National Tap Dance Day in New York
© M. Thompson
There were many highlights to the evening, from Jimmy Slyde's performance to Jeni LeGon's leading her version of the Shim Sham Shimmy. But if there were two lessons to take away from the evening, they were that dancing speaks much louder than words, and the younger generation of tappers has a lot of work to do. I much preferred watching dancing to hearing people talk, and I much preferred watching performers like LeGon and Slyde to their artistic descendants.
The centerpieces of the evening were the awards. The Flo-Bert Awards for Lifetime Achievement in Tap Artistry were presented by Jean Bach to cultural historian Delilah Jackson, and by Diane Walker to dancer and pioneer Jeni LeGon. The newly established Charles "Honi" Coles Award for mentoring was awarded to Jimmy Slyde by Coles's widow, Marion, and Savion Glover.
Overall, the performances were a mixed bag. One of the committee's goals is to provide a showcase for new and up-and-coming talent. That's a worthwhile aim-we all know how few outlets there are for tap. But there are so many wonderful dancers around that it seems a shame not to include more in such an event, even if we've seen them before. We don't hold back the best foods on Thanksgiving because we've tasted them before; we celebrate them because we know they are good. There was at once not enough dancing and too much mediocre dancing.
The Frank Owens Trio opened the evening with a graceful musical tribute to Elvera Davis. To many, she may be best known as Sammy Davis Jr.'s mother, but she was a tap dancer in her own right who passed away in 2000 at the age of 95.
Mike Minery, Dance Spirit magazine's favorite face, did an improvised piece, first a cappella, then bringing in the trio. He was accompanied not only by the music, but also by the squeals of seemingly dozens of young groupies. Dormeisha Sumbry-Edwards, who was the only female dancer in Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk also did a great, delicate solo piece.
Less interesting were the works by the Delaware Jazz Company, clad in white pants and black tops, and the Bob Audy Dancers. Some of the Audy dancers seemed to have just learned the routine that morning. The male dancers wore colored sweaters and pants, but the women wore the tops over tights and leotards, a look so dated it was nearly offensive.
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