Savion Glover has been called by many "The Greatest Tap Dancer in the World". I have yet to disagree, so I'm going to write a post about him! You might know already that he's the man who choreographed the movie "Happy Feet".
Hailing from Newark, New Jersey, Savion Glover is an American dancer and choreographer who became known for his unique pounding style of tap dancing, called “hitting.”
As a young child, Glover displayed an affinity for rhythms, and at age four he began taking drumming lessons. Later, he enrolled at the Newark Community School of the Arts, and soon became the youngest person in the school's history to receive a full scholarship. He started tap lessons when he was 7 years young and developed a passion for rhythm tap (a form that uses all parts of the foot to create sound).
A choreographer for the Broadway musical
The Tap Dance Kid was interested, and Savion Glover was an understudy before taking the lead role in 1984. He came back to Broadway in 1989, performed in the musical
Black and Blue, and was nominated for a Tony Award. He also starred in a movie called
Tap. Glover soon began teaching tap classes, and also developed his own tap style that he called “free-form hard core”.
In 1990, Glover choreographed for the first time, and he did it for a festival at the Apollo Theatre. In 1992, he became the youngest-ever recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant. He portrayed a young Jelly Roll Morton in the musical
Jelly's Last Jam, which debuted in Los Angeles in 1991 before opening on Broadway in 1992 and touring in 1994. In 1995,
Bring In 'Da Noise, Bring In 'Da Funk opened Off-Broadway. Glover choreographed and starred in the musical, which featured a series of vignettes that chronicled African American history. The show soon moved to Broadway, and in 1996 it won four Tony Awards (including a best choreographer award for Glover).
WAIT! He's done a lot more, but let's talk a little about
Bring In 'Da Noise, Bring In 'Da Funk.
I saw the show a few years back. My playbill looked like the one above (sorry about how small it is). Let me tell you, my love for tap dancing skyrocketed during that show. It was simply AHHH-MAZE-ZING!
Now I saw the show a LONG time ago. We're talking YEARS ago, so I can't remember both acts, but I especially remember when he and his dancers were dancing to a song called "Taxi".
"YO, TAXI!" repeats in my head every time I think about it.
I also remember something else very special about the night I saw the show.
At the very end of the show, I believe during the reprise of Bring In 'Da Noise, Bring In 'Da Funk, Savion Glover threw out the hat he was wearing into the audience.
Yes, this is going where you think it's going.
Or maybe, you just didn't think that I CAUGHT THE HAT!
Yes yes! I was blessed to catch the hat after the people right in front of me let it graze through their grasps.
I remember his hat being sweaty as I happily grabbed it (which was basically expected), so I think that brown stuff is sweat marks? If not, ew. If so, ew. Haha I haven't done much with it since. I don't want to ruin it. It used to sit in a drawer where I keep some of my autographs and whatnot, but now it's among some other valuable things.
I've seen other tap dancers. Not too many, but a few. But along with his insanely unique and amazing style of tap dancing, being in possession of one of his hats helped me decide to make him my favorite tap dancer.
But enough about my adoration of him. WATCH HIM, and adore him for yourself.
Sorry. I don't know what this piece is called, but here's a little something-something.
It's amazing how
effortless this man does his thing! Too some people, tap sounds like noise, but I like to see them try to move their feet so quickly.
I hope you enjoyed this post! Have a nice day, all.
Photos' citations: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com, http://www.broadwayinchicago.com/shows_dyn.php?cmd=display_archival&display_showtag=noisefunk02&year=2002Biography citation: http://www.biography.com/articles/Savion-Glover-40720
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