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SCHOOL DAY LIVE | RESOURCE GUIDE

TAPOLOGY

Friday, April 5 at 11: 30 AM

From Bill “Bojangles” Robinson to Gregory and Maurice Hines, the legendary Apollo Chorus Girls and Savion Glover, the Apollo stage has been a home for tap dancers since it opened in 1934. Michigan-based arts organization, Tapology, pays tribute to the art of tap dancing with a show highlighting technique, style and history.

Click here to learn more about Tapology, Inc. and the Tapology Dance Festival.

(Most appropriate for Grades 3 - 12)

Take a look at this digital resource guide and find out about the history of tap dancing at the Apollo Theater!

Download Guide

When Alfred Bruce Bradley first took up tap dancing nearly 40 years ago, he never imagined how positive an impact it would have on his life, his family, and his hometown of Flint, Michigan. Raising three daughters who learned to love and appreciate tap as much as he did, Bradley was inspired to teach more students about the artform’s rich history, and formed a youth dance group called the “Flintstone Hoofers.”

In 1999, Bradley brought his “hoofers” to New York City where they competed in the nationally televised talent contest, Showtime at the Apollo. Winning repeatedly, the experience empowered the young dancers (ages 7-20) to audition and perform in major Broadway productions such as STOMP and Savion Glover’s Bring in Da’ Noise, Bring in Da’ Funk.

Back in Flint in 2001, Bradley formed a dance festival that brought legendary tap dancers from around the world to work with underprivileged youth. With the community embracing the event, Bradley was encouraged to found Tapology, Inc. the following year, dedicating the non-profit dance company to the preservation of tap through performance and education.

Nowhere has Tapology’s work had a greater impact than in the company's own hometown which, since 2014, has endured heartbreaking tragedies caused by the Flint Water Crisis. Providing opportunities for students to express themselves through movement and music, Tapology continues to empower Flint youth to pursue their dreams and put their best foot forward.

GENERATIONS OF TAP

Similar to the jazz big bands of the day, tap dancing began to fade from popularity in the 1940s. With 16 million Americans serving overseas during World War II (1939-45), and many more millions being impacted by their absence at home, theaters around the country saw a decline in audience attendance. Unfortunately, big productions like the Apollo’s variety shows became too expensive to present, and dancers and chorus lines were some of the first performers let go.

Tap dancers continued to work on a smaller scale in the 1950s and 60s, before seeing a resurgence in popularity in the 1970s, thanks to the dazzling footwork of tap dancer, singer, and actor Gregory Hines. Born in New York City in 1946, at just two years old Gregory’s parents sent him and his brother Maurice, to study with the renowned dance teacher, Henry LeTang. Growing up in Manhattan, they visited The Apollo Theater regularly, watching and learning from veteran “hoofers” like Howard “Sandman” Sims, Honi Coles, and the sensational

Not to live in the Nicholas’ shadow, the Hines Brothers choreographed their own sensational tap routines. Performing as a duo in the 1950s, then as a trio in the 1960s with their dad playing drums, Gregory started singing and acting in the 1970s. Appearing in movies, television, and Broadway plays, he regularly incorporated tap into his performances, and helped bring recognition for the art form back to mainstream audiences.

In the late 1980s, Hines began hearing about a talented young tap dancer by the name of Savion Glover, who was just 10 years old when he made his Broadway debut. Born in Newark, New Jersey in 1973, Glover belonged to yet another new generation of dancers who incorporated hip hop music into their performances. In 1996, he helped redefine tap with his role in the Broadway hit, Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk. The play was a breakout success and Glover won a Tony Award for choreographing the exciting hip hop tap routines.

A fellow Broadway performer and colleague of Savion Glover’s is tap dancer, choreographer, and Artistic Director of Tapology, Alexandria “Brinae Ali” Bradley. Dancing in major Broadway productions including George C. Wolfe’s adaptation of Shuffle Along, which Glover choreographed, “Brinae Ali” is also a celebrated singer, songwriter, playwright, educator, and community organizer.

Bradley was born in Flint, Michigan in 1982, where her father (Alfred Bruce Bradley) introduced her and her two sisters to tap when they were young. Growing up appreciating the importance of arts education, she is constantly teaching and inspiring future generation of performing artists around the world.

Another talented dancer who has carried the torch of tap into the 21st century, is Ayodele Casel. Named “one of the top young tap dancers in the world” by her mentor Gregory Hines, she was born in the Bronx in 1975 and raised in Puerto Rico from ages 9-15. A proud “Nuyorican,” she moved back to New York in 1990 and studied tap at New York University.

While in college, she was introduced to Savion Glover, who helped Ayodele break out onto the contemporary tap scene. The first female performer in Glover’s dance company, Not Your Ordinary Tappers, for over two decades Casel has been a strong advocate for the arts and empowerment of women in the entertainment industry.