. Visually and musically intriguing, this show left us thrilled.

Snippets of ETM: Double Down, courtesy of Selby Artists/Management,
Strathmore Music Center, March 2018

I felt lucky to see these two shows so close together and be able to compare them. While completely different in their approaches and styles, both were unique, innovative, and exhilarating. Most people think of tap as an old, outdated form of dance. These two performers, at the top of their game, prove otherwise. Tap is alive, well, and here to stay.

Savion Glover

Hi everyone,

If you think you're not a fan of tap dancing, Savion Glover will change your mind. I first became aware of Savion Glover in the late '80s and '90s when he showed up dancing in Coke commercials. He became more well known after meeting mentor Gregory Hines and winning a Tony for his choreography for the Broadway show Bring In 'Da Noise, Bring In 'Da Funk. You can even find him in some films like Tap, costarring Gregory Hines, and Bamboozled, directed by Spike Lee. If you want to hear more about his life and work, check out this video, in which he talks about his start and mission.

Savion Glover dances like no one else and to see him perform in person is always an unforgettable experience. By now, I've seen him a few times in the D.C. area. He once performed at Howard Theatre with jazz pianist McCoy Tyner accompanying him. After Trayvon Martin was killed, Savion Glover provided an intense, emotional performance at Warner Theatre that commented solely on that tragic event. Most recently, I saw him in two equally amazing, entirely different shows.

Savion Glover, Howard Theatre, Washington, D.C., August 23, 2014

Yeah, I was this close.

For this general admission show, I arrived about an hour ahead of time. Those of us who were early and waited in line in the lobby for the doors to open were treated to hearing Savion Glover practice his routines up to two minutes before the doors opened. 

Because I arrived so early, my seat was in the front row, center, flush with the stage. I'd never been so close, looking up at the dancer as he stares into space and sweats like an athlete. Savion Glover gets in the zone! When he first came out, he picked up a microphone to welcome us but instead started to dance. He continued for at least 20 minutes, holding on to that microphone. When he finally stopped, he greeted us with, "I guess I should say something now." 

During another piece, he and the drummer battled. The drummer played increasingly complicated beats and Savion Glover repeated them perfectly through tap. Another tapper, Marshall Davis, Jr., joined him once in a while during this show, but for the most part, Savion Glover danced solo.

I shared my table with some friendly fellow fans who somehow talked their way into meeting and getting photos with the man! Can you believe I was in with that cool crowd?

         

STePz, Strathmore, Bethesda, Maryland, February 6, 2015

Six months later, on February 6, 2015, Savion Glover performed at Strathmore in Bethesda, Maryland. For this show, titled STePz, my seat was about six rows from the stage. While the other show seemed more improvised, this show felt slick and polished. Set to a variety of recorded music, each piece covered different dance styles, such as jazz, tango, and ballet, and nodded important moments in dance history, including tributes to Bill Robinson and Michael Jackson.

Photo © Lois Greenfield

Compared to the previous show, this one more prominently featured other tappers Marshall Davis, Jr., Lisa LaTouche, Robyn Watson, and Sarah Savelli and group performances, some of which didn't even include Savion Glover at all.

Toward the back of the stage, a center platform with three steps leading up to it was flanked by two pyramid-style steps on either side. In one piece, Savion Glover and Marshall Davis, Jr., took on the pyramid steps, having a conversation through their taps. In another piece, the ladies saluted Broadway and jazz in glittery costumes with a routine featuring the stairs. Savion Glover shined during his solo tribute to Bill Robinson, during which he mimicked the hoofer's signature dance moves and walk. During another piece, he and the other dancers stood in a line spanning the stage while dialogue played on the stereo, he tapped with one foot at warp speed without moving the rest of his body. (It wasn't until at least half way through that I realized who was doing the tapping.) The show culminated with the entire group dancing to Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke" in a routine that ended with all of them in a super-hero pose – one arm stretched high, punching the air and striving for higher ground.  

I can pick more adjectives, like spectacular, exhilarating, magical, and awesome, but you have to see this guy for yourself. While video can barely capture the energy in the room when experiencing Savion Glover in person, here's a taste of STePz:

YouTube video, © Savion Glover Productions, Savion Glover's STePz: https://youtu.be/EDC8U0k1nNg. 

What are you waiting for? Go see Savion Glover when you can! He'll change your life for the better.

Best,