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Tap!: The Greatest Tap Dance Stars And Their Stories, 1900-1955
£15.20
From the vaudeville era, through the Astaire-Rogers movies, to the intricate artistry of bebop, tap has dominated American dance with its rhythm, originality, and humour. This book collects the voices and memories of thirty of America’s best-loved tap-dance stars and two hundred rare theatre, film, and publicity photographs. Here Shirley Temple recalls her magical duo with Bill “Bojangles” Robinson Fayard Nicholas describes his days at Harlem’s Cotton Club performing with Cab Calloway Fred Kelly visits his and his brother Gene’s Pittsburgh dance studio Hermes Pan reminisces about his work with George Gershwin, Ginger Rogers, and Fred Astaire and, in a chapter new to this edition, Toy and Wing tell about their days as the world’s leading Asian tap duo. Appended with the most comprehensive listing of tap acts, recordings, and films ever compiled,newly updated for this paperback edition, Tap! brings to life the legends of one of America’s most cherished and enduring art forms.
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Additional information
| Publisher | 2nd REV ed. edition (22 Mar. 1995), Da Capo Press |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 361 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 9780306806353 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0306806353 |
| Dimensions | 19.05 x 2.08 x 23.5 cm |
by Janet Ashton
As a tap dancer from the age of 7 I found this history of tap very interesting and enlightening. Thoroughly enjoyed reading all the lovely stories of the tap dancers through the ages and the hardships they faced in the early days of tap dance.
by sandra fox
Good
by David Carroll
*
As someone who has been lucky enough to study tap dance with Rusty Frank, I have been wanting to read this book for a long time now, but never really got round to it.
Now I have, I can only gasp at the amount of research that must have gone into providing us with such an account of tap through the ages. As the most enthusiastic tap lover I have ever met, Rusty’s passion pours out in every page, each dancers story lovingly told with care and thought given to the preservation of this great dance form. This book neatly puts into words and pictures the real love that is tap – and its not the steps, or the rhythms or the styles… it’s the way it makes you feel.
I genuinely do not think that the history of tap has ever or ever will be documented as well as this, covering such a huge timescale.
The only disappointment in this book is that as an American, Rusty only deals with tap as an American dance form. As a British tapper, I think it is a shame that we are such a long way away from having a book that encompasses tap and it’s great tap dancers from all over the world. From it’s early beginnings, tap has grown to dominate dance schools, clubs, theatres and a whole variety of venues throughout the world and this serves ony to enrich the future of what is in my opinion, the greatest dance genre of them all.
A great book – read, enjoy, get yourself out to a dance class today!
by Emma Bailey-Hague
So excited to read this book. Having trained with Rusty I know it will be brilliant.